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22 October 2019 (Hammond, Ind.) - The World Series of Poker Circuit made it’s first of two scheduled stops Horseshoe Hammond (Chicago area) marking its 13th since its inaugural dating back to 2008. The stop held $1,950,000 in prizepool guarantees and was scheduled to run 14 ring events in a matter of 12 days. A total of 6,140 entries were logged during the tournament series, which was highlighted by Illinois/Indiana native winners and an exciting, points-fueled Casino Champ race.
Kicking things off was a multi-flight event. Five starting flights saw a 1,701-player field, take their shot at gold but in the end, it was Chicago born David Larson taking down the first event, claiming his fourth WSOP gold ring and his largest live-tournament cash $76,589.
A fairly new face to the circuit, Ryan Abelseth, used his weekend off from work to capitalize some Circuit gold for the first time. The first event he played in was Event #2: $250 No-Limit Hold’em where he had a grueling heads-up battle against Randall Madl to secure his largest victory of $18,810, along with 50 casino points begin his hunt for casino champion. The same event saw casino champion, Brian McDaniel, make his first final table appearance gathering up 25 casino points for his fifth-place finish.
Event #4 & #5 saw a pair of Illinois natives win their first rings as another player Jerry Gumila took down the fourth No-Limit Hold’em event and nabbed $20,773 for his first-place finish, while Victor Scrobacz won $16,977 in PLO. Event #5 also saw Michael Moncek make his first final table appearance. Moncek went into the final table as the chip leader but took a disappointing leave in 9th place.
The next Event would see Casino Champion Brian McDaniel run through a 502 entry field of Monster Stack players to claim his second ring along with his largest career cash $32,864. McDaniel was able to close out the win after his fifth-place finish in Event #2 and added 50 casino points to shoot him to the top with 75. Moncek would also make a quiet score in Event #6, finishing 42nd.
A few tournaments later would see Moncek hop on-top of the leaderboard right alongside McDaniel. Moncek battled through 163 players in Event #9: No-limit Hold’em six-max, to claim his third WSOPC ring this year. The win gave Moncek a tie with McDaniel as both players held 75 points. Along with Moncek’s third ring, he added the $21,751 to his career earnings bringing his total to $108,355.
The Circuit kept on rolling awarding Gregory Baird his second ring in Event #11: $400 Multi-Bag Bonus, Javier Zarco his first in the $2,200 High Roller and Marvin Guss in the $250 (1 Day) Event. Each player was awarded 50 circuit points for their first-place finishes but it wouldn’t matter because when the Circuit dust finally settled, McDaniel’s fifth and first-places finishes were enough to seal the deal with 75 points as he held the tie-breaker over Moncek holding $10,000 more in earnings.
Attached to the honors is an automatic bid to the 2020 Global Casino Championship, effectively a $10,000 seat. The other player securing a seat at the series was the Main Event Champ, Ravi Raghavan. Raghavan topped a 1,063-entry field to capture his first Main Event title, winning $272,322 along with his second WSOP Circuit gold ring at his home casino.
Completed Events
Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold'em (5 flights) - David Larson topples large field for fifth ring.
Official Report | Winners Photo | Results
Event #2: $250 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack - Ryan Abelseth runs through 464 runners to claim first ring.
Official Report | Winners Photo | Results
Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Seniors - Michael Reed topples 211 seniors for second ring.
Official Report | Winners Photo | Results
Event #4: $600 No-Limit Hold'em - Jerry Gumila reigns victorious after four-year absence from the Circuit.
Official Report | Winners Photo | Results
Event #5: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha - Victor Skrobacz claims first WSOPC cash along with gold ring.
Official Report | Winners Photo | Results
Event #6: $400 No-Limit Hold'em - Brian McDaniel seals the deal to claim second WSOPC ring.
Official Report | Winners Photo | Results
Event #7: $400 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better - Vu Hoang claims the four card limit game for first title.
Official Report | Winners Photo | Results
Event #8: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Bounty - Marla Grapsas - claims final bounty along with first title.
