This Week’s Big Winner: Aaron Van Blarcum Wins $474,390 at WPT Legends Of Poker Main Event

A total of 520 entries were made in the 2019 World Poker Tour Legends of Poker $5,000 no-limit hold’em main event at the Bicycle Hotel & Casino, to create a final prize pool of $2,392,000. After two starting flights and three more days of top-notch poker action, it was Aaron Van Blarcum who emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of $474,390.

This was the 43-year-old from Dallas, Texas’ first major live tournament win. Prior to securing this massive score of nearly half of a million dollars, Van Blarcum’s best cash was for his deep run in this year’s World Series of Poker main event for $50,855.

“Normally I just play cash games and that’s it. I go to the tournaments, but never play the tournaments, so I just decided to give it a try,” Van Blarcum told WPT reporters. “At the World Series [main event] I got 212th, so I decided to go ahead and do six of these. This was the first stop, so it looks like it turned out pretty well, and I’ll continue to do it.”

Van Blarcum entered the final day of this event as the shortest stack with six players remaining. While he was out chipped by all five of his opponents, he was still relatively deep, with over 40 big blinds in his stack when play resumed.

Here are the five key hands that propelled Van Blarcum to the title.

Tournament: WPT Legends of Poker
Buy-In: $5,000
No. of Entries: 520
Prize Pool: $2,392,000
1st Place Prize: $474,390

The Action

Van Blarcum raised to 155,000 from the button and Roungeris shoved for his last 1,215,000 from the big blind. Van Blarcum called with pocket jacks, and Roungeris was in trouble with pocket sevens. The board didn’t produce any sevens, and Roungeris was taken out in sixth place for $96,955.

The Action

Van Blarcum raised to 175,000 from the cutoff and was called by Hwang on the button and Gantchev from the big blind. The flop fell A K 2 and everyone checked. The turn was the Q and Van Blarcum bet 150,000. Hwang called, and the river was the A. Van Blarcum bet 300,000, and Hwang called. Van Blarcum revealed J 10 for a rivered royal flush and Hwang mucked… obviously.

The Action

Sudzhyan raised to 200,000 on the button and Van Blarcum three-bet to 680,000 from the big blind. Sudzhyan called, and the flop fell Q 7 4. Van Blarcum continued for 750,000 and Sudzhyan called. The turn was the 10, and Van Blarcum slowed down with a check. Sudzhyan then moved all in for 2,070,000, and despite not holding the nuts, Van Blarcum found a call with A K. Sudzhyan could only show down 6 5 for an open-ended straight draw, and was drawing dead. He earned $168,630 for his fourth-place showing.

The Action

Griener limped in from the small blind and Van Blarcum raised to 300,000 from the big blind. Griener then shoved for his last 2,850,000 and Van Blarcum made the call with pocket nines. Griener was behind with pocket sevens and failed to connect with the flop of 8 5 2. The turn was the 9, giving Van Blarcum top set, but also giving Griener a gutshot straight draw. The river was the 4, and Griener was eliminated. He pocketed $226,040 for his third-place finish.

The Action

Van Blarcum raised to 460,000 on the button and Gantchev three-bet to 1,800,000. Van Blarcum then shoved, and Gantchev called off his stack with pocket fives. Van Blarcum held pocket tens, however, and they held to earn him the final pot of the tournament. Gantchev picked up $306,250 for his runner-up finish, while Van Blarcum took home the title, trophy, and $474,390 first-place prize.

Final Table Results

1. Aaron Van Blarcum — $474,390
2. Gueorgui Gantchev — $306,250
3. Jared Griener — $226,040
4. Vahan Sudzhyan — $168,630
5. Jisup Hwang — $127,165
6. Antonios Roungeris — $96,955
7. Taylor Black — $74,740
8. Kitty Kuo — $58,265
9. Jeremy Joseph — $45,940