KEN FISCHER WINS H.O.S.E. EVENT AT HARRAH'S CHESTER

World Series of Poker Circuit Event action continued Thursday at Harrah’s Chester with the conclusion of Event #7, the $345 buy-in, H.O.S.E. event.

The two-day tournament drew 86 players, generating a total prize pool of $25,026.

H.O.S.E. is a mixed game that consists of Hold’em, Omaha 8, Stud and Stud 8. The event attracted a number of mixed game specialists from around the country. Allen Kessler, “Miami” John Cernuto, Roland Isra and Chris Tryba were among those who competed in the event.

But it was an amateur, Ken Fischer, an IT manager at George Washington University, who claimed victory. For first place, he took home $7,494 and the WSOP Circuit gold ring. Not a bad score for a first-ever WSOP Circuit Cash.

“Unbelievable - this was an incredible experience and I had a lot of fun,” he said after the win.

Despite it being his first WSOPC final table, Fischer dominated the stage as he eliminated each of his last five opponents. En route to victory, he even double-eliminated two of the game’s top players, “Miami’ John Cernuto and Roland Isra.

“That was amazing, but I have to say there wasn’t a bad player at this table today,”

Day one play got underway promptly at noon Wednesday and got down to the official final of eight before the day ended with Donald Jacoby sitting atop of the chip leader board.

After the eliminations of Peter Ippolito and Michael Gabarick in seventh and eighth places, each paying $1,041 and $868, respectively, final table play ended for the night with the remaining six returning promptly at 2:00 pm to play it down to a winner.

Day two play was fast and furious, with the first casualties of the day taking place at the hands of Fischer. Roland Isra got it all-in during the Omaha 8 round with Miami John Cernuto and Ken Fischer coming along. After the turn on a      board, Cernuto got hi remaining 36k in the pot and Fischer made the call.

It looked as Cernuto would scoop the pot with   [X][X] in the hole and no low possibilities, but Fischer was drawing to an open ended straight with   [X][X] which he completed after the   fell on the river.

Like that, the amateur had double eliminated two of the game’s best, who headed off to the payout table. Cernuto is a three-time WSOP bracelet holder and one time WSOP Circuit Event Champion. For fifth place, he added $1,737 to his over four million in lifetime tournament earnings.

Isra is a 53-year-old professional poker player, former race car driver and jewelry store owner from Forest Hills, NY. He has been on a tear at the Circuits since March of 2010 with six final table appearances and nine final tables worth over $300,000. His sixth place finish today added $1,298 to his over $600k in WSOP-related earnings.

James Downend was eliminated in the stud round after missing completely with jack-high to Fischer’s pair of aces. The Media, PA resident took home $2,361 for fourth.

All the while, Antonio Walker’s chip stack sat alone, moving steadily up the pay ladder. Walker, who hails from Willingboro, NJ, caught a horrible beat even before the cards were in the air on day two, having run into a two-hour traffic jam caused by a construction accident.

Walker finally made it to the final table stage with play down to three, and after a few hands, got it all-in during the stud 8 round vs. Fischer, but missed both low and high draws after being dealt        . Fischer took the pot with two pair, aces and queens to end Walker’s already short day two run. Walker earned $3,242 for third.

Heads up play pit Fischer against Jacoby with the two players sitting on comparable chip stacks. Fischer quickly got the upper hand however, and was able to chip Jacoby down to his last 21,000. Jacoby managed to double through Fischer during the Stud 8 round, but got it all-in again the very next hand. Donald missed his flush draw, making Fischer’s pocket jacks good enough to take the victory, worth $7,494 and the gold ring.

For his runner up finish, Jacoby collected $4,631.

In addition to the ring and prize money, Fischer picks up fifty points in the race for a seat to the WSOP Circuit National Championship. In the overall points race here at Chester, he joins previous ring winners Rocco Luciano, Burak Temel and Jonas Wexler for second place with fifty each. Matthew Lope currently holds the lead at 60 with his first place finish in event #2 and an 18^th place finish in event #5.