James Mackey Wins WPT Choctaw Championship for Second Time Eight Years After Maiden Victory

Eight years on from the first time he won a World Poker Tour event, James Mackey turned back the clock and claimed victory again in the exact same event as he won this week’s WPT Choctaw Championship in Las Vegas. The HyperX Arena set an amazing stage for the denouement of the drama in Sin City as Tony Dunst, Vince Van Patten and Lynn Gilmartin were on hand to congratulate an ecstatic Mackey as he became champion.

Lindgren Loses Out Early

The road to victory was a long one for Mackey but the journey to becoming a WPT champion didn’t last as long for every one of the six players who returned to start the final. Erick Lindgren is a player with a big rep in the game, but his resume failed to pick up another major title to add to the list as he busted first, cashing for $75,000 – a fine return on his $3,800 entry fee.

All-in with , he started his final hand ahead pre-flop, with Sebastien Aube behind with . The flop of changed all that, however, and the turn sealed Lindgren’s elimination before the river fell. As Lindgren headed to the rail, just five remained from the initial field of 603 entrants who made it to southern Oklahoma for the WPT Choctaw Championship.

There were plenty of other notables in the event who cashed but never made it to the Vegas finale, with Allen Kessler (70^th), Matthew Wantman (50^th), Chino Rheem (37^th) and the three-time WPT champion Anthony Zinno (15^th) all falling just short of glory.  Also falling short was Danny Marx, who called from the big blind with when Aube shoved pre-flop with from the small blind. Not even having two live cards hurt Marx and he departed for $99,000 in fifth after a painful board raised his hopes on the flop only to dash them on the river.

Hendrix Ends Out of Tune

An extended period of play saw no-one leave the action for a hundred hands of play. In hand #146 of the action, however, a chip leader with four left, Sebastien Aube, was left with no chips at all. All-in from the small blind with , Aube received a quick call from three-time WPT champion Eric Afriat from the button with and the Canadian tournament crusher hit both his cards. The board came to reduce the field to three, as Aube cashed for $131,000 in fourth place.

Next to go was Adam Hendrix, who called off his stack pre-flop holding when Mackey shoved with . Hendrix needed to hit to survive but although he rivered a queen, an ace and a five had already landed on the board, meaning he was shaking hands with Mackey when his elimination for $175,000 was confirmed.

That pot gave Mackey an awesome stack of 24,750,000 to Eric Afriat’s 5.4 million, with a top prize of $361,600 as well as a seat into the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas on the line. With the top 76 players of the event taking home some of the $2.11 million prize pool, everything came down to one more battle, and it was a one-side duel.

Mackey the Master

“Being one of the only people to ever win a same event twice [is] special.” ~ James MAckey, Two-Time WPT ChocTAW Champion

Heads-up, Mackey went on the attack, using his stack to pressure Afriat into a corner. Down to a million chips, Afriat doubled not one but twice. He still only had seven big blinds, though, and they soon went in pre-flop with . Mackey called and turned over the dominated but if he feared another double-up, he needn’t have done.

A flop of was sent from heaven for Mackey and when a turn was followed by a river, it was all over. Four years on from Brian Altman’s debut ‘repeat the trick’ victory in the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open to win the same WPT event twice for the first time, Mackey had equalled Altman’s achievement.

“This one’s way up there,” he said after wards. “Being one of the only people to ever win a same event twice that’s special, you know?”

Speaking with Jeff Walsh for WPT, Mackey said: “My wife’s currently at home taking care of my 1-year-old, so she couldn’t come out and make it. Most of my friends were playing the World Series events, but that’s just how it kind of goes sometimes!”

“Congratulations to James Mackey for his big win,” said WPT CEO Adam Pliska after the event in an official press release heralding the momentous accomplishment. “Thank you to everyone that helped make this event happen, from the staff at Choctaw Durant to the final table production team members at HyperX Arena.”

Very few players receive a second plaque on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup, but James Mackey is one of them, and will head into the World Series of Poker events freerolling a full schedule with plenty left over.

* includes a $10,400 ticket into the season-ending WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas.