Jeremy Lenz Triumphs In World Series of Poker Circuit Grand Victoria Main Event

The 2024 World Series of Poker Circuit Grand Victoria Casino $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event attracted players from far and wide. A total of 757 entries were made by the time registration closed, easily surpassing the $750,000 guarantee to create a final prize pool worth more than $1.1 million.

After three starting flights and two more days of combined-field action, Illinois’ own Jeremy Lenz emerged victorious with the title, the top prize of $194,977, and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring.

The 39-year-old told WSOP reporters of his fairly pragmatic plans for the six-figure windfall. “I am going to pay my house off, taxes and mortgage. It’s getting pricey out here.”

This was by far the largest live tournament score yet for Lenz, a resident of nearby Dakota, IL, who had just five recorded cashes totaling just over $16,000 prior to this marquee win.

Lenz was also awarded 912 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was his first POY-qualified score of 2024.

There were six players still in contention when cards got in the air for the final day of this event, with 2019 WSOP Circuit Potawatomi main event winner Richard Bai in the lead. Bai added to his stack early thanks to a brutal cooler. He flopped top set of kings against the middle set of queens held by Dana Marie Muse, a two-time WSOPC gold ring winner. Muse was unable to pull off the miracle after the chips went in on the flop and was knocked out in sixth place ($38,601).

The next elimination saw Caleb King run pocket nines into the pocket queens of recent WSOP Online bracelet winner Roland Israelashvili. The larger pair held and King settled for $50,350 as the fifth-place finisher.

Israelashvili continued to surge when he won a massive pot off Bai with quads. Bai raised an Israelashvili bet on the river, only to fold with less than a big blind behind when Israelashvili moved all-in over the top. Bai was soon all-in and at risk with 10-7 trailing the 10-8 of Cero Zuccarello, which made queens and eights by the end. Bai earned $66,514 for his fourth-place showing.

Israelashvili lost a big pot with A-9 suited against the pocket jacks of Lenz to slide back down the leaderboard. He then got all-in with K7 from the button facing the A8 of Zuccarello, which made aces full of threes to win the pot. Israelashvili earned $88,976 as the third-place finisher, growing his tournament career haul to nearly $5.3 million. This was the 11-time ring winner’s 262 cash in a WSOPC event.

Lenz held better than a 2:1 chip lead over Zuccarello when heads-up play began. That disparity grew as the match wore on. In the final hand, Zuccarello shoved for just over 10 big blinds from the button with Q6 and received a snap-call from Lenz, who held AA. The board came down 9889A and Lenz made aces full to lock up the pot and the title. Zuccarello secured $120,506 as the runner-up.

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

Photo credit: WSOP, Eloy Cabacas.