Jason Helder Wins 2014 WinStar River Poker Series Main Event for $1,000,000
"Freedom!"
Those were the first words out of Jason Helder's mouth after the final card came out to deliver him the title in the 2014 WinStar River Poker Series Main Event, an event that attracted 1,323 entrants and created a prize pool of $3,175,200. Helder, who plays online under the name ��teamwispy,�� started off strong at the final table and never looked back on his way to capturing the $1,000,000 first-place prize.
"It's my biggest score by five times, ever," Helder told PokerNews while posing for pictures with his newly-won bracelet. "Having position on Travis Rice and Kevin Eyster was huge for me. I didn't make any big mistakes and chipped up early."
When asked what he was going to do with the million dollars, Helder laughed and said, "I don't know yet. Winning is the hard part, spending is the easy part."
Helder's off to play the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker and will do so with a comfortable bankroll.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Helder | $1,000,000 |
| 2 | Travis Rice | $340,403 |
| 3 | Kevin Eyster | $219,088 |
| 4 | Chris Drake | $134,096 |
| 5 | Khoa Nguyen | $110,663 |
| 6 | Jonathan Gaviao | $90,881 |
| 7 | Kong Li | $72,680 |
| 8 | Rodeen Talebi | $56,724 |
| 9 | Rhett Trusler | $42,891 |
The final day of play began with 10 players still in contention for the seven-figure payday. Well-known professional David "ODB" Baker would be the first player eliminated when he had the misfortune of running the A?Q? into the Q?Q? of Khoa Nguyen. Helder would start his ascent when he eliminated Rhett Trusler in ninth place after his A?K? outran Trusler's J?J?.
Helder and Nguyen, the other chip leader at the table, would tangle in a big pot that would send Helder above the 10,000,000-chip mark. Nguyen would flop trips, but he couldn't chase Helder off on the flop. Nguyen checked the turn, giving Helder the chance to hit a Broadway straight on the river. Nguyen couldn't let his own big hand go and Helder would never look back at that point.
Jonathan Gaviao could never get anything going and would end up being knocked out in sixth place for $90,881 when his A?J? was outdrawn by Rice's K?Q?.
With five players remaining, Chris Drake would go in with the worst of it and come out on top in a massive three-way pot that saw Nguyen eliminated in fifth place for $110,663. Then, Helder ran away with the tournament when he took out Drake in a huge flip with his pair of tens beating Drake's AxKx.
It didn't take long to get to a winner once play dropped to three-handed. World Series of Poker bracelet winner Eyster would fall to Rice when his AxKx failed to win a race against Rice's jacks. Heads-up play lasted just three hands with the final hand seeing Helder holding the dominant hand with the A?9? against Rice's A?4?. Rice would not outdraw Helder and would have to settle for second place and $340,403.
This concludes PokerNews' coverage of the 2014 WinStar River Poker Series Main Event. Thank you for following along with our coverage and stay tuned to PokerNews throughout the rest of the year for exciting tournament coverage across the globe.
Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!
