Francis Anderson Wins WSOP Independence Day Celebration EventNew York Poker Pro Tops 4,263 Entries To Earn $501,040 and His First Bracelet |
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Francis Anderson has been agonizingly close to winning a World Series of Poker gold bracelet several times in recent years. His first brush with gold came in 2019, when he finished fourth in the $2,620 ‘Marathon’ event. A few years later he placed third in the 2022 ‘Monster Stack’ for a then career-best payday of $449,912. Most recently, he finished fourth again in the 2023 Poker Hall of Fame bounty event. Finally, after all of those near misses, Anderson was able to close out a win at the WSOP in 2024. He topped a field of 4,263 entries in the $800 buy-in Independence Day Celebration no-limit hold’em event, earning his first bracelet and a new top score of $501,040.
The Wappinger Falls, New York native now has more than $3.2 million in lifetime live earnings to his name.
“I won my first WSOP bracelet last night and I hit my biggest score ever! Feeling so grateful right now. Thanks everyone that reached out to me and congratulated me,” said Anderson in a social media post after coming out on top.
The big turnout for this event, which ran from July 3-5, resulted in a final prize pool of $3,630,213. The top 365 finishers made the money, with five-figures or more for the final 53.
Plenty of big names ran deep, including two-time bracelet winner John Riordan (97th), two-time bracelet winner Mark Seif (41st), three-time bracelet winner Ari Engel (35th), bracelet winner Benjamin Ector (21st), and two-time bracelet winner Martin Zamani (7th).
The top six all earned six-figure paydays. Bamshad Azizi cracked pocket kings with pocket sixes to eliminate Tom Cohen in sixth place ($105,960). Azizi (5th – $138,490) was unable to come from behind a second time in a row, though, and was knocked out when his pocket nines clashed with the pocket jacks of Brent Lee.
Donnie Barnard got all-in with Q-9 suited against the pocket queens of Lee. He flopped an open-ended straight draw for a sweat, but the turn and river brought no further help and he was sent to the rail in fourth place ($182,350).
Lee continued to surge, with his pocket fives holding against A-4 for Taylor Williams in the next all-in confrontation. Williams earned $241,850 as the third-place finisher.
Heads-up play began with Lee well out in front of Anderson. The gap was narrowed considerably when Anderson’s A-J won a flip against a small pocket pair of Lee, but he still trailed by a decent margin. That soon changed when Anderson’s pocket kings won a big pot against the flopped top pair of queens of Lee. Anderson called all-in on the river to move into the lead.
In the final hand, Lee shoved from the button for eight or so big blinds with Q
2 and Anderson called with 4
4. The board ran out 10
9
635 and Anderson’s pocket fours were enough to lock up the pot and the title. Lee earned a career-best payday of $323,080 as the runner-up.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | Francis Anderson | $501,040 | 660 |
| 2 | Brent Lee | $323,080 | 550 |
| 3 | Taylor Williams | $241,850 | 440 |
| 5 | Donnie Barnard | $182,350 | 330 |
| 6 | Bamshad Azizi | $138,490 | 275 |
| 7 | Tom Cohen | $105,960 | 220 |
| 8 | Martin Zamani | $81,660 | 165 |
| 9 | Regina Sevilha | $63,410 | 110 |
| 9 | Jaskaran Brar | $49,613 | 55 |
Photo credit: WSOP / Regina Cortina.
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