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Four years after he won his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, online poker phenom Calvin Anderson (cover image) has done it again! Proving yet again that he is just as good in live tournaments as he is on the virtual felts, Anderson towered over a record-setting field of 119 players to win Event #56: $10,000 Razz Championship for $309,220!
Anderson’s previous bracelet victory came in a $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 Or Better event in 2014 where he banked $190,538. Overall he has cashed in 36 WSOP events with accumulated earnings of $1,011,607.
“Basically, I think it’s important to keep a positive attitude because then you attract a lot of positive things in your life. Whenever you do complain and get frustrated, you’re losing a lot of power and giving it to someone else. Not only in the game, but anywhere else. Things like this happen all the time, and a big reason why I like poker is because it’s so relatable to life in so many areas,” Anderson said, after his win.
About the event he added, “It’s an enjoyable game in general. Most of the game is hand based. You can’t just bluff all in with deuce three off like hold ‘em. It’s just a chill game in general. I’m very comfortable in all the spots, and I always know where I am. My game…I’m adapting constantly to how everyone’s playing, putting myself in their shoes.”
The top 18 spots made it in the money and only 13 players came back for Day 3. Notables who made deep runs include Daniel Ospina (18th for $15,256), James Obst (16th for $15,256) and Per Hildebrand (14th for $17,706).
As the action unfolded on Day 3, Ted Forrest (13th for $17,706) and Eric Rodawig (12th for $21,059) were eliminated in quick succession.
Paul Volpe (11th for $21,059) suffered a massive hit and then lost two hands against Martini in quick succession to fall short of making the final table.
After Frank Kassela (10th for $191,111) busted out, the unofficial final table began with Anderson in a commanding lead. Allen Kessler (9th for $25,654) who was the shortest stack bowed out next to get play underway on the official eight-handed final table.
Final Table Recap
The first casualty on the final table was Dzmitry Urbanovich, who was eliminated in eighth place.
As the remaining seven players moved to the Brasilia live stream table, John Hennigan played only one hand before he was shown the door. Hennigan was down to one big bet where he went all in against Wong who was also short in chips. Hennigan was drawing dead on fifth street against an eight-seven and was eliminated in seventh place.
Alex Balandinthen fell prey to Kassela’s six-five on sixth street and exited in sixth place.
He was followed by Jerry Wong who was eliminated the very next hand by Kassela. Kassela held seven-six and clipped another seven on seventh street. Wong who was drawing live with an eight-five paired up with a three on seventh place but could do no better than a fifth place finish.
Mike Leah, who ended up with an eight-seven on seventh street against Martini who held a six-five, left for the rail next in fourth place.
In subsequent hands through the three-handed play, Kassela scooped a big pot against Anderson to reach the 2 Million mark and kept working at closing the gap but Anderson won some from Martini and rode up above 3 Million in chips.
Julien Martini then faced Kassela in a hand where both players bet right up till the fifth street. Kassela had a wheel draw that improved to an eight-seven after sixth street while Kassela caught a queen and then spiked an eight to hit a super eight-five while Martini could only pair his three and was relegated to the rail in third place.
The heads-up went on for quite a while during which the lead exchanged a few timed before it was decided to halt play for the day.
Day 4 Recap
Anderson came back with more than a 3:1 chip lead over Kassela and all it took were five hands to crown a champion. On the final hand, Frank Kassela was all in on third street for his remaining 30,000 after the ante. Anderson showed 3x2x/2x while Kassela revealed 7x10x 8x. Their runouts till seventh street got Anderson 3x2x/ 2x7x4xQx while Kassela held 7x10x/ 8xQx6x10x. Kassela had a queen-ten while Anderson held a queen-seven and was leading. Anderson ripped a 5x to hit a winning seven-five and with that he clinched his second WSOP bracelet!
Final Table Results (USD)
1. Calvin Anderson – $309,220
2. Frank Kassela – $191,111
3. Julien Martini – $134,587
4. Mike Leah – $96,744
5. Jerry Wong – $71,014
6. Alex Balandin – $53,253
7. John Hennigan – $40,817
8. Dzmitry Urbanovich – $31,992
Content & image courtesy WSOP.com
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