Michael Pearson earned his first WSOP gold ring as he emerged winner at Event #10 of the WSOP Circuit Harvey’s Lake Tahoe $1,675 Main Event. Pearson, who started playing poker at the age of seventeen as a hobby, scooped a substantial first-place prize of $153,191.
The tournament, which took place in Stateline, Nevada, concluded Monday evening. A total of 475 players participated in the three-day event which boasted a prize pool of $712,500.
Pearson attracted attention when he completed Day 1A of the event as a chip leader navigating through a field of 106 players who qualified to participate in Day 2 of the tournament. His success continued on Day 2 of the Main Event as Pearson was among the eight players to survive leaving the table with over one million in chips.
Pearson continued to hold his ground on Day 3 when he found himself competing against opponent Valerie Hanley. With almost 360,000 in the pot, Hanley placed a massive 200,000 bet, while Pearson made a move with his king and queen of diamonds. When opponent Hanley showed a superior high card and a higher flush draw with an ace and a jack of diamonds, things got worse for Pearson, yet he rebounded with a queen on the river.
Shortly after, Pearson faced another clash, this time against, opponent Ted Lawson, who has previously won the coveted WSOP bracelet and a Circuit gold ring. Both players were all in on the flop, but Lawson’s pocket queens were no match for his rival’s pair of aces. It was Pearson who scored a double up and emerged as the outright chip leader.
As the game progressed towards its end, Pearson found himself head to head with Michael McDonough, who struggling as he might, failed to overcome the substantial chip difference. McDonough ended up as Pearson’s runner-up and scooped a second-place prize amounting to $94,713. Christopher Moody finished third and walked away with $69,191. William Watchman followed at fourth place earning $51,293. Lawson finished at fifth place winning a prize of $38,575.
Chip leader, Pearson was announced winner and now is a proud owner of the WSOP gold ring. In addition, Pearson automatically clinched a bid to partake in the Global Casino Championship which is to be held in the summer of 2017.
