2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Baltimore

$1,700 Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info

2019 World Series of Poker Circuit Horseshoe Baltimore

Event Info
Buy-in
$1,700
Entries
303
Players Left
2
Average Chip Stack
4,545,000
Total Chips
9,090,000
Level Info
Level
29
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
80,000

$1,700 Main Event

Day 3 Completed

Faisal Siddiqui Wins WSOPC Horseshoe Baltimore Main Event for $113,143!

Level 29 : 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Main Event Champion Faisal Siddiqui
Main Event Champion Faisal Siddiqui

Faisal Siddiqui just became the latest Main Event Champion of the 2019/2020 World Series of Poker Circuit season. Siddiqui topped a field of 303 players to walk away with the Horseshoe Baltimore Main Event title, $113,143 and his first Circuit ring.

Siddiqui only plays poker as a hobby but he has multiple deep runs on his poker his resume. In fact, he got extremely close to claiming the title of this event in 2015 before breaking through in this one. Becoming a Circuit Main Event Champion meant much more to Siddiqui than the top prize and the ring.

"When the Circuit came to Horseshoe for the first time, I got second in the Main Event so it was very fulfilling to make the final table again, surpass that, and actually take it down," he told tournament reporters. "The thing that I find really exciting is that poker is a sport that allows us to play against the professionals. There is no other sport in the world that is like this. I also play golf. I could never beat Phil Mickelson at golf. But at the final table today, there were multiple pros, and I was able to beat them, which is a great feeling. It's not about the money; it's about playing the best in the world and coming out ahead."

Siddiqui had to navigate through a tough field to get to the finish line and the final table included multiple experienced Circuit grinders. However, Siddiqui never lost composure and focused on his performance. He started the final day second in chips and with the support of his family and friends, he was able to play his best game, and close it out.

"It was a great final table. All the players were really good, there were solid players. Initially I was a little overwhelmed but my friends supported me a lot and special shout-out to my friend John Gorsuch. He 's been kind of coaching me and he guided me throughout. A lot of the messages that I was getting were: The others are equally afraid of you as you are of them. That kind of helped me get into the right state of mind. Obviously the support of my family mattered a lot as well. They were telling me: Just go out there, have fun, and let it come to you. Those two things really helped me and I was really relaxed throughout the final table, I didn't feel pressure at all, even when I went down in chips. If I haven't finished at the top I would have been fine with that. I just wanted to play good poker."

The final table was fast-paced; Day 3 started with eight players remaining and within two levels, the field was whittled down to only three players. Siddiqui had played with most of his final table opponents throughout the tournament and being familiar with their games helped him pick his spots, as well as his strategy, throughout the final table.

"I had a profile for pretty much everybody, how everybody was playing. I played with them in the last two, three days so that helped a lot, and in some key spots, I got lucky as well. Shout-out to Ryan (Jones). He was at my table on the Day 1a flight and went down to six big blinds at Level 3. It was very admirable how he kept on going about playing right poker and letting things come his way. That was inspiring for me. When I lost a few chips, I decided to keep doing what he did, so playing with him I actually learned a lot. In the end it was bittersweet that I actually knocked him out."

Siddiqui had to defeat Joseph Malebranche to close it out and although they were extremely close in chips when the heads-up match started, it was all over within a couple of hands.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1Faisal SiddiquiUnited States$113,143
2Joseph MalebrancheUnited States$69,925
3Ryan JonesUnited States$49,810
4Michael WangUnited States$36,089
5Shinya ShimadaJapan$26,605
6Joseph CashenUnited States$19,961
7Mark ReddingUnited States$15,247
8Ryan TamaniniUnited States$11,860
9Chris GroveUnited States$9,399

Final Table Action

Ryan Tamanini was the first elimination of the final Day. After doubling Malebranche up in an all-in preflop situation, Tamanini was left short. A couple of hands later, he three-bet jammed his last twelve big blinds with eights and got called by Jones who held ace-queen suited. Jones made two pair ending Tamanini's run in eighth place.

