The latest season of the World Series of Poker Circuit is its 17th and started in late November. It started out with a little overlap from Harrah’s Cherokee to the Bicycle Casino and out to sea for the Aruba tour stop. After a break from the holidays, the WSOP Circuit kicked up again, starting at Choctaw in Durant, Oklahoma. That Main Event’s prize pool exceeded $2M, more than double its guarantee.
And then things got crazy. There is a WSOP Circuit International event that played out at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, though that isn’t listed on the WSOP website, nor are any of the results. Luckily, King’s and reporter Christian Zetzsche provided some information and PokerNews live-reported the Main Event.
At the same time, the North American Circuit took some players to Calgary in Canada (and Northern California in the United States. Other players are already in Tunica, Mississippi, while even others head to Florida for another series that starts February 3.
Whew.
Let’s get to the latest results.
WSOP Circuit Calgary at Deerfoot Casino
This series took place at a popular poker room in Calgary, Alberta. It is the only stop on the WSOPC north of the American border. And the World Series of Poker did not provide live updates from the location, only published the final results upon submission by Deerfoot Casino’s poker room.
The full series ran from January 12-24 with 12 tournaments in all. (There were 13 on the original schedule, but they cancelled the Tag Team event for an unknown reason.) None of the events had prize pool guarantees. It appears that all of the winners hailed from Canada, as did the vast majority of the players.
Poker room staff wrote on social media that the series awarded more than $3.8M in total and broke a local record.
Thunder Valley Casino is located in Lincoln, California, just north of Sacramento. Its poker room has become known for hosting numerous series throughout the year, including events on the World Poker Tour and WSOP Circuit. This WSOPC series awarded 12 rings and ran through January 24.
The Main Event brought in enough entries to zoom past the guarantee. The first flight of the tournament brought in 227 entries, and the rest on Day 1B brought it up to 587 in total.
Day 2 started with the 46 survivors from Day 1A and 72 from Day 1B. They worked their way into the money, and players like Alexis Gavin, Mario Lopez, JC Tran, and Roland Israelashvili took payouts for their work. When the night ended, the final table was set with none other than 2007 WSOP Main Event champion Jerry Yang in the chip lead. Feiyue Wu was second in chips, followed by Victor Paredes.
Yang ousted the first player at the final table, with Garrett Anaya handling the next two eliminations. Wu doubled through Anaya, though, and then busted Salas Alam in sixth place. Lian Liu doubled through Paredes, and Anaya did the same through Yang. Wu busted Liu in fifth place, and Paredes sent Yang home in fourth place. Paredes stayed in the lead during three-handed play and finally busted Wu in third place. Paredes took 11.4M chips to heads-up play against the 6.2M of Anaya. It didn’t take long for Anaya to move all-in with A-Q, but Paredes showed pocket aces that held up to the board for the win.
King’s Casino in the Czech Republic is the home of WSOP Europe each year, and it always brings in solid crowds for the WSOP Circuit events as well. This was not advertised on the WSOP website, nor is it listed now with any results. Luckily, King’s Casino provides information on its website and social media.
There were 15 WSOPC gold ring events on the schedule, each with its own guarantee. And the Main Event offered a €1M promise for its prize pool.
When players entered and reentered over the course of two starting days and into Day 2 via late registration, the board showed 808 entries to push the prize pool beyond €1M. Day 2 started with 244 players and took in some late entries and reentries. Late into that evening, the money bubble burst, leaving Enrico Campanile out with only memories. Play ended with just 59 player remaining and Feyzullah Karaarslan was in 13th place.
Day 3 saw WSOP bracelet winners like Alessandro Pichierri, Dalibor Dula, and Sergiu Covrig bust early. Later that night, Ronnie Lemmens busted Ionnis Chaitas in 10th place for €14,279 to set the final table. Lemmens had the lead at that point, followed closely by Karaarslan.
And it was Karaarslan who busted the first player and then took over the lead. Roman Chochola ousted Simone Adrian, and Karaarslan sent Sharon Sade home in seventh place. Chochola eliminated Tran next, but Karaarslan stepped in again to bust Claudio Di Giacomo in fifth place. Chocola got the best of Lemmens, but Aleksandar Tomovic doubled through Chochola and then sent the latter out in third place. Karaarslan took 22M chips into heads-up against Tomovic’s 18M. And Karaarslan started aggressively, prompting Tomovic to finally risk it all with K-Q against the A-T of Karaarslan. Karaarslan rivered a flush and took the WSOPC Main Event title.
Jan 5-17
€1,700 buy-in
King's Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic
Total entries:
808
Total prize pool:
€ 1,189,780
(€1M GTD)
Players paid:
87
Minimum payout:
€ 3,303
Final table results:
1st place:
Feyzullah Karaarslan (Turkey) €204,053
2nd place:
Aleksandar Tomovic (Servia) €127,017
3rd place:
Roman Chochola (Czech Republic) €90,894
4th place:
Ronnie Lemmens (Netherlands) €70,328
5th place:
Claudio Di Giacomo (Italy) €55,410
6th place:
Do Tran (Germany) €43,369
7th place:
Sharon Sade (Israel) €32,074
8th place:
Simone Andrian (Italy) €22,058
9th place:
Michael Ugucctoni (Italy) €17,369
https://twitter.com/PokerroomKings/status/1486078966096084993?s=20
It's also important to note that the top 12 finishers in the WSOPC Main Event won seats to the WSOP Europe Main Event later this year, each seat worth €10,350.
Next Up…
There doesn’t appear to be anything else on the international circuit for WSOPC, but there is plenty on the schedule in the United States.
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