Javier Zarco Wins WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond $2,200 High Roller ($70,931)
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The World Series of Poker Horseshoe Hammond $2,200 High Roller wrapped on Monday and after two full days of play Spanish pro Javier Zarco came out on top as the champion.
Zarco defeated an extremely tough field of 132 entries to take home a $70,931 top prize and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. He is no stranger to tournament play, however, having won over $2,400,000 in poker earnings, and almost winning his first WSOP bracelet in the 2015 WSOP $1,500 Millionaire Maker when he finished in second place for $791,690.
"It feels amazing. I won a Venetian Deepstack once but I finally won a ring after finishing second four times in Main Events," Zarco said with excitement after defeating WSOP bracelet winner and two-time WSOP Circuit ring leader Michael Wang heads up. "It honestly just went my way, doubling up the first hand."
Zarco does travel to play poker most of the time with only a few Circuit stops along the way, "I mostly just play here. I like this one, and the ones in Florida."
He says he plans to play the World Poker Tour in Montreal next before heading back to his home in London.
Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Hometown | Prize Money |
| 1 | Javier Zarcov | London, England | $70,931 |
| 2 | Michael Wang | Livingston, New Jersey | $43,839 |
| 3 | Brad Albrinck | Cincinnati, Ohio | $30,349 |
| 4 | Artem Zverkhovskyy | Ukraine | $21,567 |
| 5 | Nadya Magnus | Palatine, Illinois | $15,744 |
| 6 | Srinivasa Vadlamudi | Saint Charles, Missouri | $11,816 |
| 7 | Alexander Ziskin | Vernon Hills, Illinois | $9,123 |
| 8 | Jake Bazeley | Cincinnati, Ohio | $7,253 |
| 9 | Steven Sarmiento | Forest Hills, New York | $5,943 |
Day 2 Action
Day 2 started with many of the 40 players that advanced busting out at a rapid pace, and after just over two hours of play, there were only 27 players remaining.
Many well-known Circuit grinders were eliminated early in the day including Nick Pupillo, Irene Carey, Marshall White, and Ben Grise.
The steady pace would continue as Zarco kept up with his aggressive style and built his stack, getting value when he made a set of jacks. He also kept the pressure on near the bubble.
The final table continued with the day's fast pace when only a few minutes in Wang sent both Steve Sarmiento out in ninth place and Jake Bazeley in eighth in the same hand after all three players were all-in preflop and Wang rivered a winning ace.
Not even 10 minutes later it was Alex Ziskin who was eliminated in seventh place when he turned a straight and flush draw along with his flopped pair against Srinivasa Vadlamudi, who flopped two pair. Ziskin missed and was sent packing.
The action slowed down for the first time all day and it took another two hours before Vadlamudi lost most of his chips to Zarco when his pocket pair couldn't hold against Zarco's two overcards. Vadlamudi was eliminated in sixth place shortly after when he shoved into Zverkhovskyy's pocket queens.
Nadya Magnus was next to go in fifth place after a grinding her short-stack, but eventually fell when she couldn't win a race with pocket nines against Wang's ace-ten.
Zverkhovskyy had quite the roller-coaster of a day losing most of his chips on the bubble before doubling up when he made tens full. Ultimately he ended up finishing in fourth place though when he moved all in with queen-jack and lost to Brad Albrinck's pocket nines.
Albernick avoided disaster when he checked back a full house against Zarco's quads but finished in third place when he turned trips and shoved into Wang's flush on the river.
Heads-up was quite the battle with Wang coming in with a more than a 5:1 chip lead, but Zarco managed to double up the first hand and continue the fight. A little while later, Wang and Zarco ended up getting all of the chips in the middle preflop and Zarco was dominating Wang with a better ace-high, which turned into two pair to give him a massive chip lead. It was only a few hands later that Wang was eliminated in second place when he turned a double gutshot straight draw and missed the river against Zarco's pair.
Here's a look at all those who won rings at the stop:
| Tournament | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event #1: $400 NLH | 1,710 | $561,330 | David Larson | $76,589 |
| Event #2: $250 NLH Double Stack | 464 | $92,800 | Ryan Abelseth | $18,810 |
| Event #3: $400 NLH Seniors | 211 | $69,630 | Michael Reed | $16,878 |
| Event #4: $600 NLH | 154 | $79,310 | Jerry Gumila | $20,773 |
| Event #5: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha | 121 | $62,315 | Victor Skrobacz | $16,977 |
| Event #6: $400 Monster Stack | 502 | $165,660 | Brian McDaniel | $32,864 |
| Event #7: $400 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better | 102 | $33,660 | Vu Hoang | $9,618 |
| Event #8: $400 NLH Bounty | 172 | $39,650 | Marla Grapsas | $10,140 |
| Event #9: $600 NLH 6-Handed | 163 | $83,945 | Mike Moncek | $21,751 |
| Event #10: $1,125 NLH | 167 | $187,000 | Justin Brown | $46,551 |
| Event #11: $400 NLH Multi-Bag Bonus | 894 | $300,000 | Greg Baird | $49,402 |
| Event #12: $1,700 Main Event | 1,063 | $1,610,445 | Ravi Raghavan | $272,322 |
| Event #13: $2,200 High Roller | 132 | $264,000 | Javier Zarco | $70,931 |
| Event #14: $250 NLH | 274 | $54,800 | Marvin Guss | $12,701 |
That wraps up the PokerNews coverage of WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond. Stay tuned for more WSOP Circuit coverage in the final months of 2019 to be provided by PokerNews.
