Anderson took down Aaron Pinson in the final heads-up battle for the win
Calvin Anderson became a millionaire on Tuesday at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Prime Championship, beating Aaron Pinson heads-up for the win at the $5 million guaranteed $1,100 buy-in tournament. The 10,512 entries almost doubled last year’s count in the event won by Stephen Song, who took home a $712,650 payday.
Six players remained on December 13, but the final table wasn’t played until the 19th for the live-streaming portion. Jay Lu was the chip leader with 77 big blinds, but four-time bracelet winner Anderson wasn’t far back.
Anderson first took down Valeriy Pak, who finished sixth for $290,000, with pocket kings. Pinson later eliminated Bob Buckenmayer in fifth place for $380,000. Jon Glendinning was next to fall after jamming with middle pair but was called by Anderson’s top pair to receive $505,000 for fourth place.
Pinson was well behind Anderson and Lu in the chip count at the start of three-handed play but would win several mid-sized pots to take the lead. Anderson would then take most of Lu’s stack after hitting a straight on the river to beat his set of threes. Afterward, Lu went all-in against Pinson after both hit top pair on the flop, but got no help on the run out to finish third for $675,000.
As head-up play started, Pinson had almost a 3-1 chip lead. But Anderson would quickly take the lead back after turning the nut straight against Pinson’s smaller straight. Pinson was all-in on the final hand with K-Q vs. Anderson’s Q-7, but two more 7s on the board would end the tournament. Pinson took the $910,000 runner-up prize, while the champion secured $1,386,280, $1 million more than his previous best tournament cash.
Emma Rodriguez is the Proofreader at the Big Blind, with seven years of experience and five years in online gambling. She plays a crucial role in maintaining content quality by ensuring error-free, reader-friendly information about the gambling industry.
