Christopher Trombley, a professional poker player from New York, is the latest World Series of Poker Circuit main event champion after topping the field at the recently concluded tour stop at the Harrah’s Pomapano Beach in Florida. The resident of Macomb, Michigan also claimed his first WSOP Circuit ring. He was awarded $266,186 for his largest tournament score and first tournament victory. His career earnings now stand at $335,656.
The $1,700 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament had a prize pool worth $1,537,725 thanks to three starting flights that attracted a total of 1,015 entries. The top 145 players all cashed for at least $2,558 in prize money. There were just 102 that returned for the second day of the tournament, and the final table of nine was set after 12 hours of play.
Tournament professional Ryan Eriquezzo entered the final table with the chip lead, and he was in control for the first half of the final table. Trombley scored his first elimination when he took out Roman Hrabec in fifth place. Eriquezzo fell at the hands of Trombley in third place when his aces and fours couldn’t hold up against the flopped set of kings held by Trombley. That gave Trombley 18.2 million at the start of heads-up play against the 12.6 million of Robert Lupo.
The final match took three-and-a-half hours to decide a winner, with the chip lead changing hands multiple times. The final hand saw the money get all in with the board reading KClub Suit10Heart Suit3Club Suit9Heart Suit5Club Suit. Lupo shoved all in for 7,000,000 with JClub Suit8Diamond Suit on a missed straight draw, and Trombley tanked for a few minutes before calling with 9Spade Suit2Spade Suit to win the hand and the tournament. Lupo was awarded $164,511 as the runner-up in the event, and his career earnings stand at $449,796.
Trombley had this to say to the WSOP Circuit reporters just after the final hand played out, “I took a little more volatile route, raising just a pair of nines and getting him to call, and then he ended up stuffing the river when his draw didn’t come in … I was willing to pay off a flush but I just felt like my pair was good there.” He continued, “When I got short, I didn’t panic. I know the game-plan with sub-eight bigs, five bigs … just not getting impatient and try to catch the cards as they come.”
A few other notables that cashed in the star-studded event included James Calderaro (11th), Scott Baumstein (21st), Brian Battistone (25th), Dylan Smith (32nd), Daniel Couzens (42nd), Ryan D’Angelo (44th), Brett Apter (50th), Nadya Magnus (51st), Athanasios Polychronopoulos (53rd), Aaron Thivyanathan (56th), Paul Snead (64th), Maxwell Young (70th), TK Miles (83rd), Jeremy Joseph (87th), Loni Harwood (91st), Natasha Mercier (100th), Matt Waxman (105th), Jake Schwartz (110th), Chris Tryba (112th), Jeffrey Trudeau (118th), Neil Blumenfield (120th), Luke Graham (139th), and Steven Karp (145th).
Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | Christopher Trombley | $266,186 | 960 |
| 2 | Robert Lupo | $167,072 | 800 |
| 3 | Ryan Eriquezzo | $121,111 | 640 |
| 4 | Vitalijs Zavorotnijs | $90,196 | 480 |
| 5 | Roman Hrabec | $67,961 | 400 |
| 6 | Jeremy Eyer | $51,816 | 320 |
| 7 | Blake Whittington | $39,981 | 240 |
| 8 | Chet Sickle | $31,225 | 160 |
| 9 | Ian Cohen | $24,686 | 80 |
Trombley’s victory in the WSOPC Main Event is a significant achievement and demonstrates his skill and dedication to the game. As the poker world continues to evolve, it will be exciting to see what new challenges and accomplishments are in store for Christopher Trombley and other top players.
