Mike Jukich Ships WSOPC Main Event for $165,438 in Last-Minute Trip
Last Friday night, Mike Jukich was playing at his home game in Lynchburg, Virginia with no plans to play the nearby World Series of Poker Circuit stop at Horseshoe Baltimore. His friends offered to buy some action, so Jukich made the four-hour trek north to play in the $1,675 Main Event.
It proved a wise decision as the 34-year-old poker pro bested a 513-entry field to win $165,438, his first gold ring and a seat in the 2018 Global Casino Championship.
Speaking of the season-ending event, Timothy Bishop also won a seat for finishing as the Horseshoe Baltimore Points Leader thanks to five cashes, four final tables and a win in a $365 NLHE Turbo event.
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Jukich | Arlington, VA | $165,438 |
| 2 | Jeremy Stein | Washington DC | $102,290 |
| 3 | James St. Hilaire | Glen Burnie, MD | $74,726 |
| 4 | Kyle Adams | Chicago, IL | $55,396 |
| 5 | Chris Conrad | Peachtree City, GA | $41,661 |
| 6 | Chris Caruso | Dunkirk, MD | $31,780 |
| 7 | Kyle Jensen | Leonardtown, MD | $24,586 |
| 8 | Paul Fisher | Chicago, IL | $19,291 |
| 9 | Ari Eiblum | Sykesville, MD | $15,352 |
Others to claim a portion of the $769,500 prize pool were five-time ring winner Loni Harwood (13th - $10,127), Jacksonville pro Blake Whittington (17th - $8,388), Omaha’s Ryan Phan (20th - $7,041), Sweden’s Peter Eichhardt (27th - $5,156), and Allen Kessler (47th - $2,955).
As for Jukich, who has a fiancé, Ashley, and two-year-old son, Ryker, he got off to a hot start on Day 2 and would go on to bag the second-biggest stack behind Jeremy Stein.
“The first hand of the day was kind of a disaster, but I went from 10k to 300k in like four hands,” he told WSOP officials. “I just kept speaking to the guys in my group chats and they kept me positive."
They were saying this was my tournament and that they had a vision for me to win this tournament.
At the final table, Jukich sat tight as one by one his opponents hit the rail. In fact, he didn’t score a final table elimination until it was down to the final three. That is when James St. Hilaire moved his short stack all in from the small blind with nine-ten suited and Jukich called with the ace-jack offsuit in the big. Jukich wound up making two pair and Hilaire hit the rail in third place for $74,726.
That allowed Jukich to enter heads-up play with a 3-2 chip lead over Stein. In the final hand of the tournament, Stein limped the small blind holding ace-king and Jukich raised to 280,000 with pocket sixes. Stein three-bet to 775,000 and then called off for 3.1 million when Jukich moved all in. It was a flip, but Stein failed to improve and busted in second place for $102,290.
Upon sealing the deal, Jukich’s friend and fellow poker pro, Alex Rocha, came to celebrate.
“He helps [my game] a lot, man,” Jukich explained. “A lot of credit to him too. He, Asher Coniff, Joe Liberta. They are like my main guys that I talk a lot of poker with. They’ve kind of taken me under their wing and showed me a ton about poker. I look up to them.”
Just one more event remains on the 2017/2018 WSOPC schedule. From May 10-21, the tour will head to Harrah’s New Orleans, which marks the last chance for players to earn points on the Global Casino Championship leaderboard.
Here's a look at all of the ring winners in Baltimore:
| Event | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| $365 NLHE | Chris Harris | $14,012 |
| $365 NLHE | Bradley Yazici | $65,597 |
| $365 NLHE | Nicholas Verderamo | $11,254 |
| $365 Monster Stack | Yevgeny Gans | $20,303 |
| $365 NLHE 6-Max | Vicki Mengel | $12,655 |
| $365 PLO | Nitis Udornpim | $10,172 |
| $580 NLHE | Ryan Phan | $22,950 |
| $365 NLHE Turbo | Timothy Bishop | $14,351 |
| $1,675 Main Event | Mike Jukich | $165,438 |
| $365 NLHE | Mike Azzaro | $11,506 |
| $3,250 High Roller | Blake Whittington | $49,950 |
| $365 NLHE Turbo | Eric Salazar | $12,516 |
| $250 Seniors | Scott Turnbaugh | $8,531 |
| $135 Ladies | Tammy Brunson | $2,136 |