Official Report | Winners Photo | Results
Event #9: $600 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Michael Moncek - overcomes massive chip disadvantage to secure his third Circuit ring this year.
Official Report | Winners Photo | Results
Event #10: $1,125 No-Limit Hold'em - Justin Brown - beats buddy Samuel Cosby heads-up to claim second ring.
Official Report | Winners Photo | Results
Event #11: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Multi-Bag Bonus - Gregory Baird - claims second ring in multi-flight event.
Official Report | Winners Photo | Results
Event #12: $1,700 No-Limit Hold'e Main Event - Ravi Raghavan - reigns victories at home casino once more to and claims Main Event Gold.
Official Report | Winners Photo | Results
Event #13: $2,200 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller - Javier Zarco - gets monkey off back after multiple second-place finishes.
Official Report | Winners Photo | Results
Event #14: $250 No-Limit Hold'em - Marvin Guss - makes first final table appearance and captures gold.
Official Report | Winners Photo | Results
Casino Champion Update
Brian McDaniel wins Casino Champion with 75 points.
About the Winners
Event #1 - David Larson topped the field of 1,701 entrants, winning his fifth career gold ring and $76,589.
Larson's road to victory was a long and arguably grueling one.
The 49-year-old put in two bullets but found a bag to make the second day and navigate his way to the final table. The $76,589 victory marks the largest of Larson’s career as he adds a fifth ring to his collection marking his third this 2019/2020 season after he won two back-to-back at Choctaw while claiming the Casino Champion there as well.
Event #2 - Ryan Abelseth - came out on top of the 464 player field in Event #3: $250 Double Stack No-Limit Hold’em at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond. He took home the first-place prize of $18,810, 50 points towards the 2020 Global Casino Championship and his first World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring.
“I just want to thank my girlfriend Molly for putting up with me and spending the weekend alone to let me go play, my buddy Dave who has always supported me to keep playing through all the bad beats.”
Ableseth has a pretty rough work schedule but intends to play the Main Event at Hammond as he won a seat in the high card drawing.
Event #3 - Michael Reed - The third ring event at Hammond has crowned a new champion as Michael Reed battled through 211 seniors to claim $16,878 along his second ring and first since October 4, 2012.
The very last hand of the night saw Reed get his chips in the middle holding king-nine against the ace-king of Reginald Johnson. Both players flopped a king but Reed turned the nine to seal the deal to claim his second Circuit ring and put his career earnings to $97,705.
Event #4 - Jerry Gumila - came away with his first World Series of Poker gold ring after four-year absence from the circuit scene.The 50- year-old poker player defeated a field of 154 players in Event #4: $600 No-Limit Hold'em at the Horseshoe Hammond Circuit series, banking $50,773 and 50 Casino Championship points to go along with his new piece of WSOP gold.
Even though Gumila has been away from the Circuit scene and busy work schedule, as Event #4 is concerned, Gumila emerged victorious as a fierce competitor. The Illinois native now has a memorable story to share with his wife along with his four children.
Event #5 - Victor Skrobacz - grabbed a piece of World Series of Poker gold on Monday, at the Horseshoe Hammond Circuit series. The 56-year-old outlasted 121 players in Event #5: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha to score not only his first Circuit cash but also claim his first WSOP gold ring.
The victory provided Skrobacz with a nice payday of $16,977 in which he has plans to spread his wealth around in the family after firing in the Main Event of course.
“I’m very thankful to have a supporting wife, son and also very grateful to still have both of my parents,” said Skrobacz. “I just won a good chunk of money so I’ll probably give some to my parents, son, play the Main, you know spread it around.”
Event #6 - Brian McDaniel - grabbed another piece of World Series of Poker gold on Tuesday at the Horseshoe Hammond Circuit series. McDaniel battled through 502 players in Event #6: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack to score his largest Circuit cash while claiming his second WSOP gold ring two days after finishing fifth in Event #2,
“This one feels great. I really needed this win,” McDaniel expressed “Michael Esquivel was giving me crap yesterday about my fifth-place finish and how I haven’t been able to close it out, so this win just makes it that much better.”
