October is a busy month for Indiana as the World Series of Poker Circuit hits the Horseshoe Southern Indiana on Oct. 3-14, and then it moves to Hammond on Oct. 17-28.
The Midwest’s first circuit event was held in Southern Indiana in 2005, then under the Caesars name. The $300 buy-in opener set a record with 954 players.
• The Heartland Poker Tour returns to Belterra Casino in Florence, Ind., Oct. 25-Nov. 3. Last year Greg Raymer made the news here by winning his fourth tournament of the year and becoming the HPT’s Player of the Year.
• Lake Area United Way, which aids 31 non-profit agencies, will kick off the WSOPC in Hammond on Oct. 16 with a charity tournament. Top three will win a $1,675 seat to the main event.
“We wanted to do an event that was fun and full of excitement and something that was different from the norm. This tournament is like no other event in Northwest Indiana and we are thrilled we have the opportunity to impact so many agencies with the proceeds from this event,” chairman Aaron McDermott said.
Co-chair John Kennedy said, “Thanks to Horseshoe, we’ll be able to provide a premier poker experience for players while helping the community at the same time.”
The event starts at 6 p.m. and buy-in is $200 if you pre-register ($225 at the door). General admission is $25. Seating is limited to 400 players. Register online by clicking on the poker chip at lauw.org.
• Horseshoe Hammond concluded its $250K guarantee, five-year anniversary tournament with a record 766 entries. Winner Stephen Jones won $67K from the $372K prize pool.
ILLINOIS: Majestic Star hosted a record 520-player field as the HPT returned to Chicagoland. The final table had Darryl Ronconi, who finished 54th at this year’s WSOP main event.
It was Bob Chow from Schaumburg who worked his way to the top spot, eliminating six players at the final table, winning $171K.
Chow becomes the first player to win a Chicagoland HPT and WSOPC main event.
The 53-year-old was the only pro player at the table, defeating Chicagoan Vu Huang, who fought for 29 hands heads-up before Chow caught a higher straight-flush draw on the river to take down the biggest field HPT has ever seen at Majestic Star.
Huang, who said he was unemployed, invested just $190 in the tournament and walked away with $104,859.
Chow earned $171,534 and the title.
“The new structure is a tremendous structure for this type of tournament, plenty of play,” the champ said.
Ronconi, an executive from Naperville, Ill., agreed. “The structure is great. I canceled my trips to Florida and Foxwoods to play this event because of the structure.”
— Email “Chicago” Joe Giertuga at chicago.joe@comcast.net.
