$2,200 High Roller
Day 2 Completed
2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Hammond
$2,200 High Roller
Day: 2
Level 25
: 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
The World Series of Poker Horseshoe Hammond $2,200 High Roller wrapped on Monday and after two full days of play Spanish pro Javier Zarco came out on top as the champion.
Zarco defeated an extremely tough field of 132 entries to take home a $70,931 top prize and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. He is no stranger to tournament play, however, having won over $2,400,000 in poker earnings, and almost winning his first WSOP bracelet in the 2015 WSOP $1,500 Millionaire Maker when he finished in second place for $791,690.
"It feels amazing. I won a Venetian Deepstack once but I finally won a ring after finishing second four times in Main Events," Zarco said with excitement after defeating WSOP bracelet winner and two-time WSOP Circuit ring leader Michael Wang heads up. "It honestly just went my way, doubling up the first hand."
Zarco does travel to play poker most of the time with only a few Circuit stops along the way, "I mostly just play here. I like this one, and the ones in Florida."
He says he plans to play the World Poker Tour in Montreal next before heading back to his home in London.
Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Hometown | Prize Money |
| 1 | Javier Zarcov | London, England | $70,931 |
| 2 | Michael Wang | Livingston, New Jersey | $43,839 |
| 3 | Brad Albrinck | Cincinnati, Ohio | $30,349 |
| 4 | Artem Zverkhovskyy | Ukraine | $21,567 |
| 5 | Nadya Magnus | Palatine, Illinois | $15,744 |
| 6 | Srinivasa Vadlamudi | Saint Charles, Missouri | $11,816 |
| 7 | Alexander Ziskin | Vernon Hills, Illinois | $9,123 |
| 8 | Jake Bazeley | Cincinnati, Ohio | $7,253 |
| 9 | Steven Sarmiento | Forest Hills, New York | $5,943 |
Day 2 Action
Day 2 started with many of the 40 players that advanced busting out at a rapid pace, and after just over two hours of play, there were only 27 players remaining.
Many well-known Circuit grinders were eliminated early in the day including Nick Pupillo, Irene Carey, Marshall White, and Ben Grise.
The steady pace would continue as Zarco kept up with his aggressive style and built his stack, getting value when he made a set of jacks. He also kept the pressure on near the bubble.
The final table continued with the day's fast pace when only a few minutes in Wang sent both Steve Sarmiento out in ninth place and Jake Bazeley in eighth in the same hand after all three players were all-in preflop and Wang rivered a winning ace.
Not even 10 minutes later it was Alex Ziskin who was eliminated in seventh place when he turned a straight and flush draw along with his flopped pair against Srinivasa Vadlamudi, who flopped two pair. Ziskin missed and was sent packing.
The action slowed down for the first time all day and it took another two hours before Vadlamudi lost most of his chips to Zarco when his pocket pair couldn't hold against Zarco's two overcards. Vadlamudi was eliminated in sixth place shortly after when he shoved into Zverkhovskyy's pocket queens.
Nadya Magnus was next to go in fifth place after a grinding her short-stack, but eventually fell when she couldn't win a race with pocket nines against Wang's ace-ten.
Zverkhovskyy had quite the roller-coaster of a day losing most of his chips on the bubble before doubling up when he made tens full. Ultimately he ended up finishing in fourth place though when he moved all in with queen-jack and lost to Brad Albrinck's pocket nines.
Albernick avoided disaster when he checked back a full house against Zarco's quads but finished in third place when he turned trips and shoved into Wang's flush on the river.
Heads-up was quite the battle with Wang coming in with a more than a 5:1 chip lead, but Zarco managed to double up the first hand and continue the fight. A little while later, Wang and Zarco ended up getting all of the chips in the middle preflop and Zarco was dominating Wang with a better ace-high, which turned into two pair to give him a massive chip lead. It was only a few hands later that Wang was eliminated in second place when he turned a double gutshot straight draw and missed the river against Zarco's pair.
That wraps up the PokerNews coverage of the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond High Roller. Stay tuned for more WSOP Circuit coverage in the final months of 2019 to be provided by PokerNews.
Level 25
: 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Javier Zarco limped the button and Michael Wang checked his option. The flop came 
and Wang led for 45,000 which Zarco called.
The turn was the 
and Wang fired again for 125,000. Zarco raised all-in and Wang made the call.
Michael Wang: 
Javier Zarco: 
Zarco was ahead with his pair of eights and he managed to dodge Wang's overcards and double gutshot when the board completed with the 
on the river, Eliminating Michael Wang in 2nd Place for $43,839.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
3,960,000
360,000
|
360,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
||
Level 25
: 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
All the chips landed in the middle before the flop and Javier Zarco was at risk for his tournament life with 1,815,000 against Michael Wang.
Michael Wang: 
Javier Zarco: 
Zarco had Wang dominated and the flop came 
giving him an even larger lead with a pair of queens, and the 
on the turn meant he could no longer lose the hand and the board completed with the 
on the river sealing his double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,600,000
1,815,000
|
1,815,000 |
|
|
360,000
-1,815,000
|
-1,815,000 |
|
|
||
Level 25
: 15,000/30,000, 30,000 ante
Javier Zarco limped on the button before Michael Wang raised to 100,000 and he called.
The flop came 
and Wang continued for 90,000 which Zarco called.
On the 
turn both players checked to see the 
on the river. Wang bet out 180,000 and Zarco threw in one chip to call. Wang mucked his hand quickly and Zarco did the same.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,175,000
-435,000
|
-435,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,785,000
435,000
|
435,000 |
Level: 25
Blinds: 15,000/30,000
Ante: 30,000
Level 24
: 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
The final two players are now on a break.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,610,000
-380,000
|
-380,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,350,000
380,000
|
380,000 |
Level 24
: 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
On a flop of 
, Javier Zarco checked and Michael Wang checked back. The turn was the 
and Zarco checked once more and Wang bet out 75,000.
Zarco called and the river was the . Zarco checked for the third time and Wang fired out a bet of 215,000.
Zarco took a few seconds before putting the chips in to call. Wang tabled 
for trip kings and Zarco mucked his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,990,000
130,000
|
130,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
970,000
-130,000
|
-130,000 |
Level 24
: 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
All the chips went in the middle before the flop and Javier Zarco was at risk for his tournament life against Michael Wang.
Michael Wang: 
Javier Zarco: 
Zarco had two overcards to Wang's pair of sevens and the flop came 
giving him a gutshot as well, the turn made his straight when the hit and the was the river.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,860,000
-505,000
|
-505,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,100,000
505,000
|
505,000 |
Level 24
: 10,000/25,000, 25,000 ante
Brad Albrinck limped the small blind before Michael Wang raised his option to 80,000 and Albrinck came along.
The dealer fanned a flop of 
and Albrinck check-called a bet of 100,000.
The turn was the and Albrinck check-raised Wang's bet of 130,000 to 300,000 and Wang called fairly quickly.
On the river Albrinck moved all-in and was snap-called by Wang and both hands were tabled. Albrinck tabled 
for trip eights but was shown the bad news when Wang tabled for a rivered flush, eliminating Brad Albrinck in 3rd Place for $30,349.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,365,000
944,000
|
944,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
595,000
-108,000
|
-108,000 |
|
Busted | |