Neil Blumenfield Finishes WSOP Main Event in 3rd Place; McKeehen vs. Beckley for Title
Neil Blumenfield tried to put a stop to the force that was Joe McKeehen, he really did, but ultimately the mega chip leader was just too much for him.
Coming into the third and final day of the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event final table, Blumenfield was second in chips. McKeehen had 128.825 million, Blumenfield had 40.125 million, and Josh Beckley rounded out the trio with 23.7 million. On the fifth hand of the day, Blumenfield found himself at the bottom, though, failing to bluff McKeehen off top pair on Hand #148 of the final table.
After the failed bluff attempt that saw Blumenfield fire three streets in position on the 10♦6♣3♣7♦5♣ board, he was left with under 20 big blinds. He picked up some chips by three-bet shoving on the next hand, then added some more with back-to-back pots a couple of deals later. Then, on Hand #160, Beckley four-bet jammed on Blumenfield to knock the 61-year-old, 888poker-sponsored player back under 20 big blinds. From there, he simply couldn't recover, and 12 hands later it was over for him.
On Hand #172, Beckley opened with a min-raise on the button to 2 million. McKeehen reraised from the small blind to 5.4 million, and then Blumenfield moved all in from the big blind for just about 12 million. After Beckley folded, McKeehen quickly called with the Q♥Q♠. Blumenfield had the 2♦2♥.
The 10♥7♥4♣ flop didn't do much for Blumenfield, and after the 4♠ hit the turn he was down to just two outs with one card to come.
Shaun "The Dealer" Harris peeled off one final burn card and then slapped the K♠ out on the river. That would be the last card Blumenfield would see in his 2015 WSOP Main Event run, and he finished in third place. Blumenfield's result earned him just shy of $3.4 million and set up heads-up play between McKeehen and Beckley.
To start heads-up play, McKeehen had 155.65 million in chips to Beckley's 37 million — good for more than a 4.2-1 advantage.
Stay tuned for more updates from the 2015 WSOP Main Event right here on PokerNews.
*Photo courtesy of Jamie Thompson/888poker.
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