UK poker pros have seen phenomenal success this year on the felt, and John Eames can now add himself to that list after taking down the WSOP Circuit Main Event in Las Vegas last week. Not only was it the largest live tournament win of Eames’ relatively short but exciting career, worth $289,706, it has catapulted his live tournament earnings over $2 million (GBP 1.3mm).
Eames joined a massive field of 1,044, all putting up the $1,675 buy-in to play the WSOP Circuit Main Event at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. With an overall prize pool of $1,559,902, there were plenty of talented poker pros in the mix, but John Eames didn’t seem to have any problems overcoming each and every one of them.
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When the final nine converged around the felt on Tuesday, British poker player nearly became the first elimination of the day. Far behind on a 3-way pot, he landed a straight on the river to double up and stay alive. Eames took control from that point and never let go of it. In fact, by the time it was over, he was personally responsible for the elimination of 6 of the 8 final tablists. After Michael Skomac fell in 9th place ($28,654), Eames went into high gear, taking on Quang Ngo and Jonathan Neckar in a tide-shifting 3-way pot.
All three players were graced with Aces, but Eames was far behind with A-5. Neckar held the best starter of A-K, while Ngo came up the middle on A-8. The board favored the UK poker pro, though, running out 7-7-5-3-7. With a full boat in hand, Eames scooped the pot, successfully eliminating both Quang Ngo (8th – $35,861) and Jonathan Neckar (7th – $45,555).
Eames relaxed for a bit as Corey Emery made his walk from the table in 6th ($58,537), but heated back up again immediately after. The Brit ousted every single opponent from that point on, starting with Brad Libson (5th – $76,092). Eames’ A-J had just enough of an edge over Libson’s K-J when the board offered no real help for either player.
He followed that up with the 4th place routing of Dustin Johns, who claimed the first 6-figure prize of the WSOP Circuit Main Event, $100,067. On the very next hand, Ping Lui fell victim to Eames’, exiting the table in 3rd place for a generous $133,110 payday. That left John to face off with US poker pro Matt Berkey.
Despite having dominated the entire table up to that point, John Eames would find the young American to be a much more difficult obstacle. It took more than two hours and 80+ hands finish him off. On the 82nd hand of heads-up play, long after the clock had struck midnight, the match was decided.
Eames held Q-Q, while Berkey was looking down at 9-6. Things didn’t get heavy until the flop came down 8-7-7. The young American had high hopes with an open-ended straight, and Eames was confident in his two pairs. All the chips went into the pot and the excitement in the room became palpable. The dealer turned a 4, maintaining the lead for Eames, and the Ace that followed sealed the deal.
Matt Berkey finished in 2nd place for an impressive $179,199 while John Eames celebrated that largest cash of his live poker tournament career, collecting $289,706. The UK poker pro’s live earnings now total $2,046,464 (GBP 1.3 million).