Brian Altman wins the World Series of Poker Circuit Stop at Harrah’s Cherokee

Brian Altman – Photo credit: WSOP Circuit

Brian Altman won the World Series of Poker circuit main event on February 27 at Harrah’s Casino in Cherokee, North Carolina. The poker pro from Longmeadow, Massachusetts defeated a large field to take home the first prize worth $393,753 and fourth WSOP Circuit ring.

The former Poker World Tour Player of the Year adds to his long poker resume with the win including three WPT titles ea WSOP gold bracelet. His career earnings are now up to $7,760,182.

Altman was awarded 1,080 Card player The player of the year aims to place him in the top 40 in the current POY extension standings with 1,200 points. Altman has had some strong performances in POY extension race in recent years, he finished 12th in 2021 and 11th in 2020.

The $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament had a prize pool of $2,356,299 thanks to three initial flights that attracted a total of 1,703 entries. The top 171 players all cashed at least $3,488 in prize money.

There were only 171 who returned for the second day of the tournament, and the field dwindled to 15 before the final day of the tournament on Monday. It took just under four hours of play to reach the final table when play resumed.

Though he didn’t bust any of the first four players who crashed at the final table, Altman led the way with 13.2 million going into five-handed play. Altman scored his first knockout by knocking out Kyle Cartwright in fifth place, increasing his stack to 17.7 million. Ronald Sewell then eliminated the next two players to secure a chip lead of 28,050,000 going into heads-up play to Altman’s 22,850,000.

Altman retook the lead about ten minutes later, but Sewell doubled up to survive with pocket kings and eventually held the chip lead once more. Altman then battled his way back to the top, and the next time Sewell moved all in he finished the tournament.

Sewell was all in preflop for 8 million with kings8and Altman had it covered holding A4. The advice was distributed A722Q, and Sewell was eliminated in second place, good for $242,121 for his long run in the tournament. Local player from Shelby, North Carolina and ex WSOP Circuit the winner of the ring got the biggest prize money of his poker career.

“I love playing circuit events. I consider myself a main event player and really enjoy playing against all different types of players. Trying to figure out how they play, and that’s what I really like about this type of player pool at the WSOP CircuitsAltman said at the WSOP Circuit journalists after the victory. He continued, “I really love this stop because the casino is in the middle of the Smoky Mountains. It’s absolutely beautiful here and there are great hikes that are very accessible.”

Some other notables with deep runs in the star-studded event included Russell Sullivan (14th), Tommy Vu (15h), Jeremy Eyer (24th), Alex Rocha (70th), Thad McNulty (80th), John Bowman (86th), Joshua Dean (102nd), David Somers (108th), Jared Ingles (110th), Keven Stammen (119th), Carlos Loving (134th), Donnie Phan (135th), Brett Bader ( 148th), Laura Born (150th), Vincent Moscati (157th) and Jeremy Joseph (165th).

Here is a look at the winnings awarded at the final table:

The next WSOP Circuit The event is already taking place at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana near Chicago, and will run until March 6th. The $1,700 buy-in main event begins on Friday, March 3rd. You can see the full tournament series schedule right here.