The 100 WSOP Circuit National Championship Qualifiers
With the conclusion of the $10,000 Regional Championship at Harrah’s New Orleans, the 2010-2011 World Series of Poker Circuit completed its 100-player lineup for the inaugural National Championship $1 Million Freeroll. The WSOP-C began nine months ago, visited 15 venues, offered 154 gold-ring events, and drew more than 20,000 poker players to its tournaments. Now, the top 100 ranked players will head to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas this weekend (May 27-29) for their shot at a $1 million prize pool and a WSOP bracelet.
How did the WSOP-C’s final roster come to be an eclectic mix of pros and amateurs? Well, there were four different opportunities for players to qualify. Fifteen spots were awarded to the $1,500 Main Event winners from each stop, 15 spots were given to the Best All-Around Player (aka Casino Champion) at each stop, 36 seats were reserved for all the players who managed to make the final table at the four Regional Championships, and 37* “at-large” spots were awarded to the top point earners on the WSOP-C National Leaderboard.
*There were some double qualifiers who allowed for more spots to be applied to the National Leaderboard. In addition, 18-year-old John Riordan, who won the Main Event at the Palm Beach Kennel Club stop, was not eligible to play the National Championship because of his age. The legal age to play in Las Vegas is 21. As such, his spot was converted to one additional at-large position.
The cutoff for qualifying players ended up being 100 points for the season; however, there were 18 players with 100 points and only three spots available. The tiebreaker was the amount of money earned, so Stephen Kats ($43,522), David Paredes and Dan Perper ($39,346 each) were awarded the seats. This left a number of 100-point earners on the outside looking in, including notables like David “Bakes” Baker, Beth Shak, Victor Ramdin, Eugene Katchalov, and Chris Tryba.
Here is a look at the 100 players who’ll be competing in the National Championship.
| Player | Qualification | Points | Rings | Cashes | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Anderson | Midwest Regional Champion | 500 | 1 | 1 | $525,449 |
| Chris Bell | Eastern Regional Champion | 500 | 1 | 1 | $358,295 |
| Ali Eslami | Western Regional Champion | 500 | 1 | 1 | $282,242 |
| A.J. Jejelowo | Southern Regional Champion | 500 | 1 | 1 | $235,956 |
| Chris Klodnicki | Eastern Regional Final Table | 475 | 0 | 2 | $253,757 |
| Matt Waxman | Harrah's Atlantic City Main Event Champion | 435 | 1 | 4 | $189,147 |
| Gabe Patgorski | Midwest Regional Final Table | 375 | 0 | 1 | $324,770 |
| Tim West | Western Regional Final Table | 375 | 0 | 1 | $174,443 |
| Gary Friedlander | Southern Regional Final Table | 375 | 0 | 1 | $145,442 |
| Allie Prescott | Southern Regional Final Table | 325 | 0 | 3 | $107,977 |
| Bernard Lee | Midwest Regional Final Table | 320 | 0 | 2 | $242,950 |
| Ketan Pandya | Eastern Regional Final Table | 300 | 0 | 1 | $159,851 |
