A few weeks ago, Lockhurt(pictured), who calls Ontario, Canada home, won the PokerStars Sunday 500 outright and earned $70,000. There were almost 800 entrants that day and Lockhurt beat out a final table that included five other PocketFivers. It was the fourth largest cash we’ve tracked for him.

“I’m really pumped about it,” Lockhurt told PocketFives. “It feels great to take down a big tournament on a Sunday.”

He was down to a scant four big blinds heads-up against PureCash25, but mounted an epic comeback. To dig the hole in the first place, he ran a big bluff with J-9 of spades on an 8-8-Q-9 two-spade board, but PureCash25 picked it off. Lockhurt then won three all-ins in a row to gain the lead. He said, “On the final hand, I opened with J-8 and called a bet. PureCash25 triple-barreled on an A-J-10-A-7 board with air and I made the right call to end the match.”

As you might expect, PureCash25 was his biggest nemesis at the final table. Lockhurt explained, “He was tough for sure, especially shorthanded because he was on my immediate left and kept contesting pots that I opened. He put me in a few tricky spots.” Second place was worth $51,000.

He’s getting into the real estate business and so may use a portion of his $70,000 for one or more duplexes. In addition, he plans to save some for SCOOP and take a few live shots. “I think real estate is the easiest way to gain wealth in the long-run,” Lockhurt argued. “There isn’t anything sexy about it, but if you can build a portfolio with a dozen properties, you can set yourself up nicely. You can continually leverage your assets and get cash flow from your tenants to pay down your mortgages, all while your property value is likely to appreciate.”

2013 was a banner year for Lockhurt. He final tabled the WCOOP Challenge Main Event for $377,000 officially, finished second in the FTOPS Main Event for $301,000, and final tabled the Sunday Million for $79,000. Those three scores totaled over three-quarters of a million dollars and helped him build a solid bankroll for the future. He now stands at #95 worldwide in the PocketFives Rankings after being ranked as high as #45 last year.

He’ll be one of many PocketFivers headed to Las Vegas in the coming weeks for the World Series of Poker. Lockhurt will be playing in the Main Event after winning a trip on 888 Poker. “I have never played it,” he said of the Main Event, “but I think I am going to try not to be overwhelmed with the field size and take it one day at a time. At the table, I will try to avoid confrontations with better players and pick on some of the weaker ones.”

If you’ve never heard of Lockhurt, it’s probably because that’s not his screen name on any major site. Instead, he plays as UncleAnte9on PokerStars, DiaperSniper14on Full Tilt, and Dustyourfishon 888 and PartyPoker.

He closed by thanking his family and friends for their support.

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