Chris Brewer Wins 2021 Poker Masters $25,000 High Roller

Chris Brewer hit the high-stakes tournament scene running in 2020. Prior to that year, he had just shy of $85,000 in tournament earnings to his name. The 27-year-old poker pro and former collegiate distance runner now has more than $3.1 million cashes under his belt, with more than $2.5 million of that earned in 2021. Brewer’s latest big score saw him defeat a field of 57 entries in the 2021 Poker Masters $25,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller event, securing the title and the $427,500 first-place prize.

This was Brewer’s largest-ever tournament score, topping the $420,670 he secured as the winner of a $50,000 high roller at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open in August.

In addition to the title and the money, Brewer was also awarded 420 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion of this event. This was his second title and 16th POY-qualified final table of the year. As a result, he has moved into ninth place in the 2021 POY race, which is sponsored by Global Poker.

Brewer also locker up 257 PokerGO Tour points for the win. This was his 20th cash in qualifying events for that race, with more than $2.5 million in cashes made along the way. As result, Brewer now sits in third place in the PokerGO Tour standings. This was his third cash of the Poker Masters. With 320 points earned for the series, he currently ranks second in the race for the purple jacket.

The final day of this event began with five players remaining and Brewer in second chip position behind AP Louis Garza. Shot stack John Riordan got all-in early with J10 facing the Q4 of four-time World Poker Tour main event winner Darren Elias. The flop gave Elias trip fours to extend his lead. Riordan picked up a flush draw on the turn, but he failed to improve on the river and was eliminated in fifth place ($114,000).

Brock Wilson was the next to fall. He shoved the last of his short stack with Q-8 when it folded to him in the small blind. Elias called from the big blind with A-Q and held to narrow the field to three competitors. Wilson earned $142,500 and 86 rankings points for his third final-table finish of the series. The event no. 4 champion surged into the lead in the player of the series race, with 358 points and $414,300 in earnings so far.

Brewer spent much of three-handed play as the shortest stack, but he managed to edge past Garza in time for the next big clash. Elias folded on the button and Brewer shoved from the small blind with 86. Garza called off his last seven or so big blinds with A4 and was ahead, until an eight on the flop gave Brewer the lead. The turn and river were of no help to Garza and he was knocked out in third place, earning $199,500 for his third cash of the series.

Elias took more than a 3:1 chip lead into heads-up play. He scored a key double up with top pair against the middle pair and backdoor flush draw of Elias to essentially even the playing field. Brewer was able to overtake the lead and then extend his advantage over the next 50 minutes. By the time the final hand was dealt, his lead had grown to more than 3:1. Elias moved all-in for just over 13 big blinds from the button with 109. Brewer made the call with K9. The board ran out J64AQ and Brewer secured the pot and the title. Elias earned $285,000 as the runner-up, increasing his career earnings to more than $9.3 million.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded on the final day:

Winner photo provided by PokerGO.

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