WSOP Circuit Completes Tunica and Pompano Park
January was a busy month for the World Series of Poker Circuit. It started with the WSOP Circuit Choctaw in Oklahoma. The other two January events were all over the place. The US part of the WSOP Circuit then went to Northern California, while Deerfoot in Calgary hosted a Canada stop and King’s Casino hosted a European stop in Rozvadov, Czech Republic.
There was one more series in January, though. We’ll take a look at that Mississippi stop, as well as the first February one in Florida.
WSOP Circuit Tunica at Horseshoe Casino
A familiar stop on the Circuit, WSOPC held its series at the Horseshoe Casino January 20-31. Turnout was good, as evidenced by Event 2. It was a simple $400 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event with a $100K guarantee. But after four starting flights, there were 1,585 entries to create a prize pool of $523,050. Now that’s a way to beat a guarantee.
As for the Main Event, it offered a $400K guarantee…but its 674 entries pushed the prize pool past $1M. Ultimately, some big names made it into the money but fell short of the final table, such as Kyle Cartwright who finished 56th, Maurice Hawkins 27th, and Carl Masters in 17th.
Going to the unofficial final table of ten, Donovan Dean had a significant lead with Kenneth Mason in second. Randy Paguio didn’t have a great stack but quickly doubled through Dean and took the chip lead into Day 3.
Adam Ross eliminated the first several players at the final table. Paguio busted Michael Esquivel in seventh place and then Dean in sixth and Ross in fifth. Pagiuo didn’t let up, ousting Sean Maurer in fourth and Brandon Butler in third. He took a massive lead into heads-up against Mason. The latter doubled his short stack several times, but Paguio and his A-5 finally got Mason and his K-7 on a board of A-5-K-T-7. Paguio picked up his second career WSOP Circuit ring.
| Jan 20-31 | $1,700 buy-in | Horseshoe Tunica in Mississippi |
| Total entries: | 674 | |
| Total prize pool: | $1,021,110 | ($400K GTD) |
| Players paid: | 102 | |
| Minimum payout: | $2,539 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Randy Paguio (US – CA) $193,764 |
| 2nd place: | Kenneth Mason (US – TN) $119,755 | |
| 3rd place: | Brandon Butler (US – MO) $88,163 | |
| 4th place: | Sean Maurer (US – IL) $65,658 | |
| 5th place: | Adam Ross (US – GA) $49,472 | |
| 6th place: | Donovan Dean (US – AL) $37,719 | |
| 7th place: | Michael Esquivel (US – IL) $29,104 | |
| 8th place: | John Gallaher (US – TN) $22,730 | |
| 9th place: | BJ McBrayer (US – AL) $17,970 |
Randy Paguio is the latest WSOP Circuit Main Event Champion! Paguio cruised through his final day competition @Horseshoetunica for the first-place prize of $193,762 and his second career Circuit ring!https://t.co/UyOTOPZtzR pic.twitter.com/hPaUXvWhEK
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) February 1, 2022
WSOP Circuit at Isle Casino Pompano Beach
Similar to Tunica, players turned out in droves for the first WSOPC event in February. This one offered 15 events, many of which posted a prize pool guarantee. And they outdid themselves again. Event 1 was a $600 buy-in NLHE with several flights and a $250K guarantee. But the 1,162-entry tournament created a prize pool of more than $598K. The $400 Monster Stack had a $100K guarantee but set its prize pool at more than $381K. Those are just two examples.
Big names showed up for this series. Some who made final tables included Scott Baumstein, Maurice Hawkins, Loni Harwood, Rob Perelman, Athanasios Polychronopoulos, Michael Lech, Jake Schwartz, and Chad Eveslage. From the winner’s circle, Phillip Hui won Event 5 for his fifth ring. And previous WSOP Main Event runner-up Joseph Hebert won Event 10 for his first WSOPC ring.
Ring Event #5 @IsleCasinoPP saw @KungPhui pick up his fifth-career Circuit win. With five gold rings and two gold bracelets, Hui has now matched overall WSOP title counts with his wife, and fellow poker phenom, @Luscious_Lon . Who will break the tie?https://t.co/iCepIFQegq pic.twitter.com/XnKsF0xs1G
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) February 8, 2022
Day 1A brought in 320 entries, but Day 1B added 405. That set a prize pool that topped $1M and more than doubled the guarantee. Day 2 took more than 100 players into the money, and when they thinned the field to just two tables, Brian Altman had a commanding lead over the rest of the pack with 5.77M chips. Athanasios Polychronopoulos was the only other player with more than 2M chips, weighing in at 2.7M. Paul Snead did most of the eliminations leading to the final table, but he was not the chip leader when they reached a 10-player table. Altman led with 7.2M, Polychronopoulos followed with 3,375,000 chips, and Raymond Brint had 2.37M.
