The BetMGM Fall Festival wrapped a busy few weeks of poker tournaments on the East Coast. The series at MGM National Harbor in Maryland was short and sweet but no less serious and competitive. 

In the end, Guan Hao Tan took down the Championship title, while BetMGM Poker Ambassador Darren Elias finished third and BetMGM content creation partner Abby Merk finished in 11th place. 

BetMGM Fall Festival Championship at MGM National Harbor

Call it the Main Event, the Championship, or the series finale, it was the culmination of a handful of events that brought the mini-series to a close. The $1,100 buy-in No Limit Hold’em affair offered three starting days (November 21-23) and a $250,000 prize pool guarantee. The final tally on the tournament board showed:

• Total entries:  243
• Total prize pool:  $250,000

BetMGM held up its guarantee, despite the final prize pool being a bit short of that number.

Darren Elias Flexes with Chips

When the last of the three flights finished, the players were in the money and 31 of them remained in contention for the title and top prize of $55,250. Elias was the chip leader going into Day 2. He held that spot for much of the day, though Aaron Pinson and Guan Hao Tan were not far behind.

Late into the evening, Elias actually busted Merk from the tournament in 11th place, for which she won $5,063, and play stopped soon after with nine players remaining. 

Of the final nine, Elias had the second-largest stack of chips, as Chu-Ming Wu had climbed into the top spot. Both of them had more than two million chips, and the only other player over the one million mark was Tan. 

Final Table of Double-Ups

The final day of action was a wild ride for some of the nine contenders. It started with short-stacked Tim Faro climbing the leaderboard through eliminations and double-ups, and Aaron Pinson took much the same path. Elias soared into a distant lead but lost some when Tan doubled through him. Pinson took over the lead until Elias doubled through him.

Key eliminations took place when Pinson sent Faro home and Tan ousted former chip leader Wu. Elias eliminated the fourth-place finisher, but Tan busted Elias with A-K over A-T. Elias took home third-place money, while Tan took a massive chip lead into heads-up against Pinson.

The last two players started with small-ball poker, but Pinson made his all-in move with A-4, only to see Tan covering him with A-T. Pinson finished second, and Tan won his first major tournament.

• 1st place:  Guan Hao Tan ($55,250)
• 2nd place:  Aaron Pinson ($38,213)
• 3rd place:  Darren Elias ($25,625)
• 4th place:  Rob Cohen ($15,588)
• 5th place:  Chu-Ming Wu ($12,038)
• 6th place:  Tim Faro ($9,975)
• 7th place:  Brandon Padula ($8,500)
• 8th place:  Andy Le ($7,250)
• 9th place:  Elijah Miranda Hernandez ($5,795)

Recreational Player Guan Hao Tan Takes Title

Originally from Singapore, Tan lives in Washington D.C. and plays at MGM National Harbor when time permits. Mostly a cash game player, Tan has done well in several tournaments, most notably winning an MGM National Harbor event in November 2023 for $44,440. This year’s victory tops that.

The 30-year-old is pursuing his Masters Degree at George Washington University but will continue playing poker recreationally until he graduates and returns to Singapore. Hopefully, he makes room in his suitcase for this BetMGM trophy.

As always, thanks to PokerOrg for the live updates from National Harbor.