Yi Li Comes From the Back of the Pack to Win the Main Event at bestbet's Summer Heater Poker Series ($101,146)

The $1,500 Main Event at bestbet Jacksonville’s Summer Heater Poker Series has come to an end and Yi Li is the champion after he defeated James Leonard in heads-up play to take home the top prize of $101,146.

Li outlasted the 47 players that returned for Day 2 to come from the bottom of the chip counts at the final table for the win. The event drew a total of 347 runners over two opening flights and generated a prize pool of $497,420.

$1,500 Main Event Final Table Results

Place	Name	Hometown	Prize
1	Yi Li	Jacksonville, FL	$101,146
2	James Leonard	Jacksonville, FL	$67,431
3	Jack Sumner	St. John’s FL	$49,446
4	Jason Lee	Jacksonville, FL	$36,724
5	Peter Le	Jacksonville, FL	$27,630
6	Brian Kent	Melbourne, FL	$21,064
7	Thomas Carroll	North Augusta, SC	$16,273
8	Dustin Nelson	Tallahassee, FL	$12,742

Winner’s Reaction

Li’s previous best tournament finish was a run to fourth place in the 2017 SHPRO Championship in Hollywood, Florida. The win brings his lifetime earnings to just shy of $450,000, but Li says he is more of a cash games player.

“I only play about five tournaments a year. Mostly at bestbet,” Li said in his post-win interview with PokerNews. “If they have a tournament here I support it. I like it here.”

Li has been coming to bestbet since it opened, mostly to play cash games and see his friends. The champ says he spends almost every day in the card room.

“I like the people. Everybody I know is here. I can hang out and drink and gamble every day.”

Li's win capped a rollercoaster week on the felt, and he joked that the top prize does not even bring him back to even.

“I’m heading back to the cash tables. I didn’t even brake even this week! I’m down $150,000! Seriously. You think I am kidding," he said with a laugh. "I am still down this week. I am not even yet!”

Day 2 Action

It took more than seven hours of play to reach the last table after 47 players returned for the Day 2 finale. The unofficial final table was formed when Tai Lee got the last of his small stack in with ace-eight, but Peter Le was there to take him out with ace-king. Le came into Day 2 as the overall chip leader, and he had several knockouts throughout the afternoon that set the pace at the top of the leaderboard.

Jared Reinstein was the first to go at the unofficial final table when his ace-king ran into the pocket aces of Dustin Nelson. Nelson used several big hands in the late stages to propel himself to the top part of the leaderboard during the final table.

When the final eight players sat down for the official final table, Le was at the top of the chip counts and Li was bringing up the rear with just nine big blinds.

Li’s turning point came just prior to that when he found himself in a three-way all-in pot with pocket queens against the pocket jacks of Kent and the pocket tens of Nelson. The board ran out in Li's favor, and he picked up a full triple while Nelson was left short. It took nearly two hours to get the first elimination of the finale, and it was Nelson who bowed out in eighth when Brian Kent sent his short-stack shove to the rail with pocket sixes.

Thomas Carroll was next to go in seventh place when his king-jack couldn’t catch up to Leonard’s pocket fours. Carroll made it to the final table by way of several big hands in the final two tables of the evening.

The pace of eliminations picked up from there and it didn’t take long before Kent was out in sixth place. He got it in with ace-eight, but Li was there with pocket fives to close the door. The hand put Li near 2,000,000 for the first time on the day.

Le, the Day 1b chip leader, was out in fifth for another of Li’s late eliminations. Le got it in with Big Slick, but Li’s pocket eights held on for another knockout that took him near 3.5 million chips. Day 1a chip leader Jason Lee was right behind in fourth, once again to Li, who found pocket kings at just the right time to beat Lee’s queen-ten.

Jack Sumner laddered up throughout the final table but his day came to an end in third place when he was another one of Li’s victims. Sumner shoved an open-ended straight draw on the flop, but Li’s mid-pair held on to send him to the rail.

The red-hot late run set up Li with the chip lead going into heads-up play with Leonard, and it was mere minutes before the tournament found a conclusion. The big moment came when Leonard shoved with king-queen, but Li’s jack-ten made a straight to claim the victory and the top prize of $101,146.

Congratulations to Yi Li for winning the $1,500 Main Event at bestbet Jacksonville’s Summer Heater Poker Series!

Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team in the future for live updates from your favorite poker tournaments around the world.

bestbet Jacksonville Summer Heater Poker Series Results

Event	Winner	Total Entries	Top Prize
#1: $400 NLH	Bobby Tieu	750	$50,801
#2: $400 NLH w/ $100 Bounties	Jojic Jovan	128	$30,080
#3: $260 NLH	Raminder Singh	89	$19,135
#4: $300 H.O.E.	James Shibley	26	$7,800
#5: $360 NLH Monster Stack	Greg Robinson	123	$36,900
#6: $300 Big O or Better	Herb Gartner	47	$11,500
#7: $500 PLO	Ricky Patel	45	$19,350
#8: $260 NLH Turbo w/ $50 Bounties	Ricky Stone	79	$2,725*
#9: $660 NLH 6-Max	Shane Scorza	86	$10,208*
#10: The bestbet 500		134