Joshua Pollock Scores WPT Legends of Poker Title; Brad Owen Tops Own Online Tournament
The World Poker Tour’s Legends of Poker wrapped on Thursday at the Bicycle Casino with Joshua Pollock coming out on top for $573,350.
Pollock entered the final table second in chips with Ray Qartomy leading the field. However, Pollock chipped up throughout the day, eliminating three of his opponents including Qartomy in heads-up play. This becomes Pollock’s first WPT win after finishing fourth in the same poker tournament in 2011 for $128,500 in 2011.
“This tournament was a dream,” Pollock told WPT.com after the win. “I ran okay on day one and just ran super well on day two, especially on the last level. I went from one of the bottom stacks to chip leader.
“Probably this is the best I’ve ever run in a tournament. (Ray) is a legend. He has the most WPT final tables ever. It was awesome playing him heads up. It felt like we were in a home game playing heads-up, and it was really enjoyable.”
A look at the winner
Getting to the winner’s circle didn’t come without some challenges. Despite being ahead going into heads-up play, Qartomy was able to grab the chip lead himself at one point.
However, that was short lived and Pollock turned things around to recapture the lead only a few hands later. The final hand saw Pollock’s pocket eights top Qartomy’s A♦8♦.
Qartomy owns a business in Houston, Texas, and is a WPT regular. He earned $380,000 for runner-up and the entire tournament saw 642 entries for a $3.1 million prize pool.
After taking 1st Place in #LegendsOfPoker for $573,350, Joshua Pollock will have his name permanently inscribed on our #WPTChampionsCup and become our newest #WPTChampionsClub member!
We’re headed to Tampa and Day 1A kicks off tomorrow at 11am. Live coverage will begin tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/zgJQKmVedm
— World Poker Tour (@WPT) September 2, 2022
Pollock, who lives in San Diego, California, now has $1.7 million in live tournament winnings. Along with a WPT title, he also has two World Series of Poker bracelets from 2013 and 2019.
Along with the Legends cash, the champion also scored player of the festival. That honor comes with a seat in the WPT World Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas in December. He and his wife have a baby on the way, so Pollock is unsure if he’ll be able to cash that in.
“My wife and I are about to go on a babymoon to Hawaii next week,” Pollock said. “This might be the last live tournament I might play for a while, so this was a good tournament to win. If they can’t defer the seat to next year, we will see if my wife will let me come.”
Here’s a look at the final six players.
WPT Legends of Poker 2022
- Joshua Pollock – $573,350
- Ray Qartomy – $380,000
- Matthew Wantman – $280,000
- Aaron Motoyama – $207,000
- Lei Lei – $156,000
- Adam Hendrix – $119,000
Brad Owen takes down his own tournament
In other news, WPT ambassador and vlogger Brad Owen hosted an online poker freeroll tournament on Aug. 28 at ClubWPT. The winner would earn a $12,000 WPT passport for the WPT World Championship at Wynn.
However, Owen eventually won his own tournament. Not only did he take down the event, no one cashed in on the $2,500 WPT Prime Championship passport that was a bounty on his head during the event. Those top prizes now shift to the second and third place finishers.
I didn’t think I’d actually win 😂😂😂 https://t.co/wEryeEXHKb pic.twitter.com/MK4XyhgVHz
— Brad Owen (@TheBradOwen) August 29, 2022
William Hanes, Colorado, finished runner-up for the World Championship prize. Don Butler, of Ontario, Canada, took third to win the Prime package. The tournament brought in 2,154 players and is the largest tournament Owen has ever won.
“I am so pumped to have won the WPT World Championship Bounty on ClubWPT,” he said. “When it finished, I was in shock over taking down a field of over 2,000 players. A big thank you to all the players who entered the tournament. I’m really happy that the second and third-place finishers will each be receiving a WPT passport.”
Looking ahead
The WPT action continues on Friday with the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa stop kicking off. The $3,500 event comes with a $1 million guarantee and runs through Sept. 7.
Brian Altman took down the event last year for $613,225 and his third WPT title.
Following the Tampa event, the tour heads down under for the (AU)$5,400 WPT Australia at The Star Gold Coast from Sept. 23-27. The $10,400 Five Diamond World Poker Classic then runs Oct. 19-23 in Las Vegas.
* Lead image courtesy WPT/Joe Giron