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

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 1055 with Magruder holding A5 against the pocket fours of Mark Cahill. The 8 turn and 10 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 K436 board with Guliana’s K2 drawing dead against Estes’ 75. The A 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 Q95510 board and Magruder called all-in with 88. Estes rolled over Q10 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:

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