Sara Hall, a 25-year-old poker player from Cleveland, Ohio, topped the field of Event #1 on the 2015/2016 WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Baltimore schedule to capture the amount of $17,925 and her first-ever gold ring.
The $365 No-Limit Hold’em attracted a field of 239 entries who created a prize pool of $71,700, exceeding the initially announced one of $50,000. The top 24 finishers received their share of the money, with the payouts starting from $662.
Hall’s live tournament career started about a year ago. The player’s triumph at Horseshoe Baltimore is her second important achievement over the past several weeks. Back in July, Hall took 233rd place in the 2015 WSOP $10,000 Main Event to receive a payout of a little less than $35,000.
The female player started the final table of the two-day $365 No-Limit Hold’em event 5th in chips. However, she managed to take the lead before the first break. And it took only two more hours for her to get hold of all the chips in play and claim the first-place prize.
Hall faced Justin Cooke from Baltimore, Maryland in a final heads-up match. It started with Cooke holding the majority of chips. Yet, the eventual champion quickly re-gained the lead on one of the first hands in play and maintained it until the very end. Hall needed about an hour to defeat her opponent and capture the gold ring and the biggest share of the prize pool.
On what turned out to be the last hand in play, the female player raised on the button to see Cooke defending his big blind. The flop came [8h][4d][3d]. Cooke checked and his opponent bet 50,000. Cooke moved all his chips in and Hall called instantly.
The eventual champion tabled [4s][4h] against her opponent’s [Ah][2h]. The [Qh] appeared on the turn and the [Qd] came on the river to secure Hall with a full house. Cooke took home $11,079 for his runner-up finish.
And here are the rest of the players who sat at the event’s final table as well as their payouts:
Christopher Enos from Fayetteville, North Carolina finished 3rd for $8,063. Ian Davis from Baltimore, Maryland took 4th place to collect $5,963. Mondell Opoku from Woodbridge, Virginia received $4,479 for his 5th place in the event.
James Dickson from Columbus, Georgia took 6th place for $3,417. Bryan Dickens from Colmbia, Maryland finished 7th to capture $2,646. Joey Wideman from Belle Chasse, Louisiana took home the amount of $2,079 for his 8th place. Rounding out the final table, Karim Baruque from Tampa, Florida scooped $1,658 for finishing 9th in the event.
