Thursday, October 27, 2016 10:03 PM Local Time
Chicago native scores another victory for the home team at Horseshoe Hammond
Hammond, Indiana (October 19, 2016) — Erik Anderson is the champion of Event #4 at Horseshoe Hammond, defeating a field of 619 players to win the $365 Monster Stack. The victory is Anderson’s first on the Circuit and, in fact, his first live tournament result of any sort. He collected the top prize of $39,004, his first ring, and 50 points in the race for Casino Champion at this venue.
Anderson is a 31-year-old telecommunications supervisor and a competitive golfer who was born and raised in Chicago. “I’m just a competitive person in general,” he said. “Most of my free time is spent on the golf course. I really just played this on a whim. I saw that the Circuit was in town, and I thought I’d come out and try my luck.” It’s a story that’s told often by local and first-time winners on the Circuit.
The champ said he draws heavily on his tournament golf experience at the poker table, too. “Mental patience,” he said of the primary crossover between the two games. “Golf is very similar to poker. If you have a bad hole or hit a bad shot, a short memory really benefits you. If you have a bad hand or make a bad call, forget about it and move on. That hand is in the past. Golf is exactly the same.”
Anderson did, indeed, have a stretch of bad holes in the middle of this round of poker. Early on Day 2, he got himself short-stacked and all in with deuce-four against pocket tens. Anderson said he was literally starting to walk out the door as the board ran out ace-king-king-jack-jack to give him his money back, with both him and his opponent playing the five cards on board.
That save sparked a furious comeback, and he was soon seated at the final table with the second-largest of the 10 remaining stacks. About six hours later, he eliminated Art Harb in third place, taking a 10:1 chip lead into the heads-up duel against local favorite Yousri Ali. The latter managed to double his short stack a couple times, but he could not fully recover from the deficit. Anderson soon collected the last of the chips, earning his first ring in his first-ever try.
Despite the flash of success, Anderson certainly doesn’t plan on changing his occupation in the foreseeable future. “I don’t think poker would be a good day job for me,” he laughed. “Too stressful, long hours. I don’t know if I could deal with the swings. I’ll stick to my eight-to-five.”
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 1:24 AM Local Time
Yousri Ali managed to double his short stack up a couple times, but he could not fully recover from the deficit he faced entering the heads-up match. Erik Anderson (pictured above) has just collected the last of his opponent's chips, winning the Monster Stack event, his first ring, and the top prize of $39,004. Anderson is a telecommunications supervisor from Chicago and an avid golfer, and this is his first tournament cash on record. More about his breakthrough victory will be published shortly.
Ali (below) collects $24,121 for his runner-up finish, which is the second such result of his Circuit career.
Wednesday, October 19, 2016 1:03 AM Local Time
Art Harb has already made two final tables this series, but he's come up just short once again. He was just eliminated in third place, leaving Yousri Ali and Erik Anderson heads-up for the ring. The latter recently doubled through Harb in a monster pot, and he takes a commanding lead into the duel.
Erik Anderson - 11,180,000 (93 bb)
Yousri Ali - 1,200,000 (10 bb)
Blinds are 60,000/120,000 with a 20,000 ante in the current level, putting just over 100 total big blinds in play.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016 9:35 PM Local Time
In five-handed action, Art Harb opens with a raise, and two players call to see a three-way flop. It comes , and it checks to Harb. He moves all in for 460,000, and Yousri Ali calls to put him at risk. The news is about as bad as it gets for the all-in player.
Harb: (aces up)
Ali: (quad sixes)
Harb is in disbelief as he sees that he's drawing nearly stone dead. "Nearly" being the key word. The turn is the , and the river brings the and a huge reaction from all five remaining players. Harb wins the pot with runner-runner quad aces. Even Ali can't help but laugh as he grabs his phone and snaps a picture of the board.
Harb, who finished as the runner-up in Event #1, is now atop the points race by virtue of this performance, and that unlikely double keeps him in the hunt for his first ring here in Event #4.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016 7:50 PM Local Time
The final table has quickly been reduced to six players, and they're taking an abbreviated 40-minute dinner break. Play resumes at 8:30 PM local time.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016 7:38 PM Local Time
From a starting field of 619 players, just 10 remain in the Monster Stack, and they've just drawn for new seats around the final table. Here's the lineup:
Seat 1: Adam Murphy - 650,000 (16 bb)
Seat 2: Yousri Ali - 865,000 (22 bb)
Seat 3: Tom Moran - 725,000 (18 bb)
Seat 4: Erik Anderson - 2,150,000 (54 bb)
Seat 5: Brett Lim - 500,000 (13 bb)
Seat 6: Art Harb - 750,000 (19 bb)
Seat 7: Richie Batistoni - 1,450,000 (36 bb)
Seat 8: Elik Vodovoz - 3,250,000 (81 bb)
Seat 9: Jason Trezak - 1,450,000 (36 bb)
Seat 10: Harvey Bundy - 650,000 (16 bb)
Everyone left is now guaranteed to earn at least $2,912, with more than $39,000 and the series' fourth gold ring reserved for the winner. Blinds are 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 ante in the current level, putting the average stack just north of 30 big blinds.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016 5:53 PM Local Time
Twenty-seven players have been eliminated so far this afternoon, leaving the final 12 just two eliminations away from the ten-handed final table. They've just been sent on their second break of the day. When they return, blinds will move to 15,000/30,000 with a 5,000 ante, putting the average stack just under 35 big blinds.
Ring winner DJ MacKinnon is still in the mix, sitting slightly below the chip average. Event #1 runner-up Art Harb needs to finish ninth or better to take the lead in the Casino Champion race, and he has his work cut out for him as one of the shortest stacks in the remaining field.
Play will continue tonight until a winner is determined.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016 2:08 PM Local Time
By the time play concluded last night, just 39 of the original 619 players put stacks in the bag, and they've returned this afternoon to decide a winner. Cards are in the air for Day 2, with everyone left guaranteed to earn a profit on their $365 investment.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016 3:51 AM Local Time
Tuesday, October 18, 2016 2:32 AM Local Time
As anticipated, today's Monster Stack event was well attended, with 619 players putting up the $365 buy-in. The clock has nearly run out on Level 21, and Day 1 is coming to a close as the last few hands are played out at each table. Just 39 players remain, and those who are bagging up chips will return tomorrow to play down to a winner.
Yousri Ali ended the day with the chip lead, the only player to approach seven figures in chips so far. His stack of 968,000 will set the pace when play resumes. Others who survived the day include DJ MacKinnon (431,000), Haley Hintze (248,000), Joe Kuether (208,000), and Event #1 runner-up Art Harb (153,000).
The complete list of chip counts and the Day 2 seat draw are available in the "Reports" tab.
Everyone left is guaranteed to earn at least $724. Blinds will be 6,000/12,000 with a 2,000 ante to begin Day 2, and the cards go in the air at 2:00 PM -- just less than 12 hours from now.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016 1:43 AM Local Time
The starting field of 619 players has been reduced to just 63, and the remaining Monster Stack field is now in the money. Everyone left is guaranteed to earn at least $607 in this event, turning at least a small profit on their start-of-day investment.
The bubblelasted through the end of Level 20, so a fresh Level 21 brings the field into the payout zone. Blinds are 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante, putting the average stack just below 20 big blinds. Play is scheduled to continue tonight until the end of the current level, just about 40 minutes from now.
Monday, October 17, 2016 8:26 PM Local Time
Monday, October 17, 2016 8:03 PM Local Time
Registration is closed for this Monster Stack event, and the numbers are in. This $365 no-limit hold'em event drew a field of 619 entries, generating a prizepool worth $185,700. That money will be shared by the final 63 players, with a min-cash worth $607. A ring and a top prize of $39,004 await the eventual winner.
The full breakdown of the payouts can be found in the "Prizepool" tab above.
Monday, October 17, 2016 5:55 PM Local Time
The number on the clock has ticked up to 613 entries, matching the field size for last season's Monster Stack. The expansive tournament area is almost completely full of players, with registration available for nearly two more hours. It seems to be a foregone conclusion that this event will surpass last year's in attendance; the only thing left to determine is just how big it will get before registration closes.
Level 11 has just begun with blinds at 500/1,000 and a 100 ante, so new players begin with a full 20 big blinds in the current level. Late registration is available until about 7:30 PM.
Monday, October 17, 2016 2:34 PM Local Time
The field has just returned from its first break of the day, and the board shows nearly 550 entries so far. Registration for this Monster Stack remains open through the dinner break this evening, so there's still plenty of time to expand.
Players who late register at the last moment will still begin with 12.5 big blinds after dinner.
Monday, October 17, 2016 2:50 AM Local Time
Today is Day 1 of the popular Monster Stack, the $365 no-limit hold'em event that gives players twice as many starting chips as the series' other events of the same buy-in.
Last season, Cory Waaland (pictured) defeated a field of 613 entries to claim the top prize of $38,623 and what was, at the time, his fifth gold ring. Waaland has gone on to add two more rings to his collection in the meantime, and the now-seven-time winner is a likely candidate to return today in defense of his title.
Here are the vitals for this event:
- Players begin with 20,000 chips
- Levels 1-12 are 30 minutes apiece
- Levels 13-21 are 40 minutes apiece
- Late registration is available until the start of Level 13
- There is a dinner break after Level 12
- Day 1 concludes at the end of Level 21
- View the structure sheet
Cards go in the air at noon.