The World Series of Poker Circuit has one stop that consistently stands out above all the rest. No, it's not Caesars Palace in Las Vegas or the two offered in Atlantic City. Instead, it's the one held at Horseshoe Hammond. Located in Hammond, Ind., the venue is just a 40-minute drive for Chicago's massive player base and consistently offers the WSOP Circuit a boost in overall attendance.

[+] Enlarge
WSOPRobert Chow earned his automatic bid into the National Championship with his WSOP Circuit Hammond main event victory.

The first event of the 12 at Horseshoe Hammond attracted 3,001 players. While the rest of the events couldn't match that number, and weren't expected to do so, the last two weeks have been a huge success for the WSOPC. As part of the adjustments for the 2011-12 WSOPC, the re-entry main events allow for even larger fields and throughout the week leading up to the main event, it was anticipated that it would be the biggest main event in WSOPC history. Those looking for something huge weren't let down as 1,615 entries created one of the largest prize pools the WSOP has ever seen at $2.3 million.

After four days of competition, Robert Chow walked away with the $393,548, the WSOP Circuit ring and a bid into the national championship as champion of the massive event. The 51-year-old semi-professional poker player had seen some success at Hammond before with second-place finishes in two other events there, but he'd never had more than a $23,629 pay day before Monday.

"I've been the bridesmaid a couple times," Chow said. "This is the first time I've actually cracked through and made first place. I'm ecstatic. I thought I had a deep run this year at the WSOP Seniors event when I came in 66th."

Chow was eliminated on Day 1A, but won a satellite and re-entered on Day 1B. He fared incredibly well on Day 2 and finished the day in ninth out of the remaining 20 players.

"When we came back with 20 players, I just felt good," he said. "I never had the chip lead until we got down to the final table and I knew there was a lot of very accomplished, very aggressive players here, but I just felt good. I didn't try to push the game, I let the game come to me and that was the best way to handle it and it worked. Everything just fell into place."

He wasn't kidding about the talented group that remained on Day 3. Among the final 20 were three-time WSOP Circuit event winner Eric Crain, 2011 WSOP bracelet winner Aaron Steury, online legend Mark "PokerH0" Kroon and two-time WSOP Circuit champ Drazen Ilich. Typically, the fields at the WSOPC don't offer a ton of players with a lot of experience, but this event was not the usual circuit tournament.

Chow seized the chip lead with 14 left, doubling up through Crain holding Q-Q to Crain's 10-10. Shortly after, he'd eliminate Bryan Dillon in 14th (hitting an ace with A-Q against Dillon's K-K) and Michael Hallen in 13th (holding K-Q to Hallen's K-J). Steury also chipped up before the final table as the beneficiary of a set-over-set confrontation against the previously-dominating Crain.

As the final table began, Steury held the chip lead with Chow closely behind. In the span of an hour, Crain knocked out Shawn Quinn in ninth and Ilich busted Dan Harrington (no, not that one) in eighth. Chow then cracked Ilich's K-K with J-10 to knock him out in seventh and Steury eliminated Joe Hebda in sixth (J-J against A-10). Play slowed down after the elimination of Dave Neff in fifth and Steury separated himself from the pack during that time to own nearly half the chips in play. Crain was knocked out by Erik Roussakis in fourth, and Roussakis followed him out the door less than 15 minutes later at the hands of Steury (K-J defeated A-J).

Steury had his 2-to-1 chip lead to start heads-up play depleted quickly, and Chow, tired of his second-place finishes, locked up the win as he turned two pair with J-3 against Steury's 5-4 and missed straight draws. Steury, 24, earned $243,818 for second place, the second-largest cash of his career.

"It's validation of all the grinding and the hard work," said Chow. "I've come close and never finished. This is definitely a very significant, major event. It's the main event, a Circuit, and I beat out 1,600 people. I can't feel any better."

The Circuit's next stop begins on Thursday at the IP Casino Resort & Spa in Biloxi, Miss.

Small blinds: EPT San Remo is always one of the largest stops on the European Poker Tour. In an adjustment to the 2011-12 tour schedule, the event was moved from April to October and 837 players headed to Italy to participate in the 5,000 euro buy-in touranment. This was the lowest turnout in San Remo's history, down from 987 just months ago. Only 24 players remain after four days of play, with Chris McClung holding onto his Day 3 chip lead to end Day 4 as the leader. A tough field remains with Alessio Isaia (second), Mustapha Kanit (fourth), Barny Boatman (sixth), Johnny Lodden (seventh), Kevin MacPhee (ninth), Lex Veldhuis (11th), Mike McDonald (15th) and WSOP Europe main event champion Elio Fox still in contention. First place is 800,000 euros. … Among the winners at WSOPC Hammond was Dennis Phillips, who won the $1,100 buy-in no-limit hold 'em event. … On the Heartland Poker Tour, Scott Hastings defeated a field of 296 entries to win $100,011 and the HPT Quapaw title. This was his third live tournament of his career. … WPT Foxwoods begins on Thursday. … According to the Irish Times, 180 employees of Pocket Kings (ahem, Full Tilt) were let go. … The House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade held its hearing on online gaming. Multiple sides of the argument were discussed and for full coverage, check out the @ESPN_Poker Twitter feed. … The Philadelphia Eagles' Asante Samuel is hosting a charity poker tournament ("Poker Night With The Stars") with proceeds going to the Bring It Home Single Moms Foundation. If you donate $1,000 an athlete will play at your table. … Americas Cardroom, the site formerly known as Doyle's Room, is running its first online tournament series called "ACROSS". ACROSS will offer 19 events in six days with $150,000 in guaranteed prize money. How times have changed. $150,000 was on the low end of any regular standard Sunday guarantee just seven months ago.