Joseph Roh Wins Ultra Stack Event at World Series of Poker

Joseph Roh – Photo Credit: WSOP / Hayley Hochstetler

Joseph Roh is the champion in the $600 ultra stack no-limit hold’em event in Las Vegas, Nevada at the World Series of Poker. The final table wrapped up on July 14 with Roh grabbing the top prize worth $401,250. It was the first gold bracelet for Roh, and his largest tournament score to take his career earnings over $520,000.

“This is something I’ve really wanted to do for a while. I don’t play that many tournaments … I mean, I play a little bit here and there but my dream is to be there,” said Roh to reporters after the win. The businessman is from California, and he splits time there with his family and Texas where he runs a semiconductor company that specializes in the special vacuums used in microchip manufacturing. That leaves him little time to play poker, but he loves the game and plays whenever he gets a chance.

The four-day tournament saw a large field of 7,207 entries thanks to two starting flights passing through the turnstiles to create a prize pool worth $3,675,570. The top 1,060 players all made it to a min-cash worth $960 in prize money.

Day 2 saw a remaining field of 555 players return, and they made it all the way down to the final table of nine before play ended. Notable players to make a deep run in the tournament included Scott Bohlman (11th), Craig Varnell (12th), Alex Bolotin (24th), Brett Apter (30th), and Kathy Liebert (40th).

Roh was sixth in chips when the final table began, but he quickly chipped up to take the lead during eight-handed play. He suffered a slight setback after paying out a double up to Peyton Ethridge, but Roh quickly recovered by taking out Min Sung Lee in seventh place. Roh kept that momentum rolling by eliminating William Fisher in fifth place.

A lengthy three-handed battle saw Denny Lee take control of the chip lead, but Roh gained the upper hand once again when he knocked out John Fagg in third place. That gave Roh 247 million to start the final match against the 186 million of Lee.

Roh kept pulling away after that until the final hand took place. Lee reraised all in with A5 in the hole, and Roh called to cover him after originally raising with AQ. The board was dealt J967J to take out Lee in second place, good for $250,120. Lee’s career earnings now stand at above $665,000 thanks to the largest cash of his poker career.

Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:

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