In a sign of the times, Ankush Mandavia wore a Georgia Bulldogs mask rather than his old reliable UGA hoodie, but some things stayed the same as he still found his way to the winner's photo in a Las Vegas tournament.
This time, it didn't quite come from an outright victory as Mandavia made a heads-up deal with Anselmo Villarreal at Card Player Poker Tour Venetian $2,500 Main Event. Each player earned a handsome payday — Villarreal pulled in $253,441 while Mandavia did slightly better with $260,000.
Official Final Table Results
| 1 | Ankush Mandavia | $260,000* |
| 2 | Anselmo Villarreal | $253,441* |
| 3 | Timothy Capretta | $132,030 |
| 4 | Kristen Bicknell | $90,954 |
| 5 | Derek Gregory | $60,147 |
| 6 | Alex Foxen | $45,477 |
| 7 | Yosif Nawabi | $35,208 |
| 8 | Qing Liu | $24,939 |
The tournament pulled in 652 entries for a prize pool of $1,467,000, according to CardPlayer's own reporting.