Horseshoe Hammond Casino in Hammond, Indiana plays host to WSOP Circuit poker battles, which are currently underway. Event #8 on its schedule was completed yesterday evening. Richard Bai from Schaumburg was the player to grab a gold ring for besting a packed field of 139 players. The event kicked off on 18th October boosting a prize pool of $139,000. Bai emerged victorious to collect the top prize of $38,919 and his first career gold ring.
The popular poker tour arrived in Indiana on 12th October and it is to offer qualitative poker action until 23rd October, when the long-awaited Main Event is to take place. Currently, there are 8 poker players, who already have a reason to celebrate and Richard Bai is one of them. The $1,125 No-Limit Hold’em event continued for 2 days.
Day 1 of the event was completed with Bai holding a commanding chip lead. At the end of the day, the eventual winner bagged and tagged 239,000 in chips, marching into Day 2 of the event as the chip lead. However, the path to success was full of thorns for Bai, as he needed to face some poker heavyweights, who were already familiar with the excitement of winning WSOP gold ring and were vying to conquer yet another coveted piece of jewelry.
Richard Bai Steams Ahead to the Throne
The event’s final Day 2 saw 18 players returning to the poker field to strive for the lion’s share of the prize pool. The money bubble burst with the elimination of the 16th player. The top 15 places were awarded cash prizes no less than $1,055. By the time the field was narrowed to only 9 players, the official final table was set. Bai did waste no time to build a tower of chips and to secure his position as a chip lead.
The field was further whittled to only 3 players. The three-handed battle started with Richard Bai, Christopher Chiang and the eight-time gold winner Robert “Skinny” Hankins. Despite his vast experience and accomplished poker skills, Hankins was the next warrior to succumb just inches before the final match. He was knocked out in 3rd place, bagging a cash prize of $17,364. The heads-up clash started with Richard Bai against Christopher Chiang. Both players were trying to capture a first-career gold ring, but it was Bai, who managed to claim the throne. As for Chiang, he received a cash prize of $24,055 for his runner-up performance.
Counting last night’s victory, Bai’s total live tournament earnings amount as high as $149,720. The player registered 11 WSOP cashes and 8 Circuit payouts. It emerged on the surface that the player prefers to play cash games, but he is successful in tournaments as well.
