It’s unusual to read, as I did this morning, that ice exists in the moon’s South Pole, and that scientists are keen to understand where it came from because future manned missions depend on using resources that already exist on the great rock. What’s not unusual to read, as I did this morning, is that Alex Foxen is beating up the competition again.
In the past two-years, Foxen has been an arrowhead streaking through strata after strata of poker’s mass ecology, finally landing in the bullseye at the top of the totem pole firmly embedded in the world’s grandest stage.
The ninth live tournament win of his career came in the 19-entrant $20,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller as part of the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble. Foxen defeated Joseph McKeehen, heads-up, to win the $182,400 first prize. Jorryt van Hoof finished third.
The win ends a stubborn streak of frostbite for Foxen. The former Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1, has finished in the top three spots of major poker tournaments on eight occasions, without binking the win, leading back to December 2018. He has now earned $12,612,339 lifetime, $3,750,056 in 2019 – more than enough to get him on board a Virgin Galactic flight. He doesn’t pick up any GPI points, as the field size didn’t qualify, so he remains in #2 in the world rankings, behind Stephen Chidwick.
Like Foxen, McKeehen has also struggled to turn deep runs into victories this year. The former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner, did win a World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) gold ring when defeating a field of 172-entrants in Atlantic City earlier this year. However, that win aside, McKeehen has finished #2 or #3 on five further occasions.
In April, McKeehen finished third in a $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em event at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, earning $305,665.
In May, William Miller beat him to the title in an 862-entrant $550 No-Limit Hold’em event as part of the WPTDeepStacks event in Parx Casino, Bensalem, earning $52,369.
In June, McKeehen finished second again, this time to Evan Teitelbaum, in a $1,600 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Wynn, earning $89,218.
In August, he finished third behind Jonathan Little and Tony Sinishtaj in a $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em event in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, earning $47,290.
McKeehen has earned $16,437,894 in live tournament earnings, bolstered by the $7,683,346 he won as the 2015 WSOP Main Event Champion. The $721,816 he has won in 2019, is his lowest return since 2013.
Van Hoof finished third in the WSOP Main Event the year before McKeehen took the title, and despite being primarily a Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) cash game player, he does pop up in the deep end of the odd No-Limit Hold’em tournament.
The Dutchman had a decent showing at the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona finishing 20th in the €10,300, and eight in the €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em events. He also won his second World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) title in successive years after winning a $530 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max, Hyper-Turbo for $70,860.30.
Here are the ITM finishes.
ITM Finishes
- Alex Foxen – $182,400
- Joe McKeehen – $109,440
- Jorryt van Hoof – $72,960
McKeehen and Shak Run Deep in the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble Main Event
McKeehen followed up his success in the high roller by making the final nine of the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble Main Event. The event attracted 349-entrants, and McKeehen picked up $31,648 for his ninth-place finish.
The only other high roller to finish ITM in this one was Dan Shak. The hedge fund manager finished 25th for $10,061. It’s Shak’s 11th cash of the year, with his highlight being a 3/440 finish in the $5,000 Bay 101 Shooting Star event for $200,055.
Shak has earned $641,792 (gross) in 2019, but that’s likely to his downturn in attendance. Shak declared on Twitter that non-pros involvement in high stakes games would likely end due to the prevalence of solvers.
Joshua Adkins won the tournament.
It was the first time he had ever competed in a WPT event, and as you can see, it meant the world to him.
Final Table Results
- Joshua Adkins – $331,480
- Tan Nguyen – $210,988
- Joshua Kay – $155,340
- Jason Lee – $115,691
- Jonathan Cronin – $87,170
- Jeff Cunningham – $66,457