One bullet. Robert Anderson entered the $3,000 buy-in Potomac Poker Open Main Event once. No reentries. No reckless play because he had another buy-in in his back pocket. Just one entry, and that’s all it took.
Sundown on a Successful Poker Tournament Series
The 2025 Potomac Poker Open at MGM National Harbor is in the history books. The tournament series brought big crowds into the poker room at resort-casino in Maryland over the course of two weeks in mid-August. There was more than $2,000,000 in guarantees on the line across 24 tournaments, and not for nothing, the well-air-conditioned establishment was a welcome break from the summer heat.
It kicked off with the Opener tournament, which brought in 1,687 entries for a prize pool of $851,935, well past the $750,000 guarantee. And Sungwoon Yoo took it down for $139,986, more than quadrupling his lifetime live tournament earnings to that point.
Mixed games were a hit, as events like the single-day PLO-8 tournament more than doubled its guarantee with a $22,110 prize pool, and the Big O more than tripled its promise with an actual prize pool of $32,010. As for the winners, McClaren Chatham did well by winning Event 6 and then chopping Event 11. And just for kicks, we noticed that players named Wang, Yang, and Zhang each took home trophies.
But there was only one Main Event winner, and that was Robert Anderson, who collected the two beautiful winner trophies and took his Hendon Mob page to new heights.
All of the results, many series highlights, and so many photos are available on Poker.org’s live updates page from the Potomac Poker Open.
Robert Anderson and His Potomac Poker Open Main Event
Robert Anderson is not a poker pro by his own definition, and he primarily sticks to smaller tournaments that don’t keep him away from his family for long. This one, though, he wanted to win. And he did.
A Million Dollar Guarantee
It was a rather large buy-in for many players, so some satellited in via on-site super satellites at MGM National Harbor and through numerous BetMGM Poker online qualifiers. The $3,000 buy-in Potomac Poker Open Main Event had a hot $1,000,000 guarantee on it, though, so it drew in the crowds. Two starting days produced the following results:
- Total entries: 377
- Total prize pool: $1,017,900
- Total payouts: 49 players
There were many recognizable poker faces in the money of this event, including Brian Altman, aforementioned event winners Sungwoon Yoo and Justin Arnwine, poker influencers and vloggers Jaman Burton and Ashley Frank, and Frankie Zeta.
Anderson’s Tournament Journey
The eventual winner started his tournament on Day 1A and finished that night 16th in chips of 35 survivors. But when he sat down to start Day 2, he was 35th in chips of the 72 players still in action.
Day 2 saw some big names fall before the money bubble, competitors like Christian Harder, Esther Taylor, BetMGM Poker Ambassador Darren Elias, Lara Eisenberg, and Joe McKeehen. Meanwhile, Anderson was on a roller coaster ride. He eliminated Chun Yang before the bubble and climbed to 1.3 million chips by doubling through Zeta when his pocket fours cracked pocket aces. Down to three tables, Anderson busted Zeta and then Casey Hatmaker, and he sent Ashira Lavine home in 11th place.
The final table began with Anderson holding a significant chip lead, as his 4.5 million stack towered over the others, none of whom had more than three million.
Never Giving Up
The final table began on Day 2. Anderson laid low as it got underway and just chipped up here and there as other players tangled in big pots. Nick Verderamo had surpassed Anderson on the leaderboard during that time, but the latter put a stop to that. The two got involved in a preflop raising war that led to Anderson moving all-in with K-J of clubs, but Verderamo called with pocket aces. However, the board delivered two clubs on the flop and another on the turn to give Anderson a massive double-up to 7.32 million chips. Just after that, Anthony Ibrahim shoved with pocket threes, and Anderson called with K-J – offsuit this time. He found Broadway on the Q-6-6-A-T board, and sent Ibrahim to the rail.
Play then stopped for the night. When they returned on Monday, August 25, Anderson was the chip leader again. His stack of nearly eight million chips was far beyond his competitors, all of them under three million.
Day 3 started with Anderson losing a good-sized pot to Samuel Rosen. Brett Bassock doubled through Anderson, but the latter then doubled through Frank Zhang to take the lead again. Anderson then busted Zhang, and he followed Verderamo to the cashier cage. Lucas Vergara doubled through Anderson and then busted Rosen, and Vergara took more chips from Anderson before eliminating Bassock in third place.
Heads-Up Deficit to Dream Win at Potomac Poker Open
Vergara started heads-up play with 18,220,000 chips, while Anderson hung on with 4,400,000. But it didn’t take long for Anderson to double through his opponent with K-2 suited over pocket deuces by turning a flush. Anderson lost ground and doubled again, then slowly climbing with some patient play. The big double-up came when Anderson shoved with pocket aces on a 7-A-4-5 board against the A-4 of Vergara. Anderson came out of that winning hand with nearly 18 million chips.
Vergara did double once, but he then shoved with pocket nines in the hopes of doing it again. Anderson called with A-J and caught an ace on the flop. The dealer showed A-2-Q-2-3 to end the game, and Anderson won his first major tournament for $211,915.
Play Online and Qualify for Live BetMGM Poker Events
There are numerous articles hailing the convenience of playing poker online. There are cash games, tournaments, and sit-n-goes around the clock, offering various buy-in levels and endless opportunities to gain experience at the tables.
One of the highlights of playing at BetMGM Poker these days is the many qualifiers offering seats to live tournaments. As mentioned, many players at the Potomac Poker Open won their seats through online poker satellites at BetMGM. And with the new Borgata Big Big Buy-in tournament series on deck, there are daily qualifiers to enable players to win their way in at a fraction of the scheduled buy-ins. And don’t forget to take advantage of the poker welcome bonus if you’re just getting started at BetMGM.
