HUGH DRUMMOND DOMINATES FINAL TABLE IN EVENT #5 AT HARRAH'S ST. LOUIS

With his benign presence and mild-mannered disposition, Hugh Jordan Drummond is as unassuming as they get.

However, his persona is in stark contrast to what he’s shown to be a malicious poker mind. After eliminating 12 final table opponents in only his second-ever live tournament, his MO is clear, wreaking havoc on all comers.

In short, don’t let Drummond fool you. This kid is a menace.

After a third place finish in the series’ opening event, Drummond booked a win in Ring Event #5 at Harrah’s St. late Wednesday night, worth $24,611 and the coveted WSOP Circuit Event gold ring.

Drummond is an online poker pro from Vancouver, Canada. He regularly plays sit-and-go tournaments ranging from $100 buy-ins to over $1,000. He said that there was nothing to his decision to play in his first live events here at Harrah’s St. Louis, and admits that he has exceeded his initial expectations to get a feel for live play.

Event #5 drew 393 runners, generating a total prize pool of $111,869. 25 players survived day one and after five hours of play on day two, it was down to the final table. Drummond was at a commanding chip lead, which he held through much of the night.

Ninth Place

Once play got down to ten, it wasn’t until nearly two hours later until the money bubble burst when Nicholas Wheeler was eliminated in tenth place. Official final table play resumed at about 7:15 pm with blinds and antes of 3,000/10,000/20,000.

During the early action a number of the short stacks were able to double through the larger including Tim Reedy, who made a royal flush to double through Drummond.

The first elimination of the night eventually took place with Aaron Massey all-in with A-9 vs. Drummond’s A-K. A-K held through the river to give Massey an early exit. Massey is a 26-year-old poker pro from Chicago, IL. In 2009, Massey beat out 1,410 players in the Circuit Event opener at Horseshoe Hammond, finishing in second place, worth $48,683. His final table finish at Ring Event #5 in St. Louis earned him $2,327.

Eighth Place

Finishing in eighth place was poker pro, Michael Souza. Souza had sizable stack of chips when play was at ten but lost a monster pot to Drummond. His final hand of the night saw his pocket sevens fail to hold all-in vs. Paul Giles’ K-J. Souza, who has over $290,000 in overall WSOP and WSOP Circuit earnings, added another $2,913 to his resume.

Seventh Place

Nikolaj Poulsen got all his chips in the pot with pocket sixes and was called by Richard Roberts who turned over   . The flop was harmless enough for Poulsen –    , but the turn was a disastrous  . The river was no help to Poulsen and he made his way to the payout line to collect $3,698 in seventh place prize money.

With blinds now at 15,000/30,000 Paul Giles made an all-in stand with    before Matt Lawrence isolated with an all-in reraise holding   . The two went heads up to a board of      . Lawrence’s ace-high was good enough to take the pot and eliminate Giles. Sixth place paid $4,762.

Fifth Place

It was an up and down final table for Lawrence, who after chipping up through Giles fell back down in chips before he was ultimately eliminated in a cooler of a hand all-in with 9-5 vs. Drummond. Drummond lead the betting through the river on a 3-9-7-9-J board. Lawrence was put to an all-in decision on the river and made the call only to see Drummond table 9-3.

Lawrence is poker pro from Tulsa, OK. He took down event #8 at last year’s Circuit Series here in St. Louis. In only his second year playing at the WSOP Circuit, he has made 14 cashes totaling nearly $120,000. He pocketed another $6,222 for his finish in this event. Blinds were now at 20,000/40,000.

Fourth Place

Tim Reedy’s tournament run ended after running A-T all-in into Drummond’s A-Q. The board double-paired Drummond, sending Reedy to the rail in fourth place. Reedy is a 58-year-old married father of four from St. Ann, MO. An employee of UPS, Reedy picked up a healthy parcel of $8,521 in prize money.

Third Place

Soon after Reedy’s elimination, Bobbie Talbot was all-in with A-8, but saw the same result as Reedy- Drummond making the call, turning over A-Q and watching it hold through the river. Talbot is a retired law enforcement officer from Hernando, MS. The overall points leader at IP Biloxi, Talbot secured an early seat to the WSOP Circuit National Championship which takes place in May at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. For his third place finish in event #5, Talbot pocketed $11,113.

Second Place

Heads up between Drummond and Roberts began at 11:00 pm with Drummond at more than a 3-1 chip lead over his opponent. Roberts was able to double up through Drummond but soon after called an all-in by Drummond with   . Drummond had Roberts dominated with   . Drummond remained ahead after a     flop but had to endure a bit of a sweat when the   hit the turn. The river was a harmless   however, giving Drummond his first-ever WSOP Circuit victory.

Roberts is a 26-year-old married father of three from Moore, OK. Moore’s first-ever WSOP-related cash was worth $15,209.

For his win, Drummond took back over the border $24,611 and the WSOP Circuit gold ring.

“I’m pretty elated,” Drummond said after his victory. “I never expected to win when I came out here.”

He says that while he allows players to exploit him a bit pre-flop, he has a post-flop edge which is where he likes to get his chips.

Drummond’s performance in event #5 mirrored that in the opening event at Harrah’s St. Louis, with him also dominating in that final table. However, after an incredible call by Mark Pearse with two pair on the board and a king high kicker, Drummond fell short of the win in that event and settled for third place.

“It was frustrating, I was pretty [upset] after that final table,” he said.

Despite his disappointing result, the 30 points that Drummond earned in that event coupled with the 50 points earned for his win in Ring Event #5 puts him in a commanding lead for the overall points race at Harrah’s St. Louis. 

Two players from Harrah’s St. Louis will earn an entry into the $1 million 2010-2011 WSOP Circuit National Championship– the winner of the $1,600 buy-in Main Event along with the overall points leader through the ten ring events here at Harrah’s St. Louis.

Still to come are 19 events and 5 ring events. See the complete Harrah’s St. Louis Circuit schedule and previous results here.  The WSOP Circuit at St. Louis runs through April 12^th. You can find the complete 2010/2011 WSOP CIRCUIT SCHEDULE here.