WSOPC Chicago: Lenz crafts birthday comeback to win Main Event

Want all of the stories, photos, and results from every WSOP Circuit stop? Sign up for The Circuit newsletter and we'll drop it in your inbox.

Just six hopefuls came into today from the starting field of 757 in the $1,700 Main Event at the latest World Series of Poker Circuit stop just outside of Chicago. This lineup saw some of the best in the Chicagoland area, each of them waking up with a sizable score of $38,601 locked up. After roughly five hours of play, that lineup was just reduced to one.

It was Illinois' own Jeremy Lenz who ended up taking down the tournament, earning the ring, the spot on the Wall of Winners, and a career-best score of $194,977. 

Happiest 39th birthday

"I used to do online before Black Friday," Lenz told PokerOrg after the win. "I had played one of the earlier events this week and did pretty well in it, so that basically bankrolled me into the Main Event (Lenz finished 27th place finish in Event #2: $600 No-Limit Hold'em), then I came in and ran good." 

Lenz turned 39 years old yesterday and it seems that the birthday wishes worked their magic to ensure him this title. The money he assures will go to more practical matters. 

"I am going to pay my house off, taxes, and mortgage. It's getting pricey out here."

Lenz shakes hands with runner-up Cero Zuccarello after the final runout.

Big comeback at tough table 

"I knew coming into today that this would be a final table full of strong players," Lenz said about his competition. "They were all incredible today. I was preparing as much as I could because I knew they wouldn't be coming in light." 

With five players left, Lenz drifted down to four big blinds after a few costly hands against Richard Bai saw him fall well behind the chip average. 

"My immediate thought was despair but I have been going up and down all tournament and you just need to reset. Once I tripled up after, I realized I wasn't that short. Have to just readjust and evaluate." 

Despite holding over half of the chips in play three-handed, Roland Israelashvili's time at the top of the counts would be short-lived as he eventually got his chips in with ace-nine against Zuccarello's eights to lose half of his stack, then the other half would be lost in another ace-nine confrontation against Lenz's jacks. This would leave Israelashvilli with just a couple of chips left and he would fall in third place when his king-seven failed to improve against Zuccarello's ace-eight. The 11-time WSOPC winner collected $88,976 for his efforts.

Roland Israelashvili fell short of his 12th WSOP Circuit ring.

Eloy Cabacas

Lenz would begin heads-up play with a 2:1 lead and only 20 minutes would pass before a winner was crowned. Zuccarello moved in his final ten big blinds with queen-six only to find himself up against Lenz's aces and he was eliminated from the tournament in second place for $120,506. 

On to the next one

One thing that Lenz was unaware of was his winning of the 2025 WSOP TOC seat, a nice little bonus to his day. 

"Holy cow, that's great," Lenz said when hearing about the seat. "Now that I've won this tournament, I might go head to Harrah's(Cherokee) and then probably Verona. I really prefer the Circuit when it comes to poker, looking forward to all of it."

The WSOP Circuit will now move on to Las Vegas where its next series starts on Thursday, November 21. Meanwhile, the WSOP Circuit stop at Commerce rolls on and you can follow our Instant Live coverage all week long. 

WSOP-C Grand Victoria (Chicago) final table results