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Michael Estes Wins World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Hammond Main Event

Chicago Resident Defeats 746 Entries In $1,700 Buy-In To Earn $198,576 and His Second WSOPC Ring

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Less than a year after winning his first World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring, Chicago’s Michael Estes emerged victorious in the 2024 WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond $1,700 no-limit hold’em main event with his second piece of WSOP hardware.

Estes beat out a field of 746 entries to earn $198,576. This was his second-largest score yet, trailing only the $293,032 he earned as the fifth-place finisher in a $3,000 buy-in event at last year’s World Poker Tout World Championship series at Wynn Las Vegas. His previous ring was earned for taking down a $400 buy-in event at the WSOPC Grand Victoria Casino stop last November. That victory came with $48,464 in prize money.

Estes now has more than $1.1 million in career cashes to his name, with 70 in-the-money finishes and three total titles.

This latest victory also saw him awarded 912 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his first title and fifth final-table finish of 2024. His 1,748 total points put him just a few spots shy of the top 200 in the POY rankings presented by Global Poker.

This event featured three staring flights and two more days of action at Horseshoe Hammond in Illinois, not far from the Illinois border and Chicago. The final day began with six players remaining and Estes atop the chip counts. Max Sheridan was the first to fall, with his final few blinds going in with A-8. He was bested by the A-K of Kris Magruder, which amounted to top pair, top kicker by the end. Sheridan earned $33,426 as the sixth-place finisher.

Magruder also scored the second knockout of the day. All of the chips went in after a flop of 10Club Suit5Spade Suit5Club Suit with Magruder holding AHeart Suit5Diamond Suit against the pocket fours of Mark Cahill. The 8Heart Suit turn and 10Diamond Suit improved Magruder to a full house, while Cahill was eliminated in fifth place ($45,789).

Sargon Guliana’s run came to an end in fourth place when his top pair ran into a turned straight for Estes. The chips went in on the KSpade Suit4Diamond Suit3Diamond Suit6Spade Suit board with Guliana’s KClub Suit2Club Suit drawing dead against Estes’ 7Heart Suit5Spade Suit. The AClub Suit on the end was a mere formality and Guliana was sent packing with $63,981 for his efforts.

Three-handed play lasted roughly a couple hours, with the stalemate breaking thanks to the elimination of Kris Magruder in third place. Estes moved all-in on a QSpade Suit9Club Suit5Spade Suit5Heart Suit10Club Suit board and Magruder called all-in with 8Spade Suit8Diamond Suit. Estes rolled over QHeart Suit10Heart Suit for queens and tens and Magruder headed to the rail with $91,159.

Estes held nearly a 2:1 chip advantage entering the final showdown against Keller. The final hand saw Keller move all-in after a Q-10-2-J-2 runout with pocket fours. Estes called with Q-7 to capture the title. Keller walked away with $132,386 as the second-place finisher, his first recorded six-figure score.

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

Place Player Earnings POY Points
1 Michael Estes $198,576 912
2 Grant Keller $132,386 760
3 Kristopher Magruder $91,159 608
4 Sargon Guliana $63,981 456
5 Mark Cahill $45,789 380
6 Maxwell Sheridan $33,426 304
7 Mykhailo Lendel $24,901 228
8 Christopher Weber $18,937 152
9 Jacob Fishbein $14,709 76

Photo credit: WSOP/ Poker.org, Hayley Hochstetler.