It’s not every day that a PocketFiver takes second in a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). In Event #54, Jason jdpc27 Wheeler accomplished just that, banking a colossal $418,000 from the event, which drew a field of 2,818 runners. It was Wheeler’s first six-figure WSOP cash and first final table, making for a memorable all-around experience on poker’s biggest stage. In the end, fellow Chicago native Tony Veckey walked away as the champion and newest WSOP bracelet holder, pocketing nearly $700,000 in the process. Wheeler sat down with PocketFives.com to discuss the tournament.In the $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event’s defining hand, Wheeler raised pre-flop and Veckey called. The flop came 8-K-5. Veckey led out for 300,000 and Wheeler called to see the turn fall a six. Veckey once again bet 300,000 and Wheeler called. The river was a seven. Veckey bet out for 300,000, Wheeler made it 1.5 million, and Veckey called, turning over 8-9 for a straight. Wheeler promptly shoved his cards into the muck and told PocketFives.com he had a pair of eights with a weak kicker. He recalled his mindset during the hand: “On the flop, he led out kind of heavy. I read him for weakness, so I peeled a card on the flop to reevaluate on the turn. On the turn, he bet the same as on the flop, so I really thought he was weak. Unfortunately, the river gave him runner-runner straight and, with both straight draws and flush draws out there, I actually turned a weak made hand into a bluff.”
Heading into heads-up play, Wheeler held an 8:5 chip edge over Veckey, but admitted that he faltered mano-a-mano: “I went in with the plan to play him slow and grind him down over a few hours, but when I was raising him pre-flop, he was defending every single time, mostly out of position. I just kept it up, figuring that I would catch him soon and be able to end the match quickly as opposed to several hours.” In the end, the heads-up match in Event #54 lasted about an hour. Wheeler walked away with a $418,000 consolation prize and his first WSOP final table.
This year marked the first that Wheeler played in the prestigious Las Vegas tournament series. He finished in the money on four separate occasions and banked over $440,000 in prize money. Now, he’s a household name around the poker world. He told PocketFives.com, “My family doesn’t have much money and I support myself solely from poker. I was about to bring home a bracelet on my first attempt at playing at the WSOP and that was an amazing thing.” Online, he won the $40,000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker in February for $14,000 and finished second in the site’s $65,000 Guaranteed three days earlier for $19,000.
Wheeler is a Mod on PocketFives.com, so watch what you say around him or you might get banned. He recalled that February marked a moment of Zen that turned his game around: “I think most players are not really honest with themselves about their game or what their opponents are doing. I basically took a very honest look at my game and how opponents were exploiting me. Once I was truly honest with myself about my leaks, I was able to turn it around.” On February 12th, he authored a post entitled “I had my Eureka moment” and the rest, as they say, is history.
He originally found poker through ESPN.com, which at the time had a free game that Wheeler frequented. In 2005, he deposited on Bodog in order to play online poker and bet on sports. He began playing multi-table tournaments and sit and gos on Full Tilt in 2007. Then, it all came together: “I used to have a job in the banking industry where I traveled around the country working for banks. When banks all hit the crapper last year, I got laid off from my job, so I spent eight months online building my bankroll via sit and gos. Starting in January, I switched to MTTs full-time.”
In an ironic twist of fate, he nearly came to the 2009 WSOP armed with a backing arrangement, but instead elected to cash out half of his Full Tilt bankroll and go it alone. Three days into his trip, he final tabled a tournament held as part of the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza for $6,000. One week later, he chopped another tournament at the home of Phantom of the Opera for $35,000. While in Sin City, he was surrounded by good company. He wanted to send a shout out to “bparis (pictured at left) for changing his plans to rail me and to hustler, swiss, uggs, and donovantripp for railing as well.”Congratulations from all of us here at PocketFives.com to Jason jdpc27 Wheeler for taking second in Event #54. For the latest on the 2009 WSOP, visit PocketFivesLive.com.
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