2019 WSOP Main Event Final Table Profile: Kevin Maahs

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Jul 13, 2019 4 min read

Brought to you by the WSOP-C Playground, hosted by Playground Poker Club and partypoker LIVE. Last year's long-awaited return to Canada of the WSOP Circuit smashed attendance records. The $1,100 Main Event with a huge $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool and the $330 Colossus with a $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool of its own are two of the seven events on tap for this year's edition, which is expected to attract even larger fields than last year's record-breaking series.

Final Table Profile Kevin Maahs

Kevin Maahs' Main Event Story

During the last few years, Chicago native Kevin Maahs has strung together an excellent series of tournament cashes across the Midwest. He finished second in the 2018 Heartland Poker Tour for $20,625. He finished second in the 2016 $3,000 High Roller tournament at the Heartland Poker Tour for $12,221. And he won the 2018 WSOP Warm Up in Hammond, Indiana, for $12,000. For Maahs, a Loyola University alum who majored in finance, poker has offered a profitable pastime.

"I play all the time. It's a great hobby of mine," he said.

"I play all the time. It's a great hobby of mine."

This year, for the first time, Maahs decided to compete in the WSOP Main Event. Of all the players who made the final table, only Maahs bought into the tournament on Day 2. The merits of late registration was a much-debated topic this summer. If you're playing in the Main Event, for instance, should you play on Day 1 and arrive promptly at 11 a.m.? Should you show up later in the day? Or should you skip Day 1 entirely and register on Day 2 with a shorter stack?

For Maahs, entering on Day 2 was a calculated decision. "It fits more with the style of my game," he explained. "I actually like short-stacked poker more. So I decided to play on Day 2. I've never had a really large stack in this tournament."

After skipping Day 1, Maahs finished Day 2 with a healthy 262,100 in chips, and he hasn't looked back. He currently sits in the middle of the pack at the final table with 43,000,000, good for fourth in chips.

How Kevin Maahs Got to the Final Table

Kevin Maahs' Key Hands

"There's been a bunch of key hands," Maahs said, reflecting on the journey through his first Main Event. "I'm just grateful to be here right now. It's awesome. It's a dream come true."

"I'm just grateful to be here right now. It's awesome. It's a dream come true."

One pivotal hand happened during Level 31 on Day 6, with the blinds at 125,000/250,000. Chang Luo raised to 550,000 from early position, and Milos Skrbic reraised to 1,675,000 from the button. Looking down at the K♥K♣, Maahs four-bet to 3,750,000 in the big blind. When Luo announced that he was all in for approximately 8.1 million, Skrbic folded, and Maahs eventually called, seeing the bad news when his opponent turned over a pair of red aces. The Q♣8♣3♣ gave him a glimmer of hope. Although he couldn't hit his flush on the Q♥ turn, the 10♣ gave him the best hand and the massive pot to bust Luo.

What to Watch For

Throughout the tournament, Maahs has quietly gone about his business. He's shown patience and discipline, gradually chipping up and avoiding any rash mistakes. "I got some good hands in some key spots and took advantage of them," he said at the end of Day 7. "And my hands held."

Late in the evening, for example, Maahs was clinging to his tournament life as a short stack in the last place. He patiently waited for a good opportunity to commit his remaining chips—and found it, when he doubled up with two aces against Milos Skrbic's A♣Q♠.

As he looks ahead to Sunday's final table, Maahs remains optimistic. "I’m actually in a great spot, in fourth," he said. "I haven’t been the chip leader yet, so being in the middle of the pack is comfortable for me."

2019 WSOP Main Event Final Table Seating

^{There is 1:31:35 remaining in Level 37 (500,000/1,000,000, with a 1,000,000-big blind ante).}

2019 WSOP Main Event Final Table Payout

2019 WSOP Main Event Final Table Player Stats

^{Stats courtesy of WSOP.com and HendonMob.com.}

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