For the last week, the World Series of Poker Circuit has been taking place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The 12-event stop kicked off on Thursday, Jan. 19, and will be headlined by the $1,600 Main Event beginning on Friday, Jan. 27.
"Caesars Palace has always carried with it a special aura — whether we’re talking about gambling, entertainment, or poker,” said Andy Rich, Director of Poker Operations for Caesars Palace. “We’ve always been the 'where it’s at' in Las Vegas. Over the next 12 days, we’re rolling out the red carpet for thousands of poker players who are expected enter our events and play for a gold ring. As the saying goes, ‘you can’t get a hit if you don’t stand up to the plate and take swing.'"
While the stop has played host to the normal variety of tournaments — such as the popular no-limit hold’em re-entry, pot-limit Omaha, and six-handed variants — a new event premiered on the Las Vegas strip this week. Event #5, the $350 Ante-Only No-Limit Hold’em tournament, attracted 203 entrants to create a prize pool of nearly $60,000.
So, what is an ante-only event? Here's how the WSOP explains it:
“The game is relatively easy to both understand and play. Instead of two players always posting orbits of forced bets (the small blind and big blind), all players are required to post an ante on every single hand. Then, prior to the flop, the first player to the left of the button is required to bet what usually amounts to the smallest denomination chip in play. Action then flows around the table and players may fold, call, or raise. Thereafter, the game proceeds as usual, with the usual rounds of betting after the flop, turn, and river.”
The winner of the first-ever WSOPC Ante-Only tournament was Jeff “Dobie