This week’s finale in the World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open attracted 1,027 entries and generated a prize pool of over $3.2 million, the lion’s share of which was taken home by winner Brian Altman (26) of Massachusetts.
After several days of hard-nosed poker the field was diluted to a final table that comprised Altman, Mark Dube, Kelly Minkin, Greg Rosen, Sanjay Gehi and Jon Graham, with Minkin the only female contender.
The potential excitement of a woman winning this major competition ended when Minkin was eliminated in third place for $262,912, leaving the heads up to Mark Dube (25) and Altman, with the former holding almost three-quarters of the chips on the table.
The disadvantage did not appear to worry Altman, who played a calm, professional and when necessary aggressive game to close the gap over the next two hours and finally send his opponent home with the runner up prize of $ 434,462.
Altman scored the main prize of $ 723,008, a pair of Monster DNA headphones, and a $15,400 seat at the WPT World Championship.
The six-figure pay-outs benefitted every member of the final table.