Event #10 Headlines
- Poker Pro Eric Crain Wins H.O.R.S.E. Event at Chicago’s WSOP Circuit
- Crain Wins His Second WSOP Gold Ring – Previous Win Was Three Years Ago in Tunica
- Horseshoe Casino (Chicagoland) Continues to Draw Big Fields – Attendance Up 11 Percent Over Last Year, Through First Ten Events
Event #10 Champion (Eric Crain)
- The 2009 World Series of Poker Circuit champion of Event #10 held at the Horseshoe Casino (Chicagoland) is Jeff Eric Crain, from Murphysboro, IL.
- Crain is a 25-year-old professional poker player.
- Crain has been playing professionally for about five years. He mostly plays online.
- Crain says he travels to approximately four major tournaments a year, including most of the summer in Las Vegas at the WSOP.
- This was Crain’s second WSOP Circuit victory. He previously won the $300 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event held at the Tunica Grand, in January 2007. Crain now has five WSOP Circuit cashes, and three final table appearances. He has also cashed four times at the WSOP in Las Vegas, including a sixth-place finish in the $2,000 buy-on Mixed Games event held earlier this year.
- Crain’s prize money winnings in WSOP-related events total $80,841 in WSO play and $88,537 in WSOP Circuit.
- Crain attended college, but opted to play poker instead. He once studied journalism.
- For his victory, Crain won $14,703 in prize money, plus the coveted gold ring which is presented to all WSOP Circuit winners.
- Crain’s hometown of Murphysboro is located in southern Illinois, and is within easy driving distance of five WSOP Circuit events to be held this season – including Chicago/Hammond, Tunica, Council Bluffs, Southern Indiana, and St. Louis.
Winner Quotes (Eric Crain)
- On how things are going as a poker pro: (Laughing) “It depends on which month you ask me.”
- On what winning a WSOP Circuit gold ring means, particularly victory number two: “It’s neat because when I won my first ring, I obsessed for a while over winning something significant. I had done well in cash games at that time but had never done anything in tournaments. So, when I won that event (back in 2007) I did not realize now until three years later how really hard it is to win a major tournament. Yeah, it’s really nice.”
- On his goals in poker: “I want to get better at a lot of the H.O.R.S.E. games. Oddly, I feel I am really weak in a lot of the Stud games. I have been working with some players who play some high-stakes stud and they taught me a lot. I was basically doing everything wrong, so that really helped me out.”
- On poker advice for those who might be thinking about poker either professionally or semi-professionally: “Keep grinding and do not play too ridiculously big. Try to keep a level head and keep building slowly.”
- On those who helped him improve his game: “Brad Libson (who finished fifth in this event) really helped me a lot. In fact, I busted him. Some others were Brett Ritchie, Tony Rivera, Scott, Tom and a few others – they really helped me a lot with my game.”
- On his plans for the near future: “I will surely be coming here more in the future. Plus there is Tunica. And there is a WSOP Circuit event coming to St. Louis for the first time, which is next spring. I will be playing more for sure.”
- On whom he is cheering for at this year’s WSOP November Nine, to be played in two weeks: “I think if Ivey wins he will bring a lot of good things to the game. Poker will continue to grow if Ivey wins, and I think that will really be good for the sport. A big name pro winning gives everyone someone to look up to, and that would be a great thing for poker.”