Congratulations to Aaron Van Blarcum, Winner of the 2019 Legends of Poker Main Event!

Heads-up play lasted for about an hour before Aaron Van Blarcum was able to finish off Gueorgui Gantchev. On the final hand, Gantchev got his stack in preflop holding [5s][5d], but he was dominated by the [10c][10s] of Van Blarcum. The board ran down [Qs][8c][4c][3d][2d], and the tournament was over!

Gantchev will take home $306,265 for his runner up finish, but the glory belongs to Aaron Van Blarcum! He earns $459,390, and a seat to the $15,000 Tournament of Champions at the end of the season.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the 2019 Legends of Poker Series. We will see you guys again in October for the Big Poker Oktober. See you guys then!

Gantchev Doubles Through Van Blarcum

Gueorgui Gantchev and Aaron Van Blarcum went heads up to a flop of [7s][5h][2h]. Gantchev check called a bet of 400,000 from Van Blarcum, and the [9s] hit the turn. Gantchev checked, Van Blarcum fired 800,000, and Gantchev check raised all in for 4,900,000.

Van Blarcum called with [8h][7h], and he was behind the [5c][2c] of Gantchev, but he had plenty of outs to catch him. The [Jd] river wasn't one of those, and Gantchev doubled up into the chip lead with over 11 million, while Van Blarcum falls to 9,500,000.

Jared Griener Eliminated in 3rd Place ($226,040)

Blinds: 50,000-100,000

On the very next hand, Jared Griener would limp from the small blind, and Aaron Van Blarcum raised to 300,000. Griener three bet shoved all in for about 2.85 million, and Van Blarcum made the call with [9h][9d].

He was dominating the [7h][7d] of Griener, and the sevens would never catch up, as the board ran down [8c][5s][2s][9c][4d].

This gets us to heads up play, with Van Blarcum holding a lead of 16,490,000 to 4,305,000 over Gueorgui Gantchev.

Griener Doubles Through Gantchev

Action folded to Gueorgui Gantchev in the small blind, and he bet enough to put Jared Griener all in. The LA regular called off his final 1.35 million with [5c][5h], and he was flipping against the [Kc][Qc] of Gantchev.

The flop of [As][10h][5d] gave Griener bottom set, but a jack would still work for Gantchev. That hope ended when another ace came on the turn, giving Griener an unbeatable full house.

He doubled up to 2.85 million after that pot, while Gantchev fell to 4.2 million.

Vahan Sudzhyan Eliminated in 4th Place ( $168,630)

Blinds: 40,000-80,000

Vahan Sudzhyan started the action with a raise, and Aaron Van Blarcum reraised to 680,000. Sudzhyan called, and they went heads up to a flop of [Qs][7s][4s]. Van Blarcum continued for 750,000, and Sudzhyan tagged along to see the [10s] hit the turn.

This time, Van Blarcum checked, and Sudzhyan gave it some thought before shoving all in. Van Blarcum thought for about a minute before calling with [Ad][Ks] for the second nuts, and Sudzhyan was caught drawing dead with [6h][5h].

This leaves us three handed now, with Blarcum opening up a nice lead on the other two.

Jisup Hwang Eliminated in 5th Place ( $127,165)

Jisup Hwang was down to his final 1.6 million when he got that money in preflop holding pocket threes. He was well behind the pocket queens of Gueorgui Gantchev, and neither player improved their hand on the flop. A third queen on the turn left Hwang drawing dead, and he will have to settle for the $127,165 fifth place prize.

With that pot, Gantchev has retaken the chip lead, as we have just four players remaining now!

Fresh Counts From the Final Five on Break

Blinds: 40,000-80,000 Average: 4,160,000

Aaron Van Blarcum - 6,265,000
Vahan Sudzhyan - 5,5350,000
Gueorgui Gantchev - 4,615,000
Jisup Hwang - 2,765,000
Jared Griener - 1,615,000

Looking Ahead to the Big Poker Oktober

The Legends of Poker might be wrapping up today, but we have more big poker tournaments coming for you starting later this month, at the 2019 Big Poker Oktober! Highlights of the series include the third Quantum Millions Event, where players will be competing both here and at the Ocean's 11 Casino in San Diego, as well as the $1,100 Card Player Tour Main Event. 

The action kicks off on Saturday, September 28th, and will run through Tuesday, October 29th. Check below for a photo copy of the schedule, and please come out to join us then for more huge action! 

Antonios Roungeris Eliminated in 6th Place ($96,955)

After a raise from Aaron Van Blarcum, Antonios Roungeris three bet shoved all in for  a bit over a million chips. Van Blarcum got the count, then called with [Js][Jh]. He was well ahead of the [7c][7s] of Roungeris.

The flop of [Ks][Qs][9s] gave both players a flush draw, keeping Van Blarcum well out in the lead. The turn and river were both blanks, leaving Roungeris as the first victim of the final table today.

The Legends of Poker Final Table Has Started

We are ready to get things going with the final table of the WPT Legends of Poker Main Event! Below you will see the final six players today, who have all locked up at least $96,955. They all have their eyes set on the first place prize of $459,390. We will be posted the updates on a 30 minute delay in accordance to the Live at the Bike Stream.

Good luck to the final six, and stay tuned to find out who the next Legends of Poker Champion is!

Seat 1: Jared Griener - 2,750,000

Seat 2: Aaron Van Blarcum - 2,050,000

Seat 3: Jisup Hwang - 4,380,000

Seat 4: Antonios Roungeris - 2,720,000

Seat 5: Gueorgui Gantchev - 5,560,000

Seat 6: Vahan Sudzhyan - 3,335,000