'It's my time': Flush fuels comeback in Potomac Main Event

The Potomac Poker Open Main Event at MGM National Harbor was the crown jewel of an already successful series, and it did not disappoint. It took a few days and a lot of action, but when the final chip fell, it was Robert Anderson of Edgewater, MD, who took home the title, the trophies, and the massive first-place prize of $211,915.

The event drew 377 entries across two starting flights, and the healthy million-dollar guarantee was bested, resulting in a prize pool of $1,017,900. From there, the field was cut down to 72 players who survived into Day 2, though they still needed to reach the top 48 to secure a min-cash. After a quick bubble, everyone left was in the money, and the battle for the final table was on.

Robert Anderson battled a roller coaster day at MGM National Harbor.

'It's my time'

The road from 48 to the final table was a swingy one, but Anderson held the chip lead when the final nine formed. However, the swings would continue, and he would fall out of the chip lead on the final table. That all changed in one massive, tournament-defining pot. Anderson five-bet jammed king-jack suited into Nick Verderamo’s pocket aces and found a flush to surge back into the lead. “You know, normally I wouldn't just shove on Nick,” Anderson said afterward. “But I just saw every way everybody had been playing the couple of hands before. I said, "It's my time," then I turned to flush.”  

That hand carried him into Day 3 with the overall chip lead, but once again, it was no smooth cruise from there. He swapped the chip lead multiple times and even entered heads-up play with Lucas Vergara at a considerable deficit. At one point, he was all the way down to just two million at the 300K big blind level. “I was up and down the whole tournament, not just the final table,” Anderson said. “Everybody bought multiple bullets, and to get to where I was, being down to 2 million coming all the way back to actually to win it at the final table. Yeah, it’s very stressful.”

Anderson overcame Lucas Vergara's lead in a grueling heads-up battle.

New high score

The two-hour heads-up battle was its own test. “For one, I had to go to the bathroom for the first 45 minutes. That’s why I had asked for the time out,” Anderson laughed. “At one point, I was just like, all right, it’s to the point where we’re just gonna call it in. I told my buddy, "I don’t even care about the money. I just want the trophies." And that’s what I did, came back, grinded it out, picked my spots, and kept it moving.”

Anderson doesn’t call himself a poker pro, though he’s had tournament success before. “I’ve won a couple of smaller tournaments, local tournaments. But when I get into bigger tournaments, I have to lock in, you know? Weather the storms, because they come.”

He admitted this one is special. “Yes, yes, it is my biggest score,” Anderson said. “I already called my wife, called my dad, called my family. So my kids are in school, so I don’t know yet how we’ll celebrate. They didn’t even know this until this morning. I was hype coming in this morning. I was, like, I’m gonna take this home.”

Potomac Poker Open Main Event final table results