| Duane Blanchard | Western Regional Final Table | 300 | 0 | 1 | $124,204 |
| Harry Cullen | Southern Regional Final Table | 300 | 0 | 1 | $95,214 |
| Curt Kohlberg | Midwest Regional Final Table | 275 | 0 | 1 | $174,807 |
| Micah Raskin | Eastern Regional Final Table | 275 | 0 | 1 | $117,457 |
| Steve Brecher | Western Regional Final Table | 275 | 0 | 1 | $90,223 |
| Dwyte Pilgrim | Western Regional Final Table | 275 | 0 | 4 | $86,015 |
| Allen Kessler | Southern Regional Final Table | 267.5 | 0 | 3 | $46,033 |
| Dave Sands | Midwest Regional Final Table | 250 | 0 | 1 | $131,299 |
| Todd Terry | Eastern Regional Final Table | 250 | 0 | 1 | $87,808 |
| David Peters | Western Regional Final Table | 250 | 0 | 1 | $66,834 |
| Scott Lipshutz | Southern Regional Final Table | 250 | 0 | 1 | $48,673 |
| Kurt Jewell | Hammond Main Event Champion | 242.5 | 2 | 6 | $285,378 |
| Shannon Shorr | Midwest Regional Final Table | 235 | 0 | 2 | $101,171 |
| Miller Dao | Western Regional Final Table | 230 | 1 | 3 | $88,734 |
| Kyle Cartwright | Tunica Casino Champion | 227.5 | 3 | 5 | $207,205 |
| Andy Frankenberger | Eastern Regional Final Table | 225 | 0 | 1 | $66,758 |
| Dana Kellstrom | Western Regional Final Table | 225 | 0 | 1 | $50,455 |
| Charles "Woody" Moore | S. Indiana Main Event Champion | 210 | 1 | 7 | $145,027 |
| Brandon Adams | Midwest Regional Final Table | 200 | 0 | 1 | $77,556 |
| Jason Burt | Eastern Regional Final Table | 200 | 0 | 1 | $51,607 |
| Huy Nguyen | Choctaw Main Event Champion | 190 | 2 | 4 | $271,536 |
| Tony Hartmann | Midwest Regional Final Table | 180 | 0 | 2 | $63,695 |
| Nicholas Mitchell | Eastern Regional Final Table | 175 | 0 | 1 | $40,538 |
| Dylan Wilkerson | Western Regional Final Table | 175 | 0 | 1 | $30,397 |
| Kunal Patel | Southern Regional Final Table | 175 | 0 | 1 | $26,401 |
| Mstr Lynch | Rincon Casino Champion | 170 | 2 | 4 | $157,227 |
| Mark Owens | Midwest Regional Final Table | 150 | 0 | 1 | $48,615 |
| Seth Fischer | Eastern Regional Final Table | 150 | 0 | 1 | $32,362 |
| Jeremy Gaubert | Southern Regional Final Table | 150 | 0 | 1 | $12,000 |
| Seneca Easley | Rincon Main Event Champion | 135 | 1 | 5 | $81,413 |
| Samuel Barnhart | Tunica Main Event Champion | 132.5 | 1 | 4 | $154,357 |
| Ian Wiley | Hammond Casino Champion | 132.5 | 1 | 4 | $64,360 |
| Brian Ali | Caesars Atlantic City Main Event Champion | 130 | 1 | 2 | $158,911 |
| Bobbie Talbot | IP Biloxi Casino Champion | 125 | 0 | 6 | $63,444 |
| Brian Walsingham | New Orleans Casino Champion | 120 | 2 | 4 | $111,144 |
| Christopher Johnson | Caesars Palace Main Event Champion | 110 | 1 | 2 | $157,426 |
| Travis Lutes | IP Biloxi Main Event Champion | 110 | 1 | 2 | $96,855 |
| Stanley Quinn | Lake Tahoe Main Event Champion | 110 | 1 | 2 | $88,438 |
| Robert Georato | Council Bluffs Casino Champion | 107.5 | 1 | 6 | $33,696 |
| Jonathan Poche | New Orleans Main Event Champion | 100 | 1 | 1 | $121,017 |
| Kenny Nguyen | Chester Main Event Champion | 100 | 1 | 1 | $94,901 |
| Blair Hinkle | Council Bluffs Main Event Champion | 100 | 1 | 1 | $88,555 |
| Jesus Cabrera | Harrah's Atlantic City Casino Champion | 95 | 0 | 2 | $77,440 |
| Adam Hui | Caesars Palace Casino Champion | 95 | 0 | 3 | $60,860 |
| Andrew Barber | Lake Tahoe Casino Champion | 95 | 0 | 4 | $20,744 |
| Robert Scott | Chester Casino Champion | 92.5 | 0 | 3 | $61,369 |
| Mun Nguyen | Caesars Atlantic City Casino Champion | 87.5 | 1 | 2 | $33,831 |
| Kevin Manley | S. Indiana Casino Champion | 87.5 | 1 | 2 | $25,498 |
| Phil Stelzer | St. Louis Casino Champion | 82.5 | 0 | 2 | $63,703 |
| Traci Brown | Choctaw Casino Champion | 75 | 0 | 1 | $143,462 |
| Mike Morton | Palm Beach Casino Champion | 75 | 0 | 1 | $130,057 |
| Tom Franklin | At-large | 197.5 | 1 | 8 | $74,929 |
| Brett Schwertley | At-large | 187.5 | 2 | 10 | $120,420 |
| Kevin Calenzo | At-large | 170 | 0 | 8 | $94,586 |
| Roland Israelashvili | At-large | 170 | 1 | 6 | $64,433 |
| Nick Jivkov | At-large | 165 | 1 | 5 | $105,202 |
| Tuan Bui Le | At-large | 165 | 2 | 7 | $56,001 |
| Jeremy Schwartz | At-large | 162.5 | 1 | 4 | $75,238 |
| La Sengphet | At-large | 155 | 2 | 7 | $67,094 |
| Shiva Dudani | At-large | 152.5 | 1 | 5 | $73,799 |
| Joshua Evans | At-large | 140 | 0 | 7 | $85,142 |
| Drazen Ilich | At-large | 135 | 1 | 4 | $70,272 |
| Joel Merwick | At-large | 135 | 0 | 7 | $43,516 |
| Justin Kruger | At-large | 132.5 | 1 | 6 | $41,113 |
| Mark Sykes | At-large | 130 | 0 | 5 | $69,952 |
| Matt Lawrence | At-large | 130 | 0 | 10 | $52,781 |
| Peter Ippolito | At-large | 130 | 1 | 5 | $40,962 |
| Trevor Deeter | At-large | 125 | 0 | 9 | $30,398 |
| Jessie Bryant | At-large | 125 | 2 | 5 | $29,770 |
| Brent Keller | At-large | 125 | 2 | 3 | $25,207 |
| Will Souther | At-large | 120 | 1 | 4 | $64,312 |
| Bruce Hoyt | At-large | 117.5 | 1 | 6 | $16,665 |
| David Clark | At-large | 112.5 | 1 | 9 | $59,525 |
| Steve Zolotow | At-large | 112.5 | 0 | 3 | $43,034 |
| Michael Foster | At-large | 112.5 | 0 | 7 | $42,893 |
| John Holley | At-large | 112.5 | 1 | 4 | $31,436 |
| Peter Mavro | At-large | 112.5 | 0 | 11 | $16,200 |
| Dennis Summers | At-large | 110 | 1 | 3 | $39,317 |
| Scott Clark | At-large | 110 | 1 | 4 | $18,233 |
| Michael Traylor | At-large | 107.5 | 0 | 7 | $54,941 |
| Matthew Lope | At-large | 107.5 | 1 | 4 | $50,807 |
| Nadir Babck | At-large | 105 | 1 | 7 | $26,835 |
| Brett Richey | At-large | 105 | 0 | 2 | $25,574 |
| Casey Hayes | At-large | 102.5 | 0 | 4 | $35,158 |
| Doug Carli | At-large | 102.5 | 0 | 8 | $16,839 |
| Stephen Kats | At-large | 100 | 0 | 7 | $43,522 |
| David Paredes | At-large | 100 | 0 | 1 | $39,346 |
| Dan Perper | At-large | 100 | 0 | 1 | $39,346 |
Although the WSOP-C National Championship will be televised on the Versus Network in the future, you can keep atop all of the action this weekend as the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be reporting the event, live, from Caesars Palace.
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