Altman wins Cherokee WSOP Circuit Main Event for $393,753

(PRESS RELEASE) -- The Cherokee Main Event has reached its conclusion after yet another extremely successful stop on the WSOP circuit calendar which saw a staggering 1,703 entries in the main event, created a prize pool of $2,356,299, and a grand prize of $393,753.

The winner of that grand prize was none other than Brian Altman who took down his fourth WSOP circuit ring and secured himself a spot in the WSOP Tournament of Champions this summer in Las Vegas.

It would be accurate to say that Altman is one of poker’s most consistent tournament crushes as this victory moves him above $7 million in career earnings. This win in Cherokee is his 22nd recorded tournament victory and comes in as his fifth largest money score in his career.

Altman discussed why he enjoys playing on the WSOP circuit after his win, “I love playing circuit events. I would consider myself a Main Event player and I really enjoy playing against all different kinds of player types. Trying to figure out how they play and that’s what I really like about this type of player pool at the WSOP circuits.”

In particular Altman really enjoys the Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort stop as he added “I really love this stop because the casino is in the middle of the Smoky mountains, it’s absolutely beautiful here and there’s great hiking that’s very accessible.” Which he said he usually takes part in when here in Cherokee but this time was all business with a lot of poker.

One of the interesting things about Altman is that he does not discuss strategy with his opponents while playing mid-tournament or on breaks like other players sometimes like to do. Altman was asked about certain hands or strategies a few times by various opponents throughout the event and each time he declined to discuss, telling them he would prefer not to while play was still going. He explained this line of thinking, “we are playing for a lot of money. I don’t want to give away my exact strategy in real time. It’s more fun that way. Players have to figure out how I think and I have to figure out how they think.”

And figure out how they think he did indeed with his impressive Day 3 performance which saw him climb from a smaller stack to the leader and weather his way through a back and forth heads up battle to emerges the victor.