Since February, the World Poker Tour has offered quality poker gaming at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort thanks to a poker festival stop on the tour. The World Poker Tour Main Event of the stop recently concluded, with 440 players competing. The event kicked off on March 2 and required a $3,500 buy-in. With so many players competing, the tournament would end up with just over $1.4 million in prize money.

In the end, it was David Larson who earned the title win, defeating Ian Steinman in heads-up play to claim the victory.

Larson was able to outlast the large field of competitors and earn the first-place win during the Main Event, also securing a $15,000 seat to the WPT Tournament of Champions, a season-ending event. He also earned 1,000 points for the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race.

Larson had difficulty earning his way into the Main Event. He spent several days at the California casino trying to earn a seat via satellite tournaments but kept missing out. He ended up earning a little cash, around $2,000 and used that to pay for the majority of the Main Event buy-in.

When the final table was set, Larson would stand 6th in chips and have to work to make it to the final two. Eventually, the event would narrow down to Larson and Ian Steinman, with Steinman holding the lead at the start. However, Larson would quickly gain ground and take the lead, steadily pulling away. When Steinman was left with just a few big blinds, the final hand would go down.

Larson would shove on the river with A-6, and Steinman would call with pocket King’s. The King’s were no good as Larson had a full house, earning the hand and the tournament win.

Final Results:

Place Player Prize
First David Larson $295,128
Second Ian Steinman $201,428
Third Joe McKeehen $131,081
Fourth Ping Liu $97,510
Fifth Rayo Kniep $69,650
Sixth D.J. Alexander $56,417