COVID-era champ parries high drama to reclaim WSOPC TV title

With plenty in the middle already, on a queen-high turn board, Jahed jammed 56 big blinds over Haletky’s 16 big blind bet. Haletky called correctly with pocket aces as Jahed was making a move with pocket nines.

Alec Jahed's bold move was picked off by Haletky.

Haletky explained his thought process on the huge hand.

“I pretty much made a decision that I was going with it if I bet the turn. I think there were enough draws and things that would call for value that I should bet the turn. I didn’t think there was really much I could do. If he had the set, he had the set.”

That pot eliminated Jahed and moved Haletky into a lead he would hold most of the day, entering Day 3 just two big blinds shy of the chip lead.

Casey Sandretto's day was ended in dramatic fashion.

Haletky continued to build his stack throughout Monday’s final table, when three-handed with runner-up Franklin Chavez a distant third, and he and Casey Sandretto virtually even in chips, another massive pot developed that he acknowledged was ICM suicide in the moment.

Preflop raises were exchanged until Haletky jammed 65 big blinds and was called by Sandretto, holding an almost identical stack. The champion had ace-queen against Sandretto’s ace-king, but a queen on the river ended Sandretto’s day in horrific fashion, setting Haletky up with a huge lead heads up against Chavez.

Haletky had nothing but praise and empathy for Sandretto when he talked about eliminating him in that fashion.

“I really admire his game; he’s obviously a really amazing player. I feel bad, it’s sort of ICM suicide going against each other with those stacks. I felt like he must have a real hand, but I’ve got a hand. I figure if I four-bet and he has some middle pair, ace-queen, ace-jack, he’s going to have to fold because of the ICM suicide. Ace-king’s the only thing I’m worried about, and of course, he shows up with ace-king, and I just got so lucky.”

Haletky still had one more massive decision to come during heads-up play.

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One more big call for it all

While that hand gave Haletky a nearly 6-1 lead to start heads-up play versus Chavez, the runner-up clawed back to nearly even and could have taken the lead on what would instead be the hand that ended his comeback.

Chavez check-raised the turn for approximately 12,000,000 of the 30,000,000 chips in play at blinds of 125,000 / 250,000. A fold from Haletky would have given Chavez the lead, but after several minutes of thought, Haletky correctly called with a flopped two pair against Chavez’s turned top pair. 

Haletky and Franklin Chavez watch the runout on the final hand.

Haletky’s hand held up, and he was declared the champion.

It was a fitting way to end the tournament and gave Haletky another opportunity to explain his thought process in a massive moment.

“I thought I was actually ahead of some of his value range, like if he has ace-jack or a jack and a flush draw. I really don’t think I can fold. Also, if I fold, I’m relinquishing the lead and being just like ‘okay, yeah, you can just run me over. I think I had to take a stand.”

As mentioned, Haletky’s last WSOPC Main Event win came just before the COVID-19 pandemic, which limited his ability to spin his newfound bankroll into bigger opportunities.

Now with an extra $200,000+ to his name, Haletky says he’ll be making the most of it, targeting the upcoming Rolling Thunder Main Event, and a first crack at the WSOP Main Event as events he’ll have on his calendar.

“I think it’ll be really exciting. The money won’t be a big deal if I go in those events. I can expand my buy-in level finally.”