Last Bounty Standing: Jessica Dawley Claims Title for Second Straight Season

By Sean Chaffin

After 35 bounty players entered the field in the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble, only tour regulars James Calderaro and Jessica Dawley (pictured) remained after the dinner break on Day 2. That changed midway through Level 17 when Caldo hit the rail in 41st place for $7,868.

Beyond playing to cash in the tournament, the bounties also had an added prize in the battle to be the last bounty in the field. Dawley will take home a nice bottle of Dom Pérignon champagne – hoping to pop a cork and celebrate even more.

For much of the latter part of Day 1b and early stages of Day 2, Dawley sat on a short stack. However, several all-in wins have helped her build up to a healthy number of chips and stay alive.

Dawley was also a bounty in Season XV, but that tournament didn’t go as well as the last two years.

“That first year I busted on Day 1 and lost with Ace-King three times,” she says.

In the past, both have done well adjusting to the bounty format. As a bounty in Season XVI, Dawley notched an 11th-place finish for $25,333. At one point she had been down to three big blinds before rallying to be the last bounty standing.

This marks Calderaro’s second Day 2 in the event since Season XIV. He’s also scored runner-up finishes in non-bounty WPT events here in Jacksonville at bestbet in 2012 ($236,560) and 2014 ($133,764).