It has been a rapid-fire news week for the World Series Of Poker over the last seven days, and that’s only going to continue in the near future.
Several big headlines dropped in quick succession. First, Maurice Hawkins won his 17th WSOP Circuit ring, putting him one behind Ari Engel for the all-time top spot.
Then the schedule for this summer’s WSOP dropped. And that was almost immediately followed by Phil Hellmuth almost threatening to boycott the Main Event over how long the days will be.
In amongst all this hubbub, it would be easy to miss the fact that the World Series of Poker Circuit festival at the Horseshoe Hammond is also coming up fast on February 27.
Top Tourneys At The WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond
Starting just before the end of the month, the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond kicks off on February 27 and runs until March 10.
The festival consists of 18 numbered WSOPC ring events and near-daily satellites. The satellites mostly pay out in $400 tourney tickets with a handful offering seats in the $1,000,000 guaranteed Main Event.
As usual, it is the Main Event that will be the big attraction of the festival. With its massive guarantee and the prospect of a prestigious WSOPC ring, the $1,700 Main will be the event to win.
However, if $1,700 is a bit steep for you and you don’t trust your satellite game to earn you a seat, there are plenty of budget options on the schedule. The cheapest event by far is the Ladies Event ta $250. There is also, a no limit hold’em event for $1,100 and the rest of the schedule is made up of $400 offerings.
For the non-holdem players, these smaller $400 tournaments include a seniors event, a H.O.R.S.E. event, and pot limit Omaha event, and an Omaha eight-or-better event.
The Defending Champion
Last year, Michael Estes came top out of 746 entrants to the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond $1,700 Main Event. There was a very reasonable $1,130,190 in the prize pool, putting $198,576 up top.
Estes took on (and took down) Grant Keller in the heads up phase. This earned Estes the first-place prize as well as the gold ring.
“The final table was great,” Estes told the WSOP. “That’s because of me. I’m so nice! Everybody here was absolutely professional and nice. We understood that we all couldn’t win.”
Keller earned $132,386 for coming in second.
2024 WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Estes | Chicago, IL | $198,576 |
| 2 | Grant Keller | Richmond, VA | $132,386 |
| 3 | Kristopher Magruder | Lansing, IL | $91,159 |
| 4 | Sargon Guliana | Skokie, IL | $63,981 |
| 5 | Mark Cahill | Henderson, NV | $45,789 |
| 6 | Maxwell Sheridan | Chicago, IL | $33,426 |
| 7 | Mykhailo Lendel | Brooklyn, NY | $24,901 |
| 8 | Christopher Weber | Chicago, IL | $18,937 |
| 9 | Jacob Fishbein | Highland Park, IL | $14,709 |
What’s Next for the WSOPC?
The WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond is the last WSOPC festival to start in February.
However, the massive $5.87 million guaranteed WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee and the triumphant return of the WSOP Circuit Graton are both already underway.
This pair of festivals wrap up on the same date, February 24.
Between now and the Horseshoe Hammond festival, the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Baltimore also kicks off on February 20.
You can check out the full schedule for WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond below.
WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond Casino Schedule
*Photos courtesy WSOPC