A voyage to Horseshoe Hammond has proven profitable for McDaniel so far as not only does this mark his largest career cash, he also won a satellite into the Main Event.
Event #7 - Vu Hoang - was awarded his first gold ring here at Hammond as Vu Hoang outlasted 102 players in the $600 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or better, a game he very much enjoys.
“I haven’t really been playing that much poker the last few years, but I always try to come play this game during the Circuit because it’s my favorite, I love it.”
“Getting the ring is really big because it is something players chase but otherwise it was just another day of playing poker.”
Event #8 - Marla Grapsas - battled through a strenuous heads-up match to claim her first WSOPC ring along with $10,140. The 56-year-old karate instructor picked up her third Circuit cash and is starting to pick up appearances on the felt and was delighted by the victory.
Event #9 - Michael Moncek - joins the three-ring club now has a new member after outlasting 163 players in the $600 No-Limit Hold’em 6-max to score his third Circuit ring since January. "Texas Mike" will continue to play Circuit Events and hopes to add more wins to his already impressive resume.
Event #10 - Justin Brown - secured his second World Series a Poker gold ring and first since 2014 Thursday evening after defeating a 187 player field and pocketed $46,551 in the process, pushing his WSOP earnings to $179,534.
“It’s tough to go deep in tournaments and make it to a final table,” Brown said after his win, “So it feels really good to close it out and get another ring.”
Making the final table isn’t anything new for Brown but this one was quite different as two players seated to his left, Samuel Cosby and Taylor Black, are two really good friends of Brown’s.
“I’m just glad he really wanted to win and didn’t. That’s really the only thing that drove me heads-up,” Brown said with a chuckle after defeating Cosby in the heads-up battle.
Event #11 - Gregory Baird - After players flooded in for six starting flights, Greg Baird closed
another multi-flight tournament to claim his second WSOP Circuit ring. The
Chicago native navigated his way through an 894-player field in the $400
No-Limit Hold’em Multi-Bag Bonus and earned $49,402 for his first-place finish.
Baird has WSOP results dating back to 2007, when he cashed in a $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em bracelet event. But over the last few years, Baird’s volume has picked up and he began to put up more consistent results. He final tabled the Hammond Seniors event in 2015 and a $580 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max Event in February 2017 at Coconut Creek, where he also picked up his first ring just last year.
“I figured if Jerry (Gumila) could win a ring here, I could too,” Baird said with a chuckle.
Event #12 - Ravi Raghavan - After falling just short several at the WSOP Circuit Main Event in St. Louis, Ravi Raghavan is now a World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event ring winner. Raghavan won the Main Event at Horseshoe Hammond, earning $272,445.
At the beginning of the day it was asked if Raghavan, who was the most accomplished player heading into the day, could re-create the Hammond magic that has benefitted him in the past. After 9 ½ hours of play, the answer to that question was a resounding yes.
The win was certainly a big one for Raghavan as his WSOP earnings now eclipse the $1,000,000 mark after his victory.
Event #13 - Javier Zarco - defeated an extremely tough field of 132 entries to take him $70,93 and his first World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring.
He is no stranger to tournament play, having over $2,400,000 in poker earnings, and almost winning his first WSOP Bracelet in the 2015 $1,500 Millionaire Maker when he finished 2ND for $791,690.
Event #14 - Marvin Guss - The WSOP Circuit at Horseshoe Hammond saw many players take several shots at trying to win gold but not Marvin Guss. Guss showed up on the last day of the series to try luck in the final event in which he came out on-top of the 254 player field to claim his first gold ring along with $12,701.
Guss didn’t have any plans on playing the Circuit as he was in Michigan visiting his parents and his twin brother talked him into making the trip down for the final event
“This feels amazing,” Guss said after his win. “Frank is a truly amazing player and he was very tough to get rid of.”
“I just want to thank my girlfriend Laura and give a shout out to my poker crews Todd, Brian and Diane.”