The comparatively cheap buy-in in the tournament plus the choice of NLHE meant that the field was packed – 2,791 players put up the dough for a shot at glory. Johnson performed admirably, reminiscent of Jamie Gold’s dominance of the 2006 Main Event.


He applied pressure and played big pots in all the right places, cruising on his momentum to the final table where his aggressive play got him heads-up with Steve Karp. It came down to a coinflip of Karp’s 55 against Johnson’s AQo, which paired to take the pot.