Mark Redding was out next in seventh place. Redding three-bet shoved his last 18 big blinds with ace-nine and got called by Malebranche with sevens. Redding couldn't hit and that was it for his run.

Joseph Cashen hit the rail in sixth place. Cashen was in the big blind and exposed the ace of spades thinking he got a walk when in fact Jones had raised under the gun. Cashen said he was obviously calling and the floor stepped in and said the hand will be played with Cashen's ace of spades exposed.

Cashen check-called a bet from Jones on the flop and the turn was checked. But Cashen shoved the river with ace-high only to get snap-called by Jones who held a pair of aces and took him out of the tournament.

Shinya Shimada was Jones' next victim. Shimada three-bet shoved with ace-jack suited from the big blind and Jones called with ace-eight from the cutoff. Jones rivered trip eights to take down the pot and Shimada headed to the exit in fifth place.

Michael Wang headed to the payout desk in fourth. Wang lost a huge pot of 130 big blinds after losing a flip with ace-king against Siddiqui's queens. He was left with three big blinds and was eliminated the very next hand.

Michael Wang
Michael Wang

The three-handed portion of play lasted a few hours and Jones, the two-time Circuit Main Event winner, was eliminated in third place. Jones made two pair and raised all in on the river only to get called by Siddiqui who had a better two pair to send him out.

After losing multiple pots heads up, Malebranche was left with less than a big blind and was eliminated with ten-deuce when Siddiqui made trips with king-four.

This wraps it up for the PokerNews coverage of the Main Event at Horseshoe Baltimore.

WSOPC Horseshoe Baltimore Ring Winners

TournamentEntriesPrizepoolPlayerPrize
Event #1: $250 NLH152$69,500John Megahan$8,054
Event #2: $400 NLH545$250,000Patrick Lacey$49,386
$250 Seniors NLH121$24,200Bernard Maiden$,6595
Event #3: $400 NLH Turbo51$16,830Shizhe Zhou$5,853
Event #4: $400 NLH 8-Handed103$33,990Justin Liberto$9,712
$135 Ladies Event79$7,900Dorothy Adams$2,444
Event #5: $400 NLH 6-Handed101$33,330Michael Wang$9,522
Event #6: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha76$39,140Stan Yang$12,112
Event #7: $400 Monster Stack227$74,910AJ Kelsall$17,730
Event #8: $600 NLH103$53,045Michael Wang$15,156
Event #9: $1,700 Main Event303$500,000Faisal Siddiqui$113,143
Event #10: $400 NLH65$21,450Daniel Fox$6,994
Event #11: $400 NLH74$24,420Ryan Van Sanford$7,557
Event #12: $3,250 High Roller29$87,000Nick Verderamo$34,730
Event #13: $400 NLH Turbo92$30,360Lonnie Butler$9,009

Tags: Chris GroveFaisal SiddiquiJohn GorsuchJoseph CashenJoseph MalebrancheMichael WangRyan JonesRyan Tamanini

Joseph Malebranche Eliminated in 2nd Place ($69,925)

Level 29 : 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante
Joseph Malebranche
Joseph Malebranche

Joseph Malebranche was all in for his last 35,000 from the big blind and Faisal Siddiqui called from the button.

Faisal Siddiqui: {k-Spades}{4-Diamonds}
Joseph Malebranche: {10-Diamonds}{2-Hearts}

The board ran out {7-Spades}{4-Spades}{3-Spades}{4-Hearts}{9-Hearts} and Siddiqui took down the pot with trip fours, eliminating Malebranche in 2nd place for $69,925.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Faisal Siddiqui us
Faisal Siddiqui
9,090,000
50,000
50,000
Profile photo of Joseph Malebranche us
Joseph Malebranche
Busted

Tags: Faisal SiddiquiJoseph Malebranche

Siddiqui Takes From Malebranche

Level 29 : 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

Joseph Malebranche raised to 1,700,000 from the small blind and Faisal Siddiqui moved all in from the big blind. Malebranche folded.

The very next hand, Siddiqui raised to 400,000. Malebranche three-bet to 2,450,000 and Siddiqui responded by moving all in for 5,900,000. Malebranche let it go.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Faisal Siddiqui us
Faisal Siddiqui
9,040,000
4,650,000
4,650,000
Profile photo of Joseph Malebranche us
Joseph Malebranche
50,000
-4,650,000
-4,650,000

Tags: Faisal SiddiquiJoseph Malebranche

Level: 29

Blinds: 40,000/80,000

Ante: 80,000

Ryan Jones Eliminated in 3rd Place ($49,810)

Level 28 : 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Ryan Jones
Ryan Jones

Faisal Siddiqui raised to 135,000 from the small blind and Ryan Jones called from the big blind.

The dealer spread a flop of {j-Diamonds}{7-Hearts}{6-Clubs} and Siddiqui bet 205,000. Jones called.

The turn brought the {5-Hearts} and was checked through to the {k-Spades} river. Siddiqui bet 425,000 and Jones responded by moving all in for 1,200,000. Siddiqui went deep into the tank for a few minutes then made the call.

Ryan Jones tabled {k-Hearts}{6-Hearts} for kings and sixes but that wasn't good enough as Siddiqui revealed {k-Clubs}{j-Hearts} to win the pot with kings and jacks.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Faisal Siddiqui us
Faisal Siddiqui
4,390,000
1,290,000
1,290,000
Profile photo of Ryan Jones us
Ryan Jones
Busted
Day 1A Chip Leader

Tags: Faisal SiddiquiRyan Jones

Malebranche Takes Over the Lead

Level 28 : 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Joseph Malebranche limped from the small blind and Faisal Siddiqui raised to 150,000 from the big blind. Malebranche added the remainder to call.

The flop was {10-Diamonds}{7-Spades}{2-Clubs} and both players opted to check it to the {3-Spades} turn. Malebranche bet 125,000 and Siddiqui called. The {j-Spades} completed the board and Malebranche continued with another bet of 250,000. Siddiqui raised to 575,000 and Malebranche snap-called then turned over {k-Spades}{4-Spades} for a flush. Siddiqui tossed his cards in the muck.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Joseph Malebranche us
Joseph Malebranche
4,200,000
1,050,000
1,050,000
Profile photo of Faisal Siddiqui us
Faisal Siddiqui
3,100,000
-540,000
-540,000
Profile photo of Ryan Jones us
Ryan Jones
1,900,000
-400,000
-400,000
Day 1A Chip Leader

Tags: Faisal SiddiquiJoseph Malebranche

Malebranche Adds to his Stack

Level 28 : 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Ryan Jones raised to 125,000 from the small blind and Joseph Malebranche called from the small blind along with Faisal Siddiqui in the big blind.

Players saw a flop of {j-Hearts}{8-Clubs}{4-Diamonds} that was checked around to the {2-Hearts} turn. Malebranche threw in a bet of 165,000, that was enough to take down the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Faisal Siddiqui us
Faisal Siddiqui
3,640,000
-410,000
-410,000
Profile photo of Joseph Malebranche us
Joseph Malebranche
3,150,000
-50,000
-50,000
Profile photo of Ryan Jones us
Ryan Jones
2,300,000
430,000
430,000
Day 1A Chip Leader

Tags: Faisal SiddiquiJoseph MalebrancheRyan Jones

Malebranche Takes From Siddiqui

Level 28 : 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante

Joseph Malebranche raised to 140,000 from the small blind and Faisal Siddiqui bumped it up to 305,000 from the big blind. Malebranche stuck around with a call.

The dealer spread a flop of {9-Diamonds}{4-Spades}{2-Spades} that was checked through to the {q-Spades} turn and to the {3-Clubs} river. Malebranche threw in a bet of 250,000 and Siddiqui called. Malebranche tabled {k-Clubs}{9-Clubs} for a pair of nines and Siddiqui mucked.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Faisal Siddiqui us
Faisal Siddiqui
4,050,000
-550,000
-550,000
Profile photo of Joseph Malebranche us
Joseph Malebranche
3,200,000
575,000
575,000

Tags: Joseph Malebranche