Photo Recap: James Mackey Wins WPT Choctaw

Words by BJ Nemeth, Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com

On Tuesday night, professional poker player James Mackey outlasted a field of 1,066 entries over five days to win the $3,700 buy-in WPT Choctaw at the Choctaw Casino Resort.

The victory gives Mackey, known online as “mig.com,” more than $3.5 million in career earnings, and it’s his eighth six-figure score.

 

The final six players pose for a photo before play begins at the WPT Choctaw Final Table. From left to right: Matthew Smith, James Mackey, Craig Varnell, Bastian Fischer, Jack Duong, and Benjamin Zamani.

Here were their chip counts at the start of the final table:

Seat 1.  James Mackey  –  6,315,000 (53 bb)
Seat 2.  Matthew Smith  –  2,330,000 (19 bb)
Seat 3.  Craig Varnell  –  7,495,000 (62 bb)
Seat 4.  Bastian Fischer  –  8,780,000 (73 bb)
Seat 5.  Benjamin Zamani  –  3,300,000 (28 bb)
Seat 6.  Jack Duong  –  3,750,000 (31 bb)

 

The first prize for WPT Choctaw was $681,758*, and the winner would also receive a Hublot King Power Unico Carbon and Red watch and gold Monster 24K headphones. The winner’s name will be inscribed on the one-and-only WPT Champions Cup, alongside every other WPT champion from all 15 seasons.

These were the final table payouts the final six players were battling for:

1st:  $681,758*
2nd:  $412,234
3rd:  $306,346
4th:  $230,300
5th:  $175,122
6th:  $134,720

* First prize amount includes winner’s $15,000 entry into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.

 

Matthew Smith came into the final table as the short stack, and never gathered much momentum, unable to climb higher than fifth in chips before being eliminated in Hand #29.

Smith got it all in preflop for 12 big blinds with , but ran into the of Jack Duong. The kings held up, and Smith was eliminated in sixth place.

 

WPT Choctaw is the first televised event of the 15th season of the World Poker Tour, and Mike Sexton (left) and Vince Van Patten have been sitting side-by-side in the commentator’s booth every single season.

 

In Hand #53, James Mackey was effectively in a three-way tie at the bottom of the leaderboard when he and fellow short stack Jack Duong got it all in after a flop of . It was Mackey’s (pair of kings) vs. Duong’s (diamond flush draw).

The final two cards came and , and Mackey won the pot with two pair to double up, knocking Duong down to less than two big blinds.

 

WPT Anchor Lynn Gilmartin at her desk overlooking the WPT Final Table.

Season 15 is Lynn Gilmartin’s fourth season as the anchor of the World Poker Tour, the longest tenure of any other anchor or hostess in the show’s history. (Kimberly Lansing was WPT Anchor for three seasons, and Shana Hiatt was hostess for three seasons.)

 

One hand after losing most of his chips, Jack Duong got it all in preflop in Hand #54 against three other players, who checked all the way down on a board of .

Duong had for queen high, but Craig Varnell turned over in the big blind to win the pot with a nine-high straight to eliminate Duong in fifth place.

 

Photographer Joe Giron went above and beyond the call of duty to take this shot during the final-table action at WPT Choctaw.

This angle gives you a never-before seen view of a WPT set, highlighted by WPT Anchor Lynn Gilmartin’s perch on the bottom left, and Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten’s commentating booth at the top left. (Click here to view the image at a larger size.)

 

Bastian Fischer came into the WPT Final Table with the chip lead, and he was first or second in chips for 70 of the first 71 hands. But then he lost a big pot to James Mackey in Hand #72 to drop down to 17 big blinds.

Four hands later, in Hand #76, Fischer moved all in with , but ran into Craig Varnell’s in the big blind. The best hand held up, and Fischer was eliminated in fourth place.

 

After the elimination of Fischer in fourth place, that left Benjamin Zamani as the short stack with 22 big blinds. Zamani dropped down to 13 big blinds before doubling up twice in the span of just six hands (Hand #89 thru James Mackey and Hand #94 thru Craig Varnell) to take the chip lead.

 

Craig Varnell was chipleader for most of the night — first player to reach 10 million in chips, first player to reach 15 million in chips, and either first or second in chips for the first 93 hands.

Even when Benjamin Zamani doubled thru him in Hand #94, Varnell still had a healthy stack with 39 big blinds.

But three hands later, in Hand #97, James Mackey four-bet all in preflop, and Varnell thought for about 15 seconds before he called with . He was behind Mackey’s , and never caught up. In a dramatic turn of events that nobody saw coming, Varnell was eliminated in third place.

 

After the unexpected elimination of Craig Varnell in third place, that left James Mackey (left) and Benjamin Zamani to play heads-up for the WPT title. Both players had deep stacks and lots of experience, so the final table was far from over.

James Mackey  –  19,550,000 (78 bb)
Benjamin Zamani  –  12,425,000 (50 bb)

Zamani was able to narrow the gap between them to eight big blinds, but couldn’t get any closer than that. The heads-up battle lasted for 37 hands, and most of the time Mackey held a chip lead somewhere between 2-to-1 and 3-to-1.

 

In Hand #134, James Mackey and Benjamin Zamani got it all in for the first time — and the last.

Zamani limp-shoved all in for 25 big blinds with , but was drawing thin when Mackey turned over .

The flop came — top set for Mackey, an open-ended straight draw for Zamani, and a potential spade flush on the board to chop the pot. That’s when the photo of Mackey above was taken — he’s smiling at the flop that had something for everyone.

But this was Mackey’s night, and the final board came . Mackey won the pot — and the WPT title — with a full house, eights full of sixes.

 

The TV show wraps up with WPT Commentator Mike Sexton interviewing the newest member of the WPT Champions Club, James Mackey. Mackey said that winning this title was one of the highlights of his career.

Here are the final table results:

1st: James Mackey – $681,758*
2nd: Benjamin Zamani – $412,234
3rd: Craig Varnell – $306,346
4th: Bastian Fischer – $230,300
5th: Jack Duong – $175,122
6th: Matthew Smith – $134,720

* First prize amount includes winner’s $15,000 entry into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.

 

What better way to end this photo recap than with a tweet from @LynnGilmartin, who has created a tradition of taking selfies with WPT winners just moments after they have won.

CONGRATS @migcom, #WPTChoctaw Champion!! @ChoctawDurant @WPT pic.twitter.com/u0m4m1yUdN

— Lynn Gilmartin (@LynnGilmartin) August 3, 2016