October 25 2011, Eric Ramsey

Day 4 was a short one at the PokerStars.it European Poker Tour San Remo. It only took about seven hours to shrink the field from 64 players to 24. Canada’s Chris McClung came into the day atop the pack, and his lead only continued to balloon over the course of the four levels. At the end of the night, he had 3.148 million chips in his bag, and that was good enough to give him more than 150 big blinds and a lead of about a million chips over his nearest challenger. With 837 players in the starting field, McClung holds about one eighth of the 25 million chips in play.

Joseph Cheong was within striking distance of McClung to start play, and he enjoyed a good increase over the first few levels. Very late in the day, though, Cheong was demolished and his chips were absorbed by McClung in a huge pot. In the 3k/10k/20k level, McClung three-bet a raise from Mustapha Kanit, and Cheong made a cold four-bet to 220,000. Kanit folded, but McClung went ahead and shoved all-in for about a million.

The call came instantly, and McClung’s measly had been picked off. Cheong rolled over , and he was a huge favorite to drag the big double up and the chip-leading pot. But the dealer provided the kiss of death. The board fell , and the flush on the turn sealed Cheong’s demise during the last level of the night.

Also falling short of very deep runs were two of the four Team PokerStars Pros who had made Day 4. Vanessa Selbst was the first of the crew to be sent off. She was unable to get anything going with her middling stack, and she ended up more-or-less committing herself with on queen-high board. Alessio Isaia’s had turned two pair, and that was the end of the line for one of the last remaining ladies in the field. Shortly thereafter, John Duthie, founder and creator of the EPT, was eliminated with . He was short when he shoved preflop, and Christopher Williamsson found to tally the knockout on a board.

That leaves Lex Veldhuis and Johnny Lodden to carry the torch for the Team, and both men had productive sessions on the felt.

Their advance came despite the fact that they were seated next to each other for the bulk of the day, and poker fans are hoping they’ll keep on sharing space all the way into the final table. Lodden managed to double with kings against Cheong’s ace-king around dinner time on Day 4, and he bagged up 1.227 million chips to end the day. On his left, Veldhuis seemed to be pacing himself against the active table, and after not much chip movement, he finished with 877,000.

Other notables still in the mix include Barny Boatman, Kevin MacPhee, Mike McDonald, Alessio Isaia, and the new WSOPE Main Event champion, Elio Fox. It’s quite a lineup with just 24 players left, and there are still a couple of former champions (MacPhee, McDonald) with a shot at becoming the EPT’s first double Main Event champion. They and the rest of the 24 will return to the Casino di San Remo at 1400 CET (0500 PDT) on Wedesday to play down to the final table.

Don’t forget to tune into the Live Reporting page on Wednesday to follow along with the action. And speaking of following things, our Twitter stream is the best place for up-to-the-minute poker news right in your timeline.

Follow Eric Ramsey on Twitter – @Eric_Ramsey

October 25 2011, Chad Holloway

After four long days of poker, the 2011-2012 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Hammond Main Event has come to an end with Bob Chow claiming the gold ring and $393,584 first-place prize. The 1,615-player field was the largest in WSOP Circuit Main Event history, creating a $2,349,825 prize pool that was a fitting way to conclude a stop that began with Event #1 No-Limit Hold’em, the largest field in WSOP Circuit history with 3,001 players.

The final day of the Main Event saw 20 players return to action with consummate grinder Eric Crain leading the way. The action went quickly with seven players hitting the rail in the first two hours. One of those players, former online star Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon, was testing his skills in the live realm.

Unfortunately, Kroon didn’t make it to the final table. In Kroon’s elimination hand, Edward Pham raised to 85,000 under the gun and was soon met with a three-bet to 265,000 by Kroon in middle position. Action folded back around to Pham who thought a long while before sliding in a call. When the flop came down , Pham checked to Kroon who bet 320,000. Pham responded by moving all-in and Kroon snap-called off his last 415,000.

Showdown
Kroon:
Pham:

It was a bit of a cooler flop as Kroon had hit top pair with the second nut-flush draw and Pham flopped middle set. “Spade,” Kroon called. The dealer burned and turned the . It wasn’t the spade Kroon was looking for. In fact, it filled Pham up and made a spade useless. Kroon, who improved to two pair, now needed either a jack or king on the river to survive. With his rail there for support, Kroon waited anxiously as the dealer burned and revealed the . It was a blank, and suddenly, Kroon’s deep run in the Main Event came to an end in 16th place. Not too shabby for the man who re-entered on Day 1b after busting out on the third hand of Day 1a when his pocket aces were cracked by pocket kings.

Here is a look at the other eliminations leading up to the final table:

Pre-Final Table Payouts

. He was followed out the door a short time later by another short stack, Dan Harrington, who finished eighth for $50,051. For those wondering, this was not the 1995 WSOP World Champion.

The next to go was Drazen Ilich in seventh place, whose pocket kings were cracked by the of Chow. The chips got all-in on a flop, and the turn brought the to fill Chow’s straight. A few hands later, Joe Hebda found himself all-in with against the of Steury. The board ran out an uneventful and Hebda headed to the payout desk in sixth place.

The next elimination was not only thrilling, but it happened in a hand that will likely go down in WSOP Circuit lore. It began when Crain opened for 265,000 and Dave Neff shoved all-in from the small blind. Crain popped his head up and asked the dealer for a count. Before the dealer could finish – which was somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.1 million – Crain announced “call.”

Showdown
Neff:
Crain:

The flop was not especially exciting, but the turn was a kick in the gut for Crain when it brought the . The young pro left the table and steam-walked around the stage. He had his hat pulled down low, knowing he needed one of the two remaining fours on the river. The dealer burned - . Crain exploded again, this time in excitement. He pulled a Tiger Woods-esque fist pump as he earned the improbable river knockout.

Unfortunately, Crain couldn’t maintain his momentum and was eliminated in fourth place after he played aggressively and ran into Steury’s . He was followed out the door by a short-stacked Erik Roussakis, who got unlucky when his got unlucky against Steury’s .

The heads-up battle between Chow and Steury began with the latter holding almost a 2-1 lead (21 million to 11 million). Interestingly, Steury had faced off against another Chow this past summer at the WSOP when he won his first gold bracelet. In the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event in Vegas, Steurry defeated Michael Chow to capture the gold and a $289,283 prize. Quite the coincidence, indeed.

Unfortunately for Steury, this time his battle with a Chow would go the other way. Bob Chow managed to overcome his chip deficit, eventually seizing the lead for himself. In the final hand, a short-stacked Steury was on the button and moved all-in preflop, which Chow called with his big stack.

Showdown
Steury:
Chow:

The board ran out , giving Chow two pair and putting a dagger through Steury.

Final Table Payouts

PositionPlayerPrize

1st	Bob Chow	$393,584
2nd	Aaron Steury	$243,818
3rd	Erik Roussakis	$183,991
4th	Eric Crain	$139,815
5th	Dave Neff	$106,447
6th	Joe Hebda	$81,774
7th	Drazen Ilich	$63,680
8th	Dan V. Harrington	$50,051
9th	Shawn Quinn	$39,947

National Championship Qualifiers

TBD	Horseshoe Hammond Casino Champion

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