Amanda Heidbrick has fired the opening salvo at the World Series of Poker Circuit Event at Horseshoe Hammond, earning a gold ring and $101,190 in prize money.
With the professionals busy at work in the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) in Berlin, it was up to the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) in Horseshoe Hammond to provide a playground for the amateurs.
It’s the eighth time this venue has held a WSOPC festival. There will be 12-gold rings up for grabs, including a $1,675 Main Event, and a $5,300 High Roller, and bracelet #1 is currently draped over the slender wrist of Amanda Heidbrick.
The Project Manager from Illinois topped an inexperienced final table to take the first prize of $101,190 and her first gold ring. Her victory was only her third-ever live tournament cash. Neither of her previous two produced results in excess of $1,500. In 2009, she made the final table of the WSOPC Hammond Ladies Event finishing ninth.
Her heads-up opponent was also devoid of impressive results. Seth Michael was also making his third ever cash. The other two came in WSOPC Hammond events in 2013 and 2014.
The opening event was always going to be a belt opener. The crew put on an additional starting flight, making it a four-day event, and 2,211 entrants created a $663,300 prize pool.
Only two members of the final table had any previous form of note. Brandon Newsome was the only player with previous experience of winning a gold ring event after he took down a $365 buy-in event at Planet Hollywood in 2014. He beat 319 entrants to get hold of a $22,497 payday.
In 2008, Russell Harriman had the run of his life when he finished fifth in a WSOP $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em (PLH) event cashing for $55,475. David Singer went on to capture the bracelet.
Final Table Results
1st. Amanda Heidbrick – $101,190
2nd. Seth Michael – $62,708
3rd. Shane Thorne – $47,253
4th. Brandon Newsome – $36,084
5th. Justin Walker – $27,832
6th. Daniel Loizzo – $21,677
7th. Gregory Gugger – $17,047
8th. Russell Harriman – $13,538
9th. Mike Patterson – $10,858
