A SECOND WSOP CIRCUIT GOLD RING FOR BRENT KELLER
Hammond, IN – The World Series of Poker Circuit continued at the Horseshoe Casino near Chicago, with the conclusion of Event #7.  As is the case with all WSOP Circuit stops this season, one Omaha High-Low Gold Ring tournament is included on the schedule.

The $350 buy-in Omaha High-Low Split tournament attracted 176 players, creating a prize pool just shy of $50,000.

The winner was Brent Keller, from Horsham, PA.  This was his second WSOP Circuit Gold Ring Victory.  His first win took place at Harrah’s New Orleans in 2009 in the Pot-Limit Omaha championship.  He also took second place in another event held that year in New Orleans.  For that victory, Keller collected $49,088 in prize money.

Keller, originally from New York, graduated from Penn State University.  He earned his degree in finance.  He has been playing poker games since his college days and has been playing professionally for about five years. 

The final table began at 9 pm on a Wednesday night.  Play concluded at about 2 am.  Players were officially paid and finished as follows:

8th Place – Orlando Romero, a 28-year-old poker pro from Amarillo, TX, was the eighth-place finisher.  He is primarily a cash games player.  This marked Romero’s third time to cash in a WSOP Circuit event.  He also cashed three times previously at the WSOP in Las Vegas, including the 2006 Main Event.

7th Place – Gary Morris, a road construction supervisor from Allegan, MI, ended up in seventh place.  Morris was given the buy-in for this event by his wife as a birthday present.  He turned her generosity into nearly $2,000 in prize money.

6th Place – Vo Hoang, a businessman from Chicago, IL, came in sixth.  This was his second time to cash in a WSOP Circuit tournament.

5th Place – Kelly Chapman, a 32-year-old controller from Kalamazoo, MI, was the fifth-place finisher.  Aside from poker, he is an avid baseball fan and has visited 25 major league ballparks.

4th Place – Rich Chiovari was the fourth-place finisher.  He is the 66-year-old owner of his own business.  Chiovari has an extensive history at the WSOP dating back to 1993, when he earned his first cash.  Since then, Chiovari has cashed five times and made it to four final tables.  This was also his second time to cash at the WSOP Circuit in Chicago.

3rd Place – Leonard August, from North Bergen, NJ, was the third-place finisher.  This marked his fifth year to play in WSOP Circuit tournaments.  His first cash took place at Harrah’s Atlantic City in 2006.  This was his best finish in a WSOP-related tournament.

2nd Place – The runner up was Casey Hayes, a former financial advisor who is now a pro poker player, specializing primarily in cash games.  He is from Merrillville, IN.  The Purdue University graduate earned $8,191 for second place.

1st Place – Brent Keller, from Horsham, PA, earned his second major tournament victory.  This was his first time to play in the WSOP Circuit stop in Chicago.  First place paid $13,255 plus the Gold Ring.  Keller also won pre-paid seats into the $1,600 buy-in Main Event and the $10,000 buy-in Regional Championship, coming up next week at the Horseshoe Casino.

With this victory, Keller joins six champions from the previous events held here in Chicago – including Ian Wiley, Juan Rodriguez, Cheech Barbaro, John Nguyen, Chad Graves, and Brett Schwertley.  They are the current leaders in the points race to determine qualifiers for the WSOP Circuit National Championship.  There will be 11 players from this Chicago series who will advance to the $1 million freeroll national championship, to be played at season’s end in Las Vegas.

This is the third consecutive year Horseshoe Hammond has hosted a WSOP Circuit stop.  All tournament events take place inside the expansive special events arena called “The Venue.”  Horseshoe Hammond is conveniently located just a short distance from the Illinois-Indiana border, just 20 minutes away from Downtown Chicago. 

This is the third WSOP Circuit stop of the 2010-2011 season.  See the complete HORSESHOE HAMMOND poker tournament schedule here.  This year’s events take place from October 15-28.  The full WSOP CIRCUIT SCHEDULE for the 2010-2011 season, including all upcoming stops and dates is also listed.