Bob Chow Wins Horseshoe Hammond WSOP Circuit Main Event

Bob Chow took down the competition at the World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Hammond Main Event, winning a gold ring and one of the largest Main Event prizes on the WSOP Circuit.

Chow, who defeated a field of 1,615 players – the largest in WSOP Circuit Main Event history – won $393,584 for his victory. On the final day of play, Chow outlasted the remaining 20 players to win his first major poker tournament.

While the victory was Chow’s first, he has had some minor cashes in major events before. He has twice cashed at the World Series of Poker, and finished 40^th in a tournament on the Asia-Pacific Poker Tour. Overall, Chow has now won over $455,000 in his live tournament career.

While the final table wasn’t filled with big name television pros, it generated a lot of excitement due to the tremendous prize pool available (in total, winning players took home $2,349,825). When heads up play was reached, Chow was at a 2-1 chip disadvantage against Aaron Steury, who was hot off winning the $1,500 HORSE event at this summer’s World Series of Poker – his first bracelet victory.

However, Chow was able to turn things around, grabbing the chip lead and eventually leaving Steury short-stacked for the final hand. Steury eventually moved in from the button preflop with 54 offsuit, and was called by Chow’s J3. Although the 863 flop gave Steury some hope with an open-ended straight draw, a jack on the turn and ace on the river finished the job and gave Chow the title.

In addition to his cash winnings, Chow also earned a free entry into the Circuit National Championship, which will be held in 2012. While other top finishers do not automatically earn seats, they may qualify based on the points they earned thanks to their strong placement.

The final table payouts at the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond Main Event were as follows:

1^st Bob Chow $393,584

2^nd Aaron Steury $243,818

3^rd Erik Roussakis $183,991

4^th Eric Crain $139,815

5^th Dave Neff $106,447

6^th Joe Hebda $81,774

7^th Drazen Ilich $63,680

8^th Dan V. Harrington $50,051

9^th Shawn Quinn $39,947