There is no stop on the World Series of Poker Circuit that gets players more excited than the Horseshoe Hammond event. It consistently has some of the biggest fields and draws the best players from the Midwest and beyond into an incredible series.
Those expectations were more than fulfilled with the first event in the 2012 Series. The $365 No-Limit Hold ‘em Re-Entry event drew an incredible 2,498 players. That made it the third largest Circuit event ever. A prize pool of $749,000 created a first place prize of $110,535 for just an investment of $365.
After the surviving players from the two starting days combined, there were 310 players remaining. With the top 252 spots finishing in the money, it didn’t take long for the money bubble to burst. The field was quickly depleted and only 15 players were left when play ended on Day 2.
By the time the players reached the final table on Day 3, Tom Rogers had taken the chip lead. The 32-year from Milwaukee maintained that lead throughout almost the entire final table. When Rogers got heads-up with David Backstrom, the two battled it out for an hour and a half before Rogers was finally able to finish him off.
Rogers, a former sales consultant who is primarily a cash game player, was originally planning on playing the first event as well as the Pot-Limit Omaha that started today. He was okay with missing the Omaha event, considering the results.
After his victory, Rogers said “I just want to say hi and that I love my girlfriend Kyle and my son Ethan.” Rogers isn’t going to stick around to test his luck again. He is heading home to see his family and then will return on Wednesday to play cash and then possible the Main Event.
It will be interesting to see what Rogers can do in the Main. Considering this event was his first Circuit cash ever, he is definitely going to be looking to keep his winning streak alive.
Here are the final table results from Event 1 of the 2012 Circuit stop at Horseshoe Hammond:
1st. Tom Rogers $110,5352nd. David Backstrom $69,5443rd. Paul Morash $52,1514th. Brett Schwertly $40,1605th. Cristian Ciotea $31,1986th. Zal Irani $24,3567th. Gary Lindesmith $19,1858th. David Kappel $15,288
9th: Stephen Harrison - $12,388