Kevin MacPhee takes down World Series of Poker Europe Main Event

The fifth and final day of the World Series of Poker Europe €10,450 Main Event saw six hopefuls out of a 313-entry strong field return to the feature stage on the top floor of the Spielbank Berlin.

Kevin MacPhee came into the final table as dominating chip leader, and in less than two hours, the heads-up duel for the coveted gold bracelet was set. MacPhee held a more than 2:1 lead over David Lopez, and it took three hours of dueling to determine a winner.

At the start of the day, Lopez doubled up straight away in a flip with pocket 10s against the A-Q of JC Alvarado. A few minutes later, Alvarado doubled through Andrew "luckychewy" Lichtenberger. The Q-J-4 flop left Alvarado drawing dead to four tens, and sure enough, it came right away with the 10 on the turn. The 3d on the river blanked, and Lichtenberger was suddenly among the short stacks.

Felix Bleiker was sent to the rail in sixth place. The Swiss started as shortest stack and ultimately moved all in for his last three big blinds from early position with Q-J offsuit. Lopez called with A-8 offsuit and immediately found top pair on the flop to put Bleiker on the brink of elimination. A queen on the turn and failed to get Bleiker over the hump, and he collected €130,000 for his efforts.

The second German-speaking finalist, Kilian Kramer, was the next to go. Kramer finished 18th in the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas this summer, and his dream of a victory on home soil ended only ten minutes after Bleiker. Kramer was all in and at risk preflop for less than seven big blinds with A-10 offsuit, and MacPhee put him at risk with A-K of spades. The flop was no good for Kramer, and he was drawing dead after the turn.

Lichtenberger was eliminated in fourth place after moving all in from early position for 16 big blinds with Q-10 suited. MacPhee found a pair of queens in the small blind, and the board ran out A-4-2-6-Q to give MacPhee a set of queens and Lichtenberger a payday of €225,000.

After less than two hours, the heads-up duel was set with the elimination of Alvarado in third place. The Mexican pro got his stack in preflop with A-K offsuit and seemed determined to make a comeback with Lopez revealing the dominated A-Q offsuit. The cruel river of a A-4-2-6-Q board gave Lopez aces up, however, and Alvarado's elimination signaled the start of the heads-up match.

MacPhee started the duel with a more than 2:1 lead, but two expensive laydowns and a failed bluff attempt evened out the stacks. Lopez called three barrels with 9-5 offsuit, and he was good, using the momentum to build a sizable lead himself. MacPhee then regained the lead after raising preflop and checking the Q-10-8 flop before firing two barrels on the turn and river. Lopez called and was shown A-J spades for Broadway.

The advantage grew further when MacPhee flopped a full house with K-8 diamonds on a K-K-8 flop. Lopez check-raised and floated with 10-4 clubs to make a back door flush on Q turn and J river. His bet for two third of the pot was called and MacPhee, and the latter suddenly held 75% of the chips in play. The final hand was a four-bet shove by MacPhee and a snap-call from Lopez to set up the final showdown:

MacPhee: A-4 diamonds
Lopez: Pair of kings

MacPhee's girlfriend asked for an ace of hearts from the rail, but the flop came 7-5-2. MacPhee made a wheel with a three on the turn, though, and a meaningless river ended Lopez's run in second place, earning a career-best payday of €475,000.

MacPhee has won the second big title of his poker career in Berlin after taking down the Main Event of the European Poker Tour in 2010 for €1,000,000 and it is also the second gold WSOP bracelet for the American pro. Earlier this year, MacPhee won the $5,000 No Limit Hold'em Turbo (Event #56) in Las Vegas, and this victory represents the cherry on top of a fantastic year.

Final Table Results:

1st place: Kevin MacPhee (USA) - €883,000
2nd place: David Lopez (Spain) - €475,000
3rd place: JC Alvarado (Mexico) - €315,000
4th place: Andrew Lichtenberger (USA) - €225,000
5th place: Kilian Kramer (Germany) - €175,000
6th place: Felix Bleiker (Switzerland) - €130,000

This story was originally posted on WSOP.com