Ravi Raghavan Wins WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond Main Event ($272,322)

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Oct 22, 2019 4 min read Last updated Oct 23, 2019

The World Series of Poker Horseshoe Hammond $1,700 Main Event is now history, and at the end of play on Day 3, it was a familiar Chicago name who emerged as the champion.

“Pretty good, pretty, pretty good”

Ravi Raghavan conquered the gargantuan field of 1,063 entries to win a first-place prize of $272,322 and his second WSOP Circuit ring, the first also coming in Hammond in 2016. At the beginning of the day, it was asked if Raghavan, who was the most accomplished player returning to action, could recreate the Hammond magic that has benefitted him in the past. After nine and a half hours of play, the answer to that question was a resounding yes.

“Pretty good, pretty, pretty good,” said Raghavan, who seemed overcome with glee when asked how it felt to take yet another title in his home casino.

One of the perks of winning a WSOP circuit ring is the qualification for the year-end Global Casino Championship, which is something that Raghavan values as he wasn't up to date on the point system and how it worked.

"That’s a great feature to get the qualification to the GCC. Now I don’t have to chase it."

“That’s a great feature to get the qualification to the GCC. Now I don’t have to chase it. It’s really tough to get it this year, and it’s really a big load off my mind now that I don’t have to chase it.”

However, that won't change his poker playing plans drastically in the coming months: “I always play the driving-distance circuit events, so I will go [to those stops] as planned.” But he admits that it does put a new perspective on things as he clarified a few moments later: "You know what I know, everything changes when you win a big one.”

2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Hammond Final Table Results

Early Action of the Day

Day 3 started at a tentative place as the original field of nineteen players was cut down by only two in the first two hours of play.

Eliminations started to rev up after the first break of the day as WSOP bracelet Alan Percal was eliminated by Raghavan in seventeenth ($14,924) when his ace-king ran into aces. A steady pace of elimination then began to develop as players dropped one by one from sixteenth down to ten.

The pace would again hit a snag when the final table of ten was formed, which saw Raghavan begin with the chip lead. It was Michael Wolff who would take the initiative in the early part of the final table as he won several big hands to gather a substantial chip lead as everyone else began to fall behind him, including when he eliminated Blake Battaglia in tenth place ($22,476) to break the barrier.

Defining Hands

Wolff would continue to soar until one hand changed the course of the final table and wound up being the hand of the entire tournament. Raghavan flopped a set of eights against the top two pair of Wolff. The chips ended up all-in on the flop, and after the board ran out clean, Raghavan was suddenly the considerable chip leader while Wolff was knocked back down.

Just two minutes after that, Raghavan eliminated Michael Rossitto in eighth place ($35,167) when he woke up with pocket kings against the pocket nines of Rossitto to gain another critical pot, which Raghavan would specifically note afterward as being just as crucial to his win as the big hand against Wolff.

The eliminations came at a steady pace after that as Matthew Shepsky went down in seventh place ($44,615), David Lindquist in sixth ($57,131,) and Andrew Ostapchenko in fifth ($73,837,) two of which were sent to the rail courtesy of Casey Carroll. Raghavan would claim another victim when he eliminated John Shannon in fourth place ($94,304) when his flush got a river call.

Three-handed play would be defined by one hand when Raghavan flopped Broadway versus Carroll, who had a healthy stack at the start of the hand. Raghavan shoved on the river to send Carroll deep into the tank and eventually took all of his chips when Carroll called off with a pair of jacks ($126,749.)

Raghavan would take an overwhelming seven-to-one chip lead heading into heads-up play against Wolff, who he would finish off in short order with ace-three running down pocket sixes to win the title. Wolff had to settle for the runner-up spot and $168,325.

Casino Champion & Ring Winners

In addition, Brian McDaniel won the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond Casino Championship title for a seat into the 2020 Global Casino Championship. He amassed 75 points at the stop and won a ring in Event #6: $400 Monster Stack, good for $32,864.

Here's a look at all those who won rings at the stop:

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