Sign Up For Card Player's Newsletter And Free Bi-Monthly Online Magazine

Han Feng Wins World Series of Poker Circuit Hard Rock Tulsa Main Event

Texan Overcomes 472-Entry Field in $1,700 Buy-In Tournament Top Earn $144,413 and His First WSOPC Gold Ring

Print-icon
 

Han Feng has won the 2024 World Series of Poker Circuit Hard Rock Tulsa $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. The Houston, Texas resident bested a field of 472 entries to secure his first WSOPC gold ring and the top payout of $144,413.

This was the largest tournament score yet for Feng, topping the $119,048 he earned as the runner-up in a $1,100 by-in event last summer during the Venetian DeepStack Championship Poker Series. He now has more than $439,000 in total tournament earnings to his name.

“It’s hard to explain, I just knew I was gonna win," Feng told WSOP reporters after locking up the victory. "I willed it into existence in a way. I was down to single-digit blinds multiple times in this tournament, but I got really fortunate in a couple of spots and I spun it a bunch.”

In addition to the money and the hardware, Feng also earned 720 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was his second title and third final-table finish of the year, having also taken down a $1,500 buy-in MoneyMaker Poker Tour event in his hometown of Houston back in January for $54,100. With 1,096 total points, he is now sitting just outside the top 75 in the POY standings presented by Global Poker.

The top 71 finishers made the money in this event, with five figures or more for the top 12 spots. The final day began with just eight contenders remaining and Bryce Laymance in the lead.

Ring winner Eric Bunch was the first to fall (8th – $16,605), with
Hector Aguilar-Gutierrez following soon after (7th – $21,241). Two-time ring winner Schuyler Thornton ran A-6 suited into the A-Q of ring winner Harvey Castro to finish sixth ($27,550).

Three-time World Poker Tour champion, bracelet winner, and four-time ring winner Brian Altman saw his run come to an end thanks to a preflop cooler that pitted his A-K against the pocket kings of Jared Ward. Altman flopped top two pair, but Ward’s set of kings was best. Altman earned $36,227 for his latest deep run. This was Altman’s second WSOPC main event final table of the month, having also finished eighth in the big dance at WSOPC Horseshoe Hammond just a week earlier.

Ward also eliminated Castro (4th – $48,284), with A-K holding against A-Q. Feng then scored a huge double up through Ward, with A-10 suited besting pocket kings to see the chip lead change hands.

Laymance finished in third, losing the vast majority of his stack when his K-J was unable to come from behind against the A-K of Ward. The next hand saw Ward finish off the critically short-stacked Laymance (3rd – $65,217) to enter heads-up play in a virtual tie with Feng.

The lead changed hands multiple times during the final showdown for the title, but eventually, Feng pulled ahead for a final time when his A-7 made a flush to beat the pocket nines of Ward. The final hand saw Ward get all-in with 7Club Suit3Diamond Suit against KDiamond Suit9Heart Suit for Feng. The board came down QSpade Suit9Spade Suit6Heart Suit4Club Suit10Heart Suit to give Feng a winning pair of nines. Ward earned $89,255 as the runner-up.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Place Player Earnings POY Points
1 Han Feng $144,413 720
2 Jared Ward $89,255 600
3 Bryce Laymance $65,217 480
4 Harvey Castro $48,284 360
5 Brian Altman $36,227 300
6 Schuyler Thornton $27,550 240
7 Hector Aguilar-Gutierrez $21,241 180
8 Eric Bunch $16,605 120
9 Travis Riggs $13,165 60

Photo provided by WSOP.