21-year old James Mackey pushes past a host of big name pros to claim the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Event #22 was a major tournament of this year’s WSOP, with some big names scattering the field. There was also a great result for British player Stuart Fox, but the winner of the $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em championship was 21-year-old (aspiring) poker professional from Columbia, MO, James Mackey.
Mackey took a leave of absence during his University of Missouri studies to play poker. He has supported himself for about a year since then, and will no doubt have a much bigger bankroll now after winning this event and the first place prize of $730,740.
Mackey stated he intends to return to school at some point. However, he has found poker to be so lucrative that he wants to concentrate on improving as a player for a time before deciding what to pursue in terms of an education. He is the third-youngest WSOP winner in history, and at 21 years and 4 months, Mackey is slightly older than Jeff Madsen and Steve Billirakis (21 years, 11 days).
The final table included two finalists from each of the last two $10,000 buy-in main events. Tex Barch finished 3rd in 2005. He went out 8th in this event. Michael Binger also took third, in 2006. It was deju vu again, as Binger took 3rd place in this event. Both players continue to strive for their first WSOP win.
This was the fastest final table of the year and the quickest WSOP finale since May 2003. The finale table was played in a lightening-fast 2 hours, 35 minutes. Former WSOP gold bracelet winners Kathy Liebert and Max Pescatori finished 13th and 27th, respectively, while T.J. Cloutier cashed for the first time at this year’s World Series, in 23rd. He has now cashed 52 times (lifetime) which ranks third on the all-time list.
Final results:
1. James Mackey Columbia, MO $730,740
2. Stuart Fox Birmingham, UK $448,892
3. Michael Binger Las Vegas, NV $295,245
4. William McMahan Newport, TN $194,319
5. Karga Holt Atlanta, GA $140,091
6. Nick Schulman New York, NY $108,457
7. Jon Sorensen Denmark $81,343
8. John Barch McKinney, TX $60,254
9. Michael Gracz Raleigh, NC $43,684
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