This week’s poker news starts us off with a life-changing win for a player who had never won more than $50,855 in an event. It’s a good reminder why players stick with it and grind it out until they finally get their day in the spotlight.
Blarcum Wins 2019 World Poker Tour Legends Of Poker Main Event
A total of 520 players entered the World Poker Tour Legends Of Poker event at the famous Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. In the end, it was Aaron Van Blarcum who was the last man standing at the $5,000 no-limit, hold’em main event. Van Blarcum took home a total of $2,392,000 first-place prize, which surpassed the guaranteed total of $2 million that was set for the event.
It was the first major live tournament victory for the 43-year-old from Dallas, Texas, who had never finished with a bigger payout than the $50,855 he took home for a 212th-place finish in this year’s World Series of Poker main event. In addition to the money that Van Blarcum took home, he also earned 1,680 Card Player Player of the Year points for the victory. Even with just one Player of the Year-qualified score, Van Blarcum catapulted into 129th place in the 2019 Player of the Year race standings.
While Van Blarcum was the big winner at this tournament, each of the top five finishers wound up taking home upwards of $127K. Van Blarcum talked after the victory about how he usually attends big tournaments but usually doesn’t play in them. It’s a good thing he decided to go all-in this time around with a major payday that should inspire him to play in a lot bigger tournaments moving forward.
Card Player Poker Tour Deadwood Shootout Will Take Place In November
We finally have details on a new fall event: The Card Player Poker Tour Deadwood stop. The tour will make its way to Deadwood, South Dakota in November for the first time ever for the 2019 CPPT Deadwood Shootout $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. The tournament will take place at the Silverado-Franklin Historic Hotel & Gaming Complex from November 8th through November 10th.
Deadwood is a city that was established during the Black Hills Gold Rush back in 1876. Now it gets the opportunity to host an incredible poker tournament that should attract hundreds of interested players. The Silverado-Franklin Historic Hotel & Gaming Complex sits atop Deadwood’s Historic Main Street. This venue has hosted a number of different poker events over the years and now it will be the site of the first-ever Card Player Poker Tour champion decided in South Dakota later this year.
Reichard Is Big Winner Of Heartland Poker Tour Main Event Title
Wisconsin-native Josh Reichard was the big winner of this year’s Heartland Poker Tour $1,650 no-limit hold’em main event at the Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago. It marked the second time that Reichard won this specific tournament. The two victories in the same event are the biggest of Reichard’s career.
The first time he captured the win, Reichard took home $221,293 (in 2018). This time around, he took home $186,812 for the victory as he outlasted a field of 579 different entries to win this tournament. For his career, he’s now picked up over $1.5 million in live event earnings.
Reichard and runner-up David McDermott were the only two entries that took home upwards of $115K. Eddie Blumenthal won $75,637 for his third-place finish, Michael O’Neil won $52,555 for placing fourth and Brett Apter won $38,192 to round out the top-five finishers at this year’s Heartland Poker Tour $1,650 no-limit hold’em main event.