Art Peacock Gets A Nice Birthday Present With World Series Of Poker Circuit Win In Florida

Art Peacock has nine poker tournament titles under his belt, with his latest victory being earned on his 66th birthday. Peacock secured his first World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring on Feb. 10 at Harrah’s Pompano Beach in Florida, coming out on top in the stop’s main event to walk away with $230,794. This was the second-largest score on his poker resume, and it increased his total career earnings to more than $1.6 million.

“This isn’t my biggest score, but for me this is my biggest accomplishment. Very tough field with a lot of pros and a lot of regulars on the circuit. I haven’t been a regular on that circuit as much, but I can tell you now that I’m going to be. I really enjoyed it so much. It’s my favorite win,” said Peacock.

The $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament drew a large field of 914 entries over three starting flights, resulting in a final prize pool of $1,384,710 that easily put the $1 million guarantee in the rear-view window. The top 101 players all took home at least $4,227 in prize money.

Day 2 saw all the players that were in the money return, and just seven contenders remained by the end of play . Notables that fell on the path to the final day included Kharlin Sued (12th), James Calderaro (13th), Kyle Julius (15th), Matthew Zarcadoolas (16th), Sebastian Crema (25th), Dave Alfa (26th), Matthew Lambrecht (29th), and Fabrizio Gonzalez (30th).

Peacock held the chip lead when 15 players remained, and that theme held true when the final day of play began. He was well in front as the early action at the final table saw Mike Chiappetta (seventh), Bulat Khusainov (sixth), and Gary Susswein (fifth) all eliminated by other players. Peacock scored his first knockout punch by taking out Ricardo Eyzaguirre in fourth place.

Two formidable opponents were in the final three, including World Poker Tour champion Darryll Fish and Florida poker tournament legend Raminder Singh, but it was Peacock’s day to win. He took out Singh when both players made a full house on the river, but Peacock held the better boat with aces full of Fours. That gave Peacock a nearly 3:1 chip advantage at the start of the final match.

Fish fought hard for the comeback and doubled up three times, but it wasn’t meant to be with Peacock never relinquishing his lead. Fish was still on the ropes when he got the last of his chips into the middle on a flop reading 974 holding J9, and Peacock had him covered with 76 in the hole. The turn and river fell JA to give Peacock the flush and the win. Fish booked $153,860 for the runner-up finish, and that put his career earnings above $5.7 million.

“I know a lot of these guys, played with them for years. I loved being heads up with Darryll (Fish). He’s such a gentleman, very well liked by the community. Down here at Harrah’s at Pompano, the floor staff is great. Everyone that worked the tournament has been great. I’ve definitely done well here, I won the state championship here last year. It’s fun to be back here again,” said Peacock after the win.

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

The next two WSOP Circuit tournament series run from Feb. 13-24 at Graton Casino in the San Francisco Bay Area in California, and Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina.

Photo Credit: World Series of Poker.