Andrew Feldman, ESPN.com 10y

'cal42688' takes talents to the WSOP

Poker

There are only a few poker players in the world that can truly compete with poker's best in all games on all platforms. Calvin Anderson may not boast a household name like Phil Ivey or Daniel Negreanu, but he's on his way to reaching that point, especially after his first WSOP bracelet win on Sunday in the $1,500 seven-card stud high-low event at the 2014 World Series of Poker. The former No. 1 online poker player in the world, according to PocketFives, has over $6 million in lifetime earnings, and claimed his bracelet on his third cash and second final table appearance of the Series with a dominating performance not typically seen in this variation.

For the past few  years, Anderson had been looking for his one breakthrough live victory. Now he's got it.

"It's a good feeling to win the gold bracelet," Anderson said to the WSOP. "I wouldn't say it completely validates me and what I do for a career. I've had a lot of success, although I will certainly get a lot more recognition from this. It's definitely a good thing, especially after coming close a few times. "

Originally from Oklahoma, Anderson currently lives in Mexico, giving him the ability to play online against the world. According to Pocketfives, during his career he's had 302 top-three finishes in online tournaments. What sets Anderson apart from the online poker masses is his love for games other than hold 'em. In an era where so many players focused on no-limit, Anderson took on a different approach and honed his skills by incessantly playing a variety of games.

"There is a certain way to play this game and I think that's why it's maybe not as popular [as hold 'em]," he said when asked about seven-card stud high-low. "It's sort of like chess where the best players already have figured it out. ... [This game] isn't a game where you can just start bluffing ... you have to draw some cards, and some cards have to go your way. But I felt that I played really well. I took my time on all the decisions. There were a lot of good opponents for sure, but I ran really good."

His final table opponents included Joe Tehan, who officially made back-to-back final tables after finishing fifth in Event 25. Anderson entered heads-up with a 2.5:1 chip lead, and took out Tehan in less than 40 minutes for the $190,538 top prize. Tehan's three WSOP cashes this series total $178,506. The WPT champion has made five WSOP final tables out of his 37 career cashes. Similar to Tehan, Melissa Burr made her second final table appearance of the Series, becoming the only woman to do so. She finished fifth for $39,181.

Other notable finishers include Jimmy Fricke (seventh), John Myung (eighth) and Event 7 champion and six-time WSOP bracelet winner Ted Forrest (ninth).

Below are the complete results of Event 30 at the 2014 World Series of Poker:

Event 30: Seven-card stud high-low eight-or-better
Buy-in: $1,500
Entries: 588
Prize pool: $793,800
Players in the money: 64

1. Calvin Anderson ($190,538)
2. Joe Tehan ($118,014)
3. Eric Kurtzman ($79,800)
4. Levon Torosyan ($55,319)
5. Melissa Burr ($39,181)
6. Sanjay Pandya ($28,346)
7. Jimmy Fricke ($20,932)
8. John Myung ($15,772)
9. Ted Forrest ($12,121)
10. Robert Goldfarb ($12,121)
11. David Brooker ($9,501)
12. Matthew Kelly ($9,501)
13. Alex Livingston ($7,588)
14. Daniel Ospina ($7,588)
15. Daniel Durham ($6,175)
16. Chris Wallace ($6,175)
17. James Paluszek ($5,120)
18. Yehuda Buchalter ($5,120)
19. Jesse Martin ($5,120)
20. David Levi ($5,120)
21. Todd Ickow ($5,120)
22. Trai Dang ($5,120)
23. Dylan Linde ($5,120)
24. Joseph Hertzog ($5,120)
25. Alan Emerson ($4,318)
26. Andrew Goetsch ($4,318)
27. John Hoang ($4,318)
28. Michael Botwin ($4,318)
29. Christine Pietsch ($4,318)
30. Lawrence Berg ($4,318)
31. Owais Ahmed ($4,318)
32. Ian Blackman ($4,318)
33. Roberto Najera ($3,707)
34. Matt Glantz ($3,707)
35. Pj Cha ($3,707)
36. Russell Clayton ($3,707)
37. Russ Salzer ($3,707)
38. Stanislav Parkhomenko ($3,707)
39. Walter Twardus ($3,707)
40. Roland Israelashvili ($3,707)
41. Doug Saab ($3,238)
42. David Donovan ($3,238)
43. Anthony Zinno ($3,238)
44. Kyle Hinnerichs ($3,238)
45. Keoki Ho ($3,238)
46. Kevin Ihu ($3,238)
47. Zipora Maayan ($3,238)
48. Chris Viox ($3,238)
49. Constantine Zdanowich ($2,905)
50. Maria Ho ($2,905)
51. Cameron Tahmasebi ($2,905)
52. Simon Lam ($2,905)
53. Martin Sigel ($2,905)
54. Stephen Calhoun ($2,905)
55. Michael Smith ($2,905)
56. Salvadore Mortillaro ($2,905)
57. Hoyt Corkins ($2,603)
58. Filippos Stavrakis ($2,603)
59. Richard Powell ($2,603)
60. Maria Mayrinck ($2,603)
61. Jason Nguyen ($2,603)
62. Andreas Hoivold ($2,603)
63. Mike Watson ($2,603)
64. Matthew Mendez ($2,603)

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