Happy Holidays Indeed: Joseph Hebert Wins WSOP Main Event Domestic Tournament

Undoubtedly, the coronavirus pandemic has made this year challenging for people all around the globe.

However, many have adapted to the changes, including the World Series Of Poker, which was postponed and creatively restructured.

Live poker tournaments held for several weeks at the Rio in Las Vegas were substituted with numerous online poker events both within the US and internationally. After the completion of these online portions, a select group of players gathered at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino to participate in a few smaller in-person events.

And now, the Main Event is ready for action with its domestic-versus-international heads-up showdown.

Joseph Hebert Wins the US WSOP Main Event

In line with the unique WSOP experience, the final table play only lasted for four hours. Joseph Hebert of Metairie, Louisiana, began the US WSOP Main Event’s table as the chip leader.

Hebert emerged as the chip leader and champion of the 2020 WSOP US Main Event. He will be taking home the grand prize of $1,553,256 and the WSOP trophy.

Additionally, he will compete in a heads-up match against international champion Damian Salas with the potential to win another $1 million, the coveted gold bracelet, and the prestige of being named the world champion.

Congratulations, Joseph Hebert! He is now the official domestic Main Event champion of @WSOP. We look forward to seeing him again at the World Championship 🤩 💰 pic.twitter.com/cw9Wa0adPo.

This was tweeted by Rio Las Vegas on December 29, 2020.

Ron Jenkins of South El Monte, California, came in second place and won $1,002,340. In contrast to previous years, only Herbert and Jenkins left the WSOP Main Event final table with over $1 million.

Going into heads-up play against Jenkins, Hebert was leading with a 2-to-1 chip advantage. However, there wasn’t much one-on-one action, as Hebert clinched the top prize from the Main Event with just one hand.

Hebert, holding an Ace-Queen, saw an ace appear on the flop. This allowed him to triumph over Jenkins’ pocket queens and become the US champion.

After participating in a $300 satellite tournament, Hebert qualified for the Main Event with a $10,000 buy-in.

WSOP gets off to a rocky start

The final table for the domestic Main Event was held on Monday evening. However, even before the cards were shuffled and dealt, there was a hint of drama for the first live WSOP tournament since early 2020.

Upeshka De Silva secured his spot to compete at the final table in the online portion of the 2020 WSOP. Regrettably, he was disqualified from participating after testing positive for COVID-19. Despite this setback, he still received the ninth-place prize of $98,813.

The initial two days of the 2020 WSOP Main Event took place online at WSOP.com. Out of the 705 players, only nine were left for the live final table at the Rio. However, after De Silva was disqualified, the number of participants dropped to eight.

The final eight participants in the US WSOP Main Event table played for a grand prize of $1,553,256.

Salas emerged as the winner of the international bracket in the GGPoker international WSOP tournament. On Jan. 3, the two players will compete for a gold bracelet and $1 million.

2020 WSOP Final table prizes

This year, only two WSOP Main Event final table participants became millionaires. However, the rest of the US final table participants also performed quite well.

This is how the payouts were allocated:

• Michael Cannon won 3rd place and earned $529,258.
• Ryan Hagerty came in 4th place with $387,130.
• Ye “Tony” Yuan came in 5th place and won $286,963.
• Harrison Dobin, in 6th place, won $215,222.
• Shawn Stroke, 7th place, $163,786
• Gershon Distenfeld finished in 8th place and won $125,885.
• Upeshka De Silva came in 9th place and won $98,813.