Calvin Anderson Does It Again! Wins Bracelet No. 7 in the $10k H.O.R.S.E.

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Jun 21, 2026 7 min read

“We’re back. It’s like we never left.”

With those words, World Series of Poker host Jeff Platt greeted Calvin Anderson after Anderson defeated Josh Arieh in a short heads-up match to win Event #54: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship. It was just earlier this week that Anderson stood on that same stage to accept his sixth WSOP bracelet for winning the $10,000 Razz Championship. He had to wait just a few days for No. 7.

Anderson took home the $413,580 top prize for beating out the 189-player field and capturing the prize that elevates him to a higher pantheon among poker’s greatest players. He becomes only the 18th player in WSOP history to win seven bracelets, and joins Naoya Kihara on the short list of going back-to-back in $10,000 championship events. It’s a stunning accomplishment in a short time for a player who already had a stellar record at the WSOP, but for Anderson, the joy of playing and the focus it takes to beat out these star-studded fields is what really matters to him.

Event #54: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship Final Table results

“My mind doesn’t work that way,” he admitted afterward.

“If he cared, he would have 20 bracelets, minimum,” friend Ray Fishman joined in from his sizeable rail.

“I don’t think about those type of things, really. I just want to feel forward, you know? I’m just thinking about the next thing,” Anderson added.

"I Feel Like This is Where I Belong": Anderson Keeps His Focus at Marathon Final Table

The past week has seen Anderson survive two grueling final tables to emerge as champion. He’s had little time for rest, but the thrill of victory far surpassed any feelings of exhaustion he might have had. “Not a lot of sleep, but it’s been a blast. I’m having a lot of fun, you know. I feel like this is where I belong, you know, when you win like this. It’s a good feeling for sure,” he said.

Anderson began the day as chip leader among the final 11 who returned to the Paris Las Vegas ballroom at 1 p.m. local time. The final table was set early with the eliminations of Brian Yoon and Ariel Mantel, while Chris Brewer, David Lin, Nicolas Milgrom, and David Bach were early final-table casualties.

Anderson, Arieh, and John Veltri took turns swapping the chip lead, and Arieh spiked an ace on seventh street to bust Robert Mizrachi in fifth place to firmly plant himself atop the leaderboard. Arieh also eliminated Yannick Jobin in fourth place, and what followed turned out to be an exhaustive, combative, and, at times, testy three-handed matchup that went on for nearly five hours. Anderson and Veltri exchanged some heated words after Veltri was ruled not to have made a legal raise. The three players took turns holding the chip lead numerous times before Anderson finally seized control and moved past 8,000,000.

Veltri turned out to be the odd one out, falling in third place after Anderson made a straight in Stud Hi-Lo. Anderson led Arieh 8,700,000 to 2,640,000 at the start of heads-up, and won a big pot in Seven Card Stud when Arieh folded on seventh to leave himself with just two big bets. While Arieh managed to double up once, he then ran his straight into Anderson’s flush as the future Hall of Famer fell just short of his eighth bracelet.

Clean Living and Steady Focus Keys to Anderson's Success

Anderson spent the long hours of three-handed play focused not on the time or the swings in momentum, but on trying to concentrate mainly on things he could control. “We did play for a while. I don’t even know how long we played, but, like I was saying, I don’t really think about it. I just play, you know. I wasn’t even really counting my chips that much, either. I’m just like, okay, what’s the best move in that situation? And I’m going to try to do that,” he said.

Anderson credits his ability to endure these endurance tests to a habit of clean living and staying away from anything that could negatively affect his play. “I’ve done it forever, I guess. I take a good bit of supplements. I don’t drink. I eat pretty clean, so that stuff helps a lot too. Just not doing any of that stuff, that, you know, require a lot of enzymes to break down and just like, yeah, make you tired. So I don’t do a lot of that stuff. I think the guy that got third was drinking a little bit, and it kind of wears on you after a while,” he said.

"I take a good bit of supplements. I don’t drink. I eat pretty clean."

Anderson’s seven bracelets have come in a wide variety of formats. His first was in Stud Hi-Lo. He’s won the Razz Championship twice. And he’s now won two in mixed games, following his victory in the $10,000 Eight-Game Mix two years ago. He admits he’s not an expert in every game, but knowing how to adapt and adjust his play based on his opponents’ perceived weaknesses and strengths is a big part of why Anderson has done so well in these events over the years.

“It really comes down to who you’re playing against because certain people have really strong games and then weak games. So I try to veer away from the people in their strong games. Preparing for the final table, I talked to a few friends that know some of these players and what their strong games are. And I’m just adaptable because I feel like a lot of people were pretty good at Limit Hold’em and Omaha 8, which is like a weird thing. They’re pretty, like, high-variance games. And then I feel like I was shining more in the stud games, so that’s kind of what I was trying to do given the lineup that was at the final table,” he said.

Another Big Test Coming Up For Anderson Tomorrow

Anderson’s sights are next set on the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship that begins tomorrow. His friends on the rail joked to the assembled media at the final table that they should prepare to see him there again in a few days. In fine form heading into the biggest mixed game tournament on the calendar, Anderson feels good about his game. He’s just not going to draw too much attention to himself. He’ll leave that to others if they want to consider him among the favorites.

“My confidence doesn’t really, like, necessarily work that way. I’ve always been confident in myself, I guess…but I feel uncomfortable, like, being, you know, doing what a lot of these people do that, you know, steal the attention and stuff. That’s not really my style. I’m more like a supporter of others, I’d say,” he said.

“Playing these games, watching a lot of people make a lot of mistakes, makes me feel a lot better because, you know, most people just think that people are pretty good at all these games and they’re relatively solved, but, yeah, I saw a lot of mistakes that I was quite surprised by. So I feel stronger about my game, for sure.”

Anderson’s victory and second bracelet of the summer will push him up to second place on the Player of the Year standings. It wasn’t necessarily a goal for Anderson coming into the series, and he hasn’t put in the volume that others do trying to chase it. Anderson’s philosophy has been to play what he wants, when he wants, and the results will speak for themselves.

“I think most good players play and then if they do well, then they consider it once they did well. I’m in that category,” he said.

“I didn’t come into the series thinking I was going to win Player of the Year or try to win Player of the Year, necessarily. I just play the stuff I think I’m good at. I skipped a lot of tournaments…I just kind of played the stuff that I felt I was stronger, the stuff that I wanted to do. I think that’s better when you just do what you really feel like doing. So I think just following what you really want to do, and you feel good about, is, like Bashar says, follow your highest excitement. Just doing that for anybody, it’s usually going to work out.”

It certainly has worked out for him. Anderson has found the perfect formula so far, and it took him less than a week to reach new heights in his career.

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