This Week’s Big Winner: Jay Lee Wins 2017 World Poker Tour Choctaw Main Event

The third running of the World Poker Tour Choctaw $3,500 no-limit hold’em main event drew a field of 924 entries, blowing away the $2 million guarantee to build a final prize pool of $3,121,980. In the end it was 27-year-old Jay Lee who emerged victorious. For the win Lee, a Chinese food delivery person from Austin, Texas, earned his first WPT title and the top prize of $593,173.

“It’s amazing,” Lee told WPT reporters after coming out on top. “Cooler hands after cooler hands, but you know it’s a great feeling. A lot of ups and downs, and a lot of happy at the end. I’m glad I did it.”

This was Lee’s largest career tournament cash by far, with his previous top score being a 147th-place finish in the 2016 WSOP Millionaire Maker event for $7,589.
Here are the five biggest hands that propelled Lee to the win.

Tournament: WPT Choctaw Main Event
Buy-In: $3,500 • No. of Entries: 924 • Prize Pool: $3,121,980 • 1st Place Prize: $593,173

The Action

With four players left, Lee raised to 255,000 from the small blind and Stashin three-bet to 600,000. Lee then moved all-in for 2,330,000 and Stashin immediately jumped out of his seat. Eventually he made the call with A 9 and Lee turned over pocket sevens. The board ran out J 6 4 8 8 and Lee doubled up back into contention.

The Action

Hutton raised on the button to 350,000 and Lee three-bet to 875,000 from the small blind. Stashin then moved all-in from the big blind for 5,150,000. Hutton quickly folded and Lee called with pocket queens. Stashin showed pocket eights, but the board didn’t help him any as it ran out K K J 10 4. Stashin picked up $202,617 for his fourth-place finish while Lee took over the chip lead.

The Action

Kay raised to 450,000 on the button and Lee called from the big blind. The flop came down 8 5 2 and Lee checked. Kay bet 525,000 and Lee check-raised to 1,400,000. Kay then moved in, having Lee covered. Lee took his time, waiting for about a minute before he called off the rest of his stack with K 9 for two over cards and a flush draw. Kay had a worse flush draw with J 2, but he did flop bottom pair, making him only a 2:1 underdog to score the knockout. Instead, the turn and river came 10 9, giving Lee the better flush and a double up to claim a huge chip lead.

The Action

Kay raised to 500,000 on the button and Lee moved all-in from the big blind. Kay instantly called all-in for his last 4,550,000 with A K and saw that he had Lee’s A Q dominated. The flop, however, came Q 8 6, leaving Kay drawing to three outs. The turn was the 2 and the river was the J, and Kay exited the tournament in third place, earning $270,801. With that pot, Lee went into heads-up play with a little more than 60 percent of the chips in play.

The Action

Hutton raised to 550,000 on the button and Lee called from the big blind. The flop came down J 4 4 and both players quickly checked. The turn was the 7 and Lee checked. Hutton checked behind, and the 9 hit the river. This time, Lee bet 750,000. Hutton raised to 2,000,000 and Lee decided to move all-in. Hutton quickly looked over at his opponent and made the call for a total of 7,025,000, tabling Q 2 for a rivered flush. Lee, however, flopped a full house with J 4 to scoop the pot. Hutton banked $366,895 for his runner-up finish, while Lee claimed the title, the trophy and the $593,173 first-place prize.

Final Table Results

1. Jay Lee — $593,173
2. Jeb Hutton — $366,895
3. Josh Kay — $270,801
4. Michael Stashin — $202,617
5. Paul Fisher — $153,508
6. Eric Bunch — $117,761
7. Zachary Smiley — $91,443
8. Daniel Nakic — $71,889
9. Kevin Calenzo — $57,195