Monday, October 17, 2016 6:22 PM Local Time
Jason Ramos Wins Opening Re-entry Event in Hammond
Local salesman turns a single entry into a gold ring and nearly six figures in cash
Hammond, Indiana (October 17, 2016) — Jason Ramos is the champion of Event #1 at Horseshoe Hammond, defeating a huge field of 2,121 entries to earn his first gold ring. In addition to the jewelry, Ramos collected the top prize of $97,061 and 50 points toward the race for seats in the Global Casino Championship.
Ramos is a 35-year-old salesman from Carol Stream, Illinois. His family and his career come first, but he’s been putting in a bit more time as he’s started to accumulate some significant results over the last three years. This one is his most significant so far, though, and the timing was just right for the champ.
“I’m just overwhelmed,” he said in the postgame interview, letting out a big sigh at the end of a long and successful day of poker. “I feel great. I have a fiancé and three little girls at home, and we’re looking to get a house. This is just breathtaking and overwhelming. It absolutely couldn’t have come at a better time. This is a downpayment.”
Ramos’ job meant he was unable to play Day 1A or Day 1B, but he showed up for Saturday’s Day 1C with a few entries in his wallet. As it turned out, he only needed one. “I played one entry,” he said proudly, holding up a single finger. “One flight. One bullet.” Ramos bagged up the day’s third-biggest stack of 242,600 chips, good enough for fourth place on the overall leaderboard heading into the combined Day 2.
Things tried to unravel a bit during the decisive Day 2, but Ramos refused to let it come undone. “Ups and downs today,” he said after the fact. “It was a roller-coaster ride. I was short a couple times, but I just maintained my composure. I was just trying to pick my spots right. Play smart, and don’t get unlucky.”
Ramos’ big boost came midway through the day when he doubled up with aces versus queens for about 10 percent of the total chips in play. He was back among the top stacks by the time the field redrew for the final three tables, and it was mostly smooth sailing from there on out.
In the wee hours of Monday morning, Ramos found himself heads-up with a big chip lead against Art Harb, and although both men held fairly deep stacks, the match was over within just a few hands. Harb got the last of his chips into the middle preflop with ace-nine of diamonds, but Ramos found a dominating ace-queen to put his opponent at risk. Five blanks later, it was all over, as Ramos posed for photos with all the chips stacked in front of him.
When asked if this victory encourages him to devote more time to the game, Ramos let out another big smile. “Yeah, I’m going to play,” he said. “I’m going to play for the rest of the week. I’m going to call work and use some vacation time, and I’m going to play in the rest of the events here. I want to win Casino Champion.”
He’s off to a good start on that goal. Ramos is the early front-runner with the top score of 50 points on the Horseshoe Hammond leaderboard.