WSOPC Event #13: $1,700 MAIN EVENT

There are always stories that present themselves at every WSOP Circuit series and this stop here at Harrah's Cherokee nestled in the Smoky Mountains was no different as Jacob Hamed has etched his name into the Cherokee history books in a big way.

The first time we saw Hamed was earlier this series as he showed up at the final table of Event #7: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha. He got close to his first ring in that event, falling one spot shy after a runner-up finish that netted him over $25,000.

He left that final table dissatisfied, though, having fallen short of his ultimate goal. That all changed when Event #11: $800 Pot-Limit Omaha rolled around just a day or two later when he found himself at another final table, this time pushing through to best his previous finish by one and taking down his first ring along with over $42,000.

Those two results alone would have been enough to make anyone ecstatic about their results for the series, regardless of what the rest of the stop looked like for them. That's not necessarily true for Hamed, though, as he still wasn't done.

The next target on his list? None other than the $1,700 Main Event. When Jacob came into the second day of the Main Event, he had an unassuming stack, buried in the top half of his Day 1 counts and essentially just another name on the list at that point, but by the time the Day 2 session ticked to zero, Hamed was one of seven players remaining and would be coming back to the Day 3 finale with far and away the second biggest stack.

From there, fireworks would be the theme, but Hamed never gazed too hard at the pretty flashes as he strategically and methodically worked his way down to heads up, oftentimes looking like a statue in massive spots, jamming rivers and sitting stoically, seemingly with ice water in his veins.

His eventual heads up opponent, Vaughn Steeves, had been a force to be reckoned with up to that point. Making big bets, forcing players to the rail and correctly making the two biggest bluff catches we saw all series, but when it came to the heads up match, it was the Jacob Hamed show from there.

Within the first few hands of heads up, Hamed was bluff jamming the river (as he told his rail afterwards) in what was already one of the biggest pots of the tournament, even before his jam. When that one got through, the chip gap had been widened to a point heads up that Steeves would not recover from.

On the final hand, Hamed jammed over a limp and got called only to turn up the worst of it, but a ten on the turn paired his hand and sealed Steves's fate, catapulting Hamed to the title, $299,010 in prize money and his second ring in one week's time.

Its not often someone comes to a stop and wins two of the 20 rings that were for grabs, let alone with one being the Main Event, but that's exactly what he did here today, locking down a series performance that could end up being a career defining moment in the young pro's blossoming career.

Special mentions are in order for both his rail (the rowdiest we had all series) and for borscht, a soup dish that he credited with both his victories here this series. Wanna win rings? Eat borscht and thank Jacob Hamed the next time you see him.

Congratulations to Jacob Hamed on an incredible two weeks here at Harrah's Cherokee! It was a really fun run to watch take place.

Final Table Payouts:

• 1st: Jacob Hamed - $299,010
• 2st: Vaughn Steeves - $199,338
• 3rd: Johnny Price - $140,839
• 4th: Kyle Cartwright - $100,977
• 5th: Gunner Stever - $73,483
• 6th: Eric Snyder - $54,289
• 7th: Dale Roesel - $40,729
• 8th: Nathan Powell - $31,035
• 9th: Eric Schneider - $24,026
• 10th: Haifeng Shen - $18,901

 

Vaughn Steeves

Before the $1,700 Main Event here at Harrah's Cherokee, Vaughn Steeves had just over $39,000 in career WSOP earnings. Today, he comes into the final day not only with a score locked up that is larger than his previous total lifetime earnings, he's bringing a bag filled with 35% of the chips in play with just six players between himself, a WSOP circuit ring and a main event title worth just under $300,000!

He'll have some serious contenders to get through to summit this circuit mountain, though, as decorated circuit crushers Kyle Cartwright and Dale Roesel are both here to act as roadblocks on Steeves' intended route to the winner's circle.

Bagging the second biggest stack last night was Jacob Hamed, who is a newly minted WSOP champion after shipping his first ring earlier this series. He's got a score locked up here today that almost matches his largest score ever (from this week) and looks to only go up from here with hopes of shipping his second ring of the series here today.

The final table is rounded out by Johnny Price, Eric Snyder and Gunner Stever, all of whom have at least five figures in earnings and will look to bag a crowning achievement for their poker resumes by the time the final card falls.

Play gets underway at noon when players come back to bust open their bags and take their seats to play down to a winner who will lock up $299,010 and a coveted WSOP circuit ring.

Final table stacks:

• 1. Vaughn Steeves - 17,380,000
• 2. Jacob Hamed - 12,415,000
• 3. Johnny Price - 6,200,000
• 4. Kyle Cartwright - 5,875,000
• 5. Dale Roesel - 4,010,000
• 6. Gunner Stever - 3,595,000
• 7. Eric Snyder - 2,055,000

Play begins in Level 28 (60,000/120,000/120,000) with 60-minute levels until we crown a champion, so tuned into Instant LIVE to catch every major pot and bust out until the final pot gets pushed!

Remaining final table payouts:

• 1st: $299,010
• 2nd: $199,338
• 3rd: $140,839
• 4th: $100,977
• 5th: $73,483
• 6th: $54,289
• 7th: $40,729

The structure for this event can be found here.