Event #12: $5,300 High Roller No-Limit Hold'em (One Re-Entry)

Hammond, Indiana (October 26, 2016) — Ravi Raghavan is the champion of Event #12 at Horseshoe Hammond, defeating a field of 83 entries to win the $5,300 High Roller event. Raghavan has a long list of impressive tournament results, but this victory was his first on the WSOP Circuit. He earned the top prize of $132,798 and his first gold ring. The win also clinched Casino Champion honors for Raghavan, awarding him one of the limited tickets to the WSOP Global Casino Championship.

Those are the facts, but the full context of Raghavan’s performance will be remembered for a long time on the Circuit.

Raghavan’s Monday began in the $1,675 Main Event, where he was among the final 28 remaining from a huge starting field of 1,308 entries. This High Roller event had gotten underway the previous afternoon, an event that he would typically play, if not for being otherwise occupied in the Main.

Late registration was still available until the Day 2 restart at 3:00 PM, though, and Raghavan was eliminated from the Main in 16th place at about 2:58. By the time his bustout hand was posted to the live updates at 3:02, he was already in the High Roller field, the second-to-last player to sneak in before registration closed. Only Jean Gaspard got in after Raghavan, and Gaspard was the first player eliminated on Day 2. Raghavan would not be eliminated at all.

Ten hours later, 98 of the 99 tournament tables were empty, and only a few custodians were milling around, tidying up the unnecessaries in the cavernous tournament theater. In a far corner, Raghavan and Keven Stammen were the last two players in action, battling back and forth in a light-hearted heads-up match for the series’ final gold ring. Raghavan closed the series with a victory, defeating Stammen to put the exclamation point on a remarkable day at Horseshoe Hammond.

Although they were the only two left playing at that hour, there was one more player whose fate hung in the balance of that match. Art Harb, a Chicago police sergeant, had cashed three times and made two final tables during the series, and he was clinging to his spot atop the Casino Champion leaderboard with one event left to fade. One player left to fade, really.

Raghavan had begun the day with just 2.5 points, trailing Harb by 67.5 -- not even on the radar as a threat to challenge for the crown. Raghavan's Main Event performance was worth 20 points, though, bringing him to 22.5 and suddenly putting him in contention with his late-entry into the High Roller. He need nothing short of a win to earn the title, and he got it, stealing the Casino Champion honors away from Harb on the series' final river card.

After Ravi Raghavan wins a pot without a showdown, the next hand, he raises on the button and Keven Stammen calls. The flop is     and Stammen checks. Raghavan bets 75,000 and Stammen calls.

The turn is the   and Stammen checks again. Raghavan bets 100,000 and Stammen calls. The river is the   and Stammen checks for a third time. Raghavan bets 500,000, which almost all of Stammen's remaining chips.

Stammen folds the   face-up and Raghavan wins the pot.

Ravi Raghavan - 2,800,000 (90 bb)
Keven Stammen - 550,000 (18 bb)

Keven Stammen limps in on the button and Ravi Raghavan checks his option in the big blind. The flop is     and Raghavan checks. Stammen bets 35,000 and Raghavan calls.

The turn is the   and Raghavan checks. Stammen bets 80,000 and Raghavan calls. The river is the   and Raghavan checks for a third time. Stammen bets 225,000 and Raghavan quickly calls.

Stammen shows AdQh and Raghavan mucks his hand.

Keven Stammen - 975,000 (32 bb)
Ravi Raghavan - 2,350,000 (77 bb)

Here are approximate heads-up chip counts for the final two players as heads-up play begins:

Ravi Raghavan - 2,700,000 (112 bb)
Keven Stammen - 650,000 (27 bb)

Keven Stammen raises on the button and Mark Sandness calls out of the big blind. The flop is     and Sandness check-calls a bet from Stammen.

Both players check the   on the turn and the   comes on the river. Sandness checks and Stammen bets 165,000. Sandness calls and Stammen shows   .

"Wow," says Sandness with a laugh. "I was real light there too. Real light."

Mark Sandness raises on the button and Ravi Raghavan calls from the big blind. Both players check a flop of     and the   comes on the turn.

Raghavan checks again and Sandness bets 110,000. Raghavan raises to about 300,000 and Sandness quickly folds.

"That was the hand," says Raghavan as he is collecting the chips. "I needed you to have something there."

Ravi Raghavan - 1,820,000 (91 bb)
Mark Sandness - 920,000 (46 bb)

Millard Hale

Millard Hale moves all in on the button for 85,000 and is called by Mark Sandness in the small blind and Keven Stammen in the big blind. Any further action will create a side pot between Stammen and Sandness.

The flop is     and both players check. The   comes on the turn and Sandness checks again. Stammen bets 105,000 and Sandness folds.

Stammen shows   , good for two pair, and is in the lead against Hale's   . The river is the   and Stammen wins the pot to eliminate Hale in fourth place. Hale takes home $41,849 for his run and leaves the table three-handed.

Keven Stammen - 880,000 (44 bb)
Millard Hale - Eliminated

Mark Sandness raises under the gun and Millard Hale calls out of the big blind. The flop is     and both players check to the   turn card.

Hale checks again and Sandness bets 55,000. Hale calls and the river is the  . Both players check. Hale shows    and Sandness wins the pot with a better ace high, showing   .

Mark Sandness - 1,190,000 (74 bb)
Millard Hale - 590,000 (36 bb)