Andrew Porter won his first-ever World Series of Poker bracelet after an exciting final table saw the advocate for poker in Philadelphia seal a memorable victory for $65,525. There were some great players to overcome at the nine-handed final table of Event #8( $1,000 NLHE Championship), but Porter proved top dog and won career-high cash along the way.
The final table began with Porter second in chips with over 40 big blinds, but others didn’t have nearly as much freedom. Derek Duckett began play with just six big blinds and that micro stack had dwindled to four big blinds by the time he moved all-in with 
. Duckett was called by the initial raiser in the hand, Levi Espeseth, who had 
. The flop of 
immediately put Espeseth ahead in the hand, and the 
turn and 
river did nothing to change that, sending Duckett home in ninth place for $4,143.
The next player to go lasted just three minutes more and this time it was Drew Gonzalez who busted in eighth place for $5,374. Gonzalez committed his 30-big-blind stack with 
but was in terrible shape against Porter’s 
. The flop of 
was a disaster for Gonzalez, and after the 
turn, he was drawing dead to the river.
Porter had almost double the chips of his nearest challenger in the form of Espeseth and was in danger of running over the field. That changed when Joshua Rivera moved all-in pre-flop with and was called by ‘nevermuk24’ with 
. Across a board of 
, ‘nevermuk24’ won a pot that put them up to second in chips. Rivera was out in seventh place for a score of $7,165.
With six players left, Michael Lavin four-bet shoved for 20 big blinds with 
and again ran into aces, with Espeseth’s good enough to hold once again on the eight-high board of 
. Lavin busted for $9,769 for his run to the final six players of the event but missed out on the top five.
Matt Berkey had been one of the quieter players in all-in hands up to that point, but after losing a flip, Berkey needed to hope for the same himself. To that end, his all-in move pre-flop with 
for just under seven big blinds was unfortunate to run into Porter’s call with . Dominated, Berkey was eliminated in fifth place for $13,547 after the board of 
failed to save him.
With four players left, Espeseth took the lead as Ryan McCarroll was short stack. Despite this, play went on for the longest period without an elimination as all four players at one point held the chip lead, the stacks evening up as the blinds increased. McCarroll shoved with from the small blind and got a call from ‘nevermuk24’ in the big blind with 
. The flop of 
kept ‘nevermuk24’ in the lead and when the 
turn fell, only a king would do for McCarroll, the river of condemning him to a fourth-place finish for $19,145.
Three-handed play was incredibly tight, with just a single big blind separating Porter and ‘nevermuk24’ at the top of the chipcounts. Espeseth was a little further back with 1.1 million, and a defining pot would hand the initiative to Porter just when he needed it most.
Porter called Espeseth’s raise to a 
flop before Espeseth bet around two-thirds of the pot with the straight-drawing hand of . Porter made the call with 
, to a 
turn that Porter again check-called. Top pair was enough to win the hand after the 
river prompted a shove from Espeseth and Porter had a crucial lead going into the heads up battle.
Porter had 2.8 million chips, whereas ‘nevermuk24’ was behind with 1.8 million, but this chip lead evaporated over the first few heads-up pots. If Porter had gone into play facing a deficit he might have been beaten, but he had enough chips to build back into the battle and eventually, regained the lead.
In the final hand, Porter limped on the button with and made the call to put ‘nevermuk24’ at risk when the latter shoved pre-flop with . The flop of 
kept Porter in the lead and after the [ turn and river, he had his first-ever WSOP bracelet and the top prize of $65,525, relegating ‘nevermuk24’ to a runner-up finish worth $40,669.
With 311 entries across three Day 1 flights, the eighth and final scheduled event of the WSOP Online in Pennsylvania saw 88 players start the final day with just 63 of them making the money. Plenty of big names made it past the money bubble, with former WSOP Main Event winner Joe McKeehen (23rd for $1,791) joined by Michael Wang (13th for $2,603) and Zach Gruneberg, who bubbled the final table in 10th place for $3,247, in the money places.
It was Porter’s day, however, and after four cashes in Nevada-based WSOP Online events in June and July, he sealed a maiden bracelet victory in Philly just as he had hoped when he said on Twitter on July 25th that “Between live and online, Philadelphia is quickly becoming one of America’s top cities for poker.”
That certainly proved the case for Porter himself as he bagged $65,525 and won his first WSOP gold in stunning fashion at the stacked final table in the NLHE Championship in Pennsylvania. There still remains one more event from this WSOP Online PA for the books, which we’ll bring you the news of tomorrow as the rescheduled $3,200-entry Event #3 takes place Tuesday.
WSOP Online Pennsylvania Championship Final Table Results:
- Andrew ‘LoveToLose’ Porter – $65,525
- ‘nevermuk24’ – $40,669
- Levi ‘AmosSlade’ Espeseth – $27,654
- Ryan ‘TheDuce’ McCarroll – $19,145
- Matt ‘berkey11’ Berkey – $13,547
- Michael ‘TonyBandanas’ Lavin – $9,769
- Joshua ‘ArmyWife1972’ Rivera – $7,165
- Drew ‘MoveBlanket’ Gonzalez – $5,374
- Derek ‘4evergr8’ Duckett – $4,143
