Prime Social Club in Houston hosted the first-ever sanctioned poker tournament in Texas state history to produce a prize pool of more than $1 million when its Signature Series Main Event last weekend crushed its $500k guarantee.
A 1,079-entry field turned out across four starting flights for the $1,100 main event, capped by nearly 800 for the final two flights alone. With $1,000 to the prize pool, the event was $11k shy of hitting $1.1 million.
Tim Gilliam outflopped John Szwelnis on the first heads-up hand, getting all the chips in the middle to win the tournament and take home $160,300. Szwelnis earned $140,300 as runner-up. The two players opted to alter the pay table once heads-up, each accepting an equal amount, leaving $20,000 and the trophy on the table to still play for.
Tournament Director Justin Hammer – previously at locations such as Commerce, Aria and Binions – had talked for days of evening tournament livestreams he expected there to be a 6-figure payout for the tournament and believed the guarantee could be doubled.
He reached one and joked he missed the other, for the tournament did top $1 million, and there ended up being two six-figure payouts rather than one.
Here’s the full Day 2 recap from our Hold’em Media Live reporting team.
Dan is the founder of PokerLiveUpdates, a veteran poker tournament reporter who can be found wandering somewhat aimlessly through tournament arenas worldwide. As a founding member of FunTour2.0, he searches for the best in craft beer at all locations in the poker world.
