Joseph Hebert (13,050,000 -- 87 BBs)
One of the more accomplished players at the final table with $667K in documented live cashes according to the The Hendon Mob, Hebert has positioned himself fantastically thanks to a monstrous chip lead that sees him enter play with more than double the chips of his two nearest competitors.
Hebert, 38, has been active in the live scene for more than a decade mostly in the South, where he has been a regular at WSOPC events in Biloxi, Choctaw, New Orleans and Tunica, all close to his native Metairie, Louisiana. Despite more than $250K in Circuit cashes, a ring win has eluded him.
As if the chance for ultimate WSOP gold and $1.5 million in first-place prize money wasn't motivation enough, Hebert will be playing to make good on some of the last words he exchanged with his mother before her death earlier this year.
I texted her, ‘Man, one day I hope I can win a bracelet. It’s something I always dreamed of and I just don’t know how many more chances I’m going to have to do that.’ She texted me back and said, ‘I keep hoping and praying that what will be, will be. Things will work out.’ That was our last text, she passed away three days later.”
Linda had been assisting others involved in a nearby accident and had called in an ambulance, but she wound up in it instead when a pulmonary embolism occurred. Unable to recover in the hospital, she died days later.
“This is all for her, it’s #ForLinda, that’s my mom’s name,” an emotional Hebert revealed. “I just want everybody to know that."