Since Dec. 1, Harrah’s Atlantic City has played host to the 2011-2012 World Series of Poker Circuit. Several ring events have concluded, but the stop culminates in a $1,600 Main Event that begins Saturday, Dec. 10.
The stop has already attracted huge fields and generated juicy prize pools. In fact, it has drawn pros from up and down the East Coast, including Chris Tryba and Peter Ippolito. Interestingly, both these men made the final table of Event #5 $555 No-Limit Hold’em, with Tryba coming in third and Ippolito capturing his second WSOP Circuit ring. Ippolito, a pro poker player from East Meadow, New York, completed a come-from-behind victory to capture $37,926 in prize money, joining the list of players with two gold rings.
This weekend, the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be providing coverage of the Main Event. Here's a look at the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City events completed thus far:
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City Ring Event #1 No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$45
704
$204,864
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Richard Smith
Remington, VA
$41,995
2
John Johnston
Howard Beach, NY
$25,987
3
Thao Le
NA
$19,061
4
Sean Perry
Columbia, MD
$14,175
5
Huy Le
Atlantic City, NJ
$10,684
6
Michael Flesch
Manassas, VA
$8,160
7
Joshua Shmerl
Wauconda, IL
$6,314
8
Tomer Kravitz
Princeton, NJ
$4,950
9
Scott Strubel
Fords, NJ
$3,929
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City Ring Event #2 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$45 (Re-Entry)
888
$258,408
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Jeffrey Gurfinkel
Brooklyn, NY
$50,446
2
Leonid Vizirov
Chalfront, VA
$31,173
3
Erik Gorman
Matthews, NC
$22,962
4
Miriam Dubois
Hackensack, NJ
$17,136
5
Oliver Entine
Philadelphia, PA
$12,956
6
Douglas Conant
Sutton, WV
$9,921
7
Eric Nathan
Columbia, MD
$7,694
8
Christopher Kusha
Staten Island, NY
$6,041
9
Adam Feldman
Wyomissing, PA
$4,801
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City Ring Event #3 No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$500+$55
288
$139,680
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Michael Linster
Levittown, NY
$35,529
2
Wai Cheng
Randolph, NJ
$20,717
3
Gregory Glassman
Brooklyn, NY
$15,032
4
Douglas Cressi
Glen Cove
$11,091
5
Lorne Kanover
Bellmore, NY
$8,318
6
Jackson Kimball
Clarkston, MI
$6,339
7
Mohammed Munaf
Richardson, TX
$4,906
8
Dean Schultz
Stow, OH
$3,855
9
Joseph Messer
Los Angeles, CA
$3,076
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City Ring Event #4 No-Limit Hold'em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$45
555
$161,505
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Dustin Manns
Media, PA
$33,922
2
Anthony Hill
Columbia, CT
$20,978
3
Tod Liang
Brooklyn, NY
$15,340
4
Matthew Chang
Rockville, MD
$11,383
5
Kevin Tsao
Forest Hills, NY
$8,565
6
Phillip Vera
Manassas, VA
$6,533
7
Richard Smith
Remington, VA
$5,052
8
Anthony Zinno
Bston, MA
$3,960
9
Daniel Chan
New York, NY
$3,146
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City Ring Event #5 No-Limit Hold'em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$500+$55
428
$124,548
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Peter Ippolito
East Meadow, NY
$37,926
2
Robert Parker
Staten Island, NY
$23,447
3
Chris Tryba
Las Vegas, NV
$17,105
4
David Laufer
Saylorsburg, PA
$12,687
5
An Hwang
Centreville, VA
$9,558
6
Jeffrey Gurfinkel
Brooklyn, NY
$7,310
7
Scott Davies
Las Vegas, NV
$5,673
8
David Zeitlin
Brooklyn, NY
$4,465
9
Jonathan Rice
Cumberland, MD
$3,565
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City Ring Event #6 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$45
428
$124,548
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Jeremy Burleson
Stanley, NC
$28,646
2
Jamie Kerstetter
Jersey City, NJ
$17,813
3
Gregory Joslyn
Middletown, NY
$12,604
4
Chinmay Patel
Brigantine, NJ
$8,924
5
Roman Valerstein
Newtown, PA
$6,410
6
Daniel Iscovici
Staten Island, NY
$4,649
7
Dennis Summers
Charlottesville, VA
$3,406
8
Jackson Kimball
Clarkston, MI
$3,406
9
Ali Kalid
Atlantic City, NJ
$2,522
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City Ring Event #7 No-Limit Hold'em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$500+$55
292
$141,620
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Ryan Hall
Newark, DE
$33,989
2
Jayakrishnan Nair
Redmond, WA
$21,005
3
Charles Clark
Webster, NY
$15,241
4
Charles Furey
Atlantic City, NJ
$11,245
5
David Curre
Fairport, NY
$8,433
6
Dylan Drazen
Astoria, NY
$6,427
7
Mike Sica
North Brunswick, NJ
$4,974
8
Ara Melikian
Scarsdale, NY
$3,909
9
Henry Negron
Bronx, NY
$3,118
WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City Ring Event #8 Limit Omaha Eight or Better
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$45
187
$54,417
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Menachem Rosenberg
Brooklyn, NY
$14,148
2
Richard Rettino
Bay Shore, NY
$8,740
3
George Kosta
Ventnor City, NJ
$6,311
4
Kevin Nettles
Los Angeles, CA
$4,635
5
Charles Levinsohn
Monmouth Beach, NJ
$3,463
6
John Cernuto
Las Vegas, NV
$2,361
7
Allyn Marshall
Elberon, NJ
$2,032
8
Mei Chung
College Park, MD
$1,596
9
Chris Back
Vancouver, BC
$1,273
With several events yet to be determined, the race for the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City Casino Champion is wide open. Whoever captures that title, along with the eventual winner of the Main Event, will automatically qualify for the Second Annual $1 Million National Championship. That event is limited to 100 players, and so far only six have qualified:
National Championship Qualifiers
Player
Qualified
David Nicholson
Horseshoe Bossier City Main Event Winner
Chris Gamboa
Horseshoe Bossier City Casino Champion
Robert Castoire
Horseshoe Southern Indiana Main Event Winner
Mark “Pegasus” Smith
Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino Champion
Bob Chow
Horseshoe Hammond Main Event Winner
Drazen Ilich
Horseshoe Hammond Casino Champion
Gene Dudek
IP Biloxi Casino Champion
Jerry Monroe
IP Biloxi Main Event Winner
Michael Rosenbach
Lake Tahoe Casino Champ
Bryan Schultz
Lake Tahoe Main Event Champion
In addition to the qualifiers, players who earn enough points on the National Leaderboard will be able to buy-in to the National Championship:
WSOPC National Leaderboard Top Ten*
Player
Points
Rings
Cashed
Earnings
David Clark
112.5
1
4
$42,377
Beverly Cheney
107.5
0
6
$27,753
Felicia Johnico
107.5
1
4
$21,998
Russell Ivy
102.5
0
4
$65,035
Thomas Cronin
95
0
4
$21,396
Nicholas Long
87.5
1
5
$22,996
Peter Mavro
87.5
0
5
$11,892
Benjamin Kramer
85
1
4
$28,848
John Evans
85
0
4
$11,921
Scott Schwalich
80
1
3
$34,846
*Leading up to the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City stop.
Don’t miss your chance to qualify for the National Championship. There are still plenty of opportunities to play, including any of the remaining stops on the WSOP Circuit schedule.
Remaining 2011-2012 WSOPC Schedule
Event
Location
Dates
Circuit Event
Bicycle Casino
Jan. 1 - 12, 2012
Circuit Event
Choctaw Durant
Jan. 12 - 23, 2012
Circuit Event
Caesars Palace (Las Vegas)
Jan. 19 - 30, 2012
Circuit Event
Harrah’s Tunica
Feb. 2 - 13, 2012
Circuit Event
Palm Beach Kennel Club
Feb. 16 - 27, 2012
Circuit Event
Caesars Atlantic City
March 1 - 12, 2012
Circuit Event
Harrah’s Rincon
March 15 - 26, 2012
Circuit Event
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
March 29 - April 9, 2012
Circuit Event
Harrah’s St. Louis
April 12 - 23, 2012
Circuit Event
Harrah’s Chester
April 26 - May 7, 2012
Circuit Event
Harrah’s New Orleans
May 10 - 21, 2012
*Photo courtesy of Eric Harkins and ImageMasters.
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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.