Altman took charge right away and ousted Joseph Brewer in ninth place, though Snead took out Mike Rubinski in eighth. The seven remaining players stopped for the night and returned for Day 3. Altman started things off again by eliminating Michael Graffeo in seventh. Polychronopoulos sent Snead out in sixth, and Will Failla doubled and then busted Brint. Failla doubled through Altman again, and Polychronopoulos took some of the leader’s chips, too. Failla busted Timothy Little in fourth, and Polychronopoulos sent Failla out in third.
Polychronopoulos and Altman had nearly even stacks going into heads-up play, and the former chipped up quickly to create some distance. But Altman doubled into the lead. Soon after, Polychronopoulos shoved with K-2 only to see that Altman held A-Q. The board delivered an ace and gave Altman his third WSOPC ring.
| Feb 3-14 | $1,700 buy-in | Isle Casino Pompano Park in Florida |
| Total entries: | 725 | |
| Total prize pool: | $1,098,375 | ($500K GTD) |
| Players paid: | 109 | |
| Minimum payout: | $2,555 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Brian Altman (US – MA) $204,935 |
| 2nd place: | Athanasios Polychronopoulos (US – FL) $126,653 | |
| 3rd place: | Will Failla (US – NY) $93,528 | |
| 4th place: | Timothy Little (US – MD) $69,842 | |
| 5th place: | Raymond Brint (US – OH) $52,747 | |
| 6th place: | Paul Snead (US – NY) $40,294 | |
| 7th place: | Michael Graffeo (US – SC) $31,139 | |
| 8th place: | James Rubinski (US – FL) $24,346 | |
| 9th place: | Joseph Brewer (US – TN) $19,262 |
The first-ever @IsleCasinoPP Circuit Main Event was conquered by @altyfbaby who defeated 724 opponents in the $1,700 buy-in tournament. Altman captured his third WSOP gold ring and $204,935 for the impressive first-place run.
📸 @LuschErichttps://t.co/1QB07YQpRt pic.twitter.com/VXrUbrEmpD
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) February 14, 2022
New Stops on Schedule
The schedule moving forward puts players in North Carolina, then to the other coast at the Bicycle Casino and back to the East Coast for Turning Stone. Las Vegas and St. Maarten will complete April.
Speaking of Las Vegas, the stop at Bally’s Las Vegas from March 17 to April 3 is a recent addition. It will offer 18 events, more than most other stops. The WSOP Circuit then added several more stops to the schedule: another trip to King’s in Rozvadov beginning March 30, a return to Deerfoot in Calgary in May, and a unique visit to Casino Plaza in Dakar, Senegal.
In the absence of an actual international WSOPC schedule, the WSOP recently added the new King’s and Dakar stops to the singular WSOP Circuit schedule. The tour stays in the US until then, after which it heads to Senegal on May 13 and then a return trip to Deerfoot Casino in Calgary, Canada.
| WSOPC 2021-2022 | Dates | Main Event |
| Harrah’s Cherokee (NC) | Feb 17-28 | $1,700 Main Event ($1M GTD) (16 events total) |
| Bicycle Casino (CA) | Mar 5-16 | $1,700 Main Event (12 events total) |
| Turning Stone (NY) | Mar 17-28 | $1,700 Main Event ($500K GTD) (15 events total) |
| Bally’s Las Vegas (NV) | Mar 17 – Apr 3 | $1,700 Main Event ($500K GTD) (18 events total) |
| Sonesta Maho (St.Maarten) | Mar 23 – Apr 4 | $1,700 Main Event (13 events total) |
| King’s Resort (Czech Republic) | Mar 30 – Apr 17 | €1,700 Main Event ($1M GTD) (12 events total) |
| Harrah’s Cherokee (NC) | Apr 7-18 | TBD |
| Horseshoe Tunica (MS) | Apr 21 – May 2 | TBD |
| Casino Plaza (Senegal) | May 13-22 | €1,500 Main Event (9 events total) |
| Deerfoot Casino (Calgary) | May 17-30 | TBD |
[ #LIVE ] Festival événement, en mai 2022, les @WSOP Circuit débarquent au Casino Plaza à Dakar ! pic.twitter.com/Hhy7upIx8G
— L'Amateur de Poker (@jetonsethommes) February 4, 2022
