Dean Hamrick isn’t used to being one of the older men at the table. But he was this past Friday, with a first place prize of $604,222 on the line in the the Event #42, a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament. In a final table which held three recent college grads, the tournament’s eventual winner would use his maturity and experience to nab his first WSOP victory.
He’d been perilously close once before, with a tenth place finish in the 2008 Main Event. Though he did drop just outside of the fabled November Nine, the 25 year-old player from East Lansing, Michigan took home $591,869 for his efforts.
“If I would not have had that experience then,” said Hamrick, “I would not have won this event today. It shows that you can never give up. You have to stay patient. You have to pick the spots, and you can’t just throw it all away – because it is very rare to make a final table and it might not come again. You realize how important this is, so you really have to try and concentrate.”
Out of 2,521 entrants, the top 271 places were paid from a total prize pool of $3,403,305. Other notable finishers included James Schaaf (12th), Humberto Brenes (16th), Carter Phillips (48th), Jeff Madsen (139th), Michael Gracz (206th), and Andre Boyer (226th).
Finishing second was 61 year-old Tom O’Neal, who spends his time as a math teacher, educating special needs children. A real class act, the veteran player took home $375,627.
Here’s how the final table shook out:
#1: Dean Hamrick ($604,222)
#2: Tom O’Neal ($375,627)
#3: Ian Wiley ($265,869)
#4: Niccolo Caramatti ($191,744)
#5: Aaron Kaiser ($140,013)
#6: Ryan Hemmel ($103,461)
#7: Andrew Rosskamm ($77,392)
#8: Thomas Johnson ($58,571)
#9: Aaron Gustavson ($44,856)