The Season 4 WPTDeepStacks Big Stax XX came to a close with the completion of the $1,600 Main Event at Parx Casino in Bensalem, PA. The event attracted a field of 660 entries and generated a prize pool of $957,300. First place was awarded $201,991, and it was Jimmy Poper emerging as the victor to earn the largest score of his poker career.
“It was a long day of poker,” Poper said in his winner interview, citing that the final day of play lasted until 4:30 a.m. ET. “A lot of good players at the table, and thankfully I ran pretty good and won.”
Poper defeated DJ MacKinnon in heads-up play, with MacKinnon taking home $127,800 in second-place prize money.
WPTDeepStacks Big Stax XX Final Table Results
1st: James Poper – $201,991
2nd: DJ MacKinnon – $127,800
3rd: Justin Liberto – $83,285
4th: Phillip Hui – $60,980
5th: Thomas Maquire – $45,567
6th: Jay Sharon – $34,271
7th: Jason Ritchie – $26,326
8th: Raffaello Locatelli – $20,199
9th: Bob Vernarec – $15,987
After Phillip Hui fell in fourth place, the tournament was down to Poper, MacKinnon, and Justin Liberto. Three-handed play lasted about an hour before MacKinnon dispatched of Liberto in third place to set up a heads-up battle with Poper.
When heads-up play began, MacKinnon had a slight lead over Poper. Poper was able to double up in a big way early in the match in a roller coaster of a hand that knocked MacKinnon to under 10 big blinds. The two got all the money in with Poper showing the 
, and MacKinnon had the 
. The flop was 
to keep Poper’s aces in front, but the 
changed everything on the turn to give MacKinnon the lead.
MacKinnon was one card away from the WPTDeepStacks Big Stax XX Main Event title when the 
landed on the river to rocket Poper to the better hand and a commanding lead.
MacKinnon doubled up once after that, but poper’s chip lead proved too much to overcome.
On the final hand, MacKinnon’s 
fell to the 
of Poper on a runout of 
.
As mentioned, the win was the largest of Poper’s poker career, but he did share some success from earlier in the Big Stax XX series with cashes in both the Big Stax XX 300 and Big Stax XX 500.
In addition to the $201,991 top prize, Poper earned a $3,000 seat into the season-ending WPTDeepStacks Championship.
Next up for Season 4 of the WPTDeepStacks tour is WPTDeepStacks Jacksonville at bestbet Jacksonville in Florida. The series takes place March 1-13, 2017, with the $1,500 Main Event running March 10-13 and boasting a $300,000 guaranteed prize pool. For more information on this event, check out the tournament’s hub on WPT.com.
For the complete WPTDeepStacks schedule, click here.