Damian Salas Claims WSOP Main Event World Championship Over Joseph Hebert

The World Series of Poker finally crowned its 2020 WSOP Main Event World Champion in 2021.

After an extensive live heads-up finale at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Sunday night, Damian Salas of Argentina triumphed over Joseph Hebert from Louisiana. Salas won the title and an additional $1 million, adding to the $1,550,969 he had already earned for making it to the final two.

Salas wins WSOP Main Event after coming close in 2017

Salas, a seasoned professional with a history of success in both online and in-person games, emerged as the winner of the $10,000 no-limit hold’em tournament that saw a participation of 1,379 players.

The victory was particularly sweet for Salas, considering how close he was to winning the WSOP Main Event just three years prior.

Salas navigated through a field of 7,221 players to reach the final table in 2017. He eventually secured the seventh place, earning $1.425 million.

The number of entries for this year’s WSOP Main Event was the lowest since it was moved from Binion’s Horseshoe to the Rio.

Chris Moneymaker sparked the “poker boom” of the mid-2000s by winning the title against 839 other players in 2003.

Lengthy heads-up duel ends in several pre-flop all-ins

After winning the “international” segment of the 2020 WSOP Main Event bracket, Salas journeyed to Las Vegas to participate in the heads-up finale. On the other hand, Hebert emerged from the “domestic” half of the tournament to make it to the heads-up.

Both players started with large stacks of 500,000 chips valued at 500 big blinds. It took them nearly six hours and 173 hands of 20-minute levels to finish the showdown.

WSOP.com’s live updates reveal that the lead swapped multiple times before Hebert surged ahead with a significant 9-to-1 advantage. However, Salas made a comeback by winning a double-up and then increasing his chips to level the playing field once again.

The intense battle persisted as players alternately assumed the lead. However, the game took a turn when Hebert triumphed in an all-in, playing K-Q against Salas’ K-J. This victory propelled him to a commanding lead, with a more than 3-to-1 chip advantage.

Salas regained the lead after winning the next all-in with an A-10 against an A-8. Then, Hebert doubled his stakes with a Q-4 against a K-10 when a four showed up on the board. They were nearly on par once more.

At last, the final hand was dealt. Hebert pushed his 390,000 stack forward with an Ace-Queen, and Salas responded with a call, holding a King-Jack. The flop revealed a King, giving Salas a pair. The river then presented another King, making it trips for Salas and securing him the championship title.

An unusual year, an unusual Main Event

The most unconventional version of the WSOP Main Event in its fifty-year history wrapped up on Sunday night.

The annual $10,000 buy-in tournament usually happens in Las Vegas during the summer. It attracts thousands of players from around the globe who compete in this prestigious event. In recent years, the tournament has taken two weeks to finish.

The original schedule of the 2020 WSOP Main Event, which included 101 bracelet events (87 live, 14 online), was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online events were staged on the WSOP Nevada and New Jersey online sites and on GGPoker outside the United States, instead, from July to September.

Indeed, the online series on GGPoker wrapped up with a “WSOP Main Event,” a tournament with a $5,000 buy-in. The winner of this tournament was Stoyan Madanzhiev from Bulgaria, who earned over $3.9 million by outperforming a field of 5,802 entries.

Many thought that the tournament on GGPoker, which Madanzhiev won, was to be regarded as the WSOP Main Event of 2020. However, an announcement in November clarified that an online-live hybrid WSOP Main Event would take place in December.

Online events produce live final tables, heads-up finale

In the hybrid WSOP Main Event, players took part in $10,000 freezeout tournaments independently on the WSOP.com platforms and GGPoker. Each of these online tournaments was played until only nine players remained. These final nine players from each tournament were then invited to participate in a live final table game to decide the two finalists.

A total of 674 players participated in the international segment, with the final table being held at King’s Resort in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. On the domestic side, 705 players took part online and the final table was played live at the Rio last week.

In both instances, only eight out of the nine players who reached the final tables ended up participating.

Internationally, Peiyun Sun from China decided against traveling to Rozvodov to play in person. Meanwhile in the U.S., three-time bracelet winner Upeshka De Silva reached the final table, but could not participate due to a positive COVID test. Both Sun and Upeshka were given the ninth-place prize money in their respective brackets.

Indeed, the pandemic also impacted the scheduling of the heads-up duel.

Initially, the match was set to take place on Dec. 30. But, as per the WSOP, the finale had to be rescheduled to Sunday due to “unforeseen travel complications” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was previously mentioned that Salas bagged $1,550,969 for his win in the international bracket, while Hebert secured $1,553,256 for his triumph in the domestic bracket.

Salas amassed an extra $1 million from the prize pool contributed by WSOP and GGPoker, bringing his total winnings to slightly over $2.55 million. This represents the smallest first prize in the WSOP Main Event since Moneymaker’s $2.5 million win in 2003.