Hamid Izadi wins WSOPC Pompano Beach Main Event for $245,225 and 7th ring

Mo Afdhal
Posted on: February 13, 2024 04:30 PST

It's lucky number seven for HamidIzadi after he claimed victory in the WSOP Circuit Pompano Beach Main Event on Monday evening. The Atlanta, Georgia native navigated his way through a field of 917 entrants to claim the top prize of $245,225 and his seventh WSOP Circuit ring.

The ever-popular Izadi has become somewhat of a fixture on the WSOP Circuit over the last few years. If you follow the Circuit coverage or play in any of the events, you know Izadi.

The win means a little more to Izadi as it's his first WSOP Circuit Main Event victory, but he remained humble in the face of victory. "That's something else. I have six rings, but this is another level for me. It's not easy to win, you have to go through a lot of good players, but today was my day. The cards went my way, I played my best I believe and I got the result I wanted," said Izadi.

He had been close before, making six other Circuit Main Event final tables, but had been unable to close out the win until yesterday.

The WSOP Circuit returns to Pompano Beach for the second time this year. The WSOP Circuit returns to Pompano Beach for the second time this year.

Izadi entered the final table second in the chip counts, but quickly took the chip lead with his aggressive style of play. TaylorHart and JakeSchwartz bowed out in seventh and sixth places respectively and Izadi continued to use his chip lead, leveraging the pay jumps against the other players.

Five-handed play saw the action slow down as the players fought to avoid being next on the chopping block. DaveAlfa eventually fell in fifth place and start-of-day chip leader MichaelLydon followed shortly after, finishing in fourth place after taking several beats at the final table.

GregoySpinder had already locked up a career-high score, more than tripling his previous best just by making it to three-handed play. He hung on for as long as he could, but his stack blinded down to a nub and he was forced to gamble for a chance at a comeback. The gamble didn't work out and Spinder hit the rail in third place.

Heads-up play came down to Izadi and BorisKasabov with stacks basically even, only a slight edge in Kasabov's favor.

Interestingly, these two had some shared history coming into the final table. Remember all of Izadi's close calls at Circuit Main Event final tables? Well, Kasabov made the final table of the WSOP Circuit Main at IP Biloxi with Izadi back in 2019. Izadi bowed out in third place on that final table while Kasabov went on to win the event.

So, it wasn't exactly a rematch as the two sat down to battle it out for the ring, but it had similar energy. The two traded pots back and forth initially, feeling one another out. Then, Kasabov won a massive pot to cripple Izadi's stack down to just seven big blinds.

Miraculously, Izadi managed to double up a couple times to give himself some breathing room. From there, he wrestled the chip lead back from Kasabov before finding a great spot with ace-queen against his opponent's ace-six. A clean runout secured Izadi the victory and his first, long-awaited Circuit Main Event ring.

"I'm really, really happy about this result. I keep telling everybody, if you put it in good and keep your composure, go for it don't give up, you will get the results," Izadi said afterwards.

WSOP Circuit Pompano Beach Main Event payouts

Place Player Prize (USD)
1 Hamid Izadi $245,225
2 Boris Kasabov $151,561
3 Gregory Spinder $111,578
4 Michael Lydon $83,096
5 Dave Alfa $62,611
6 Jake Schwartz $47,737
7 Taylor Hart $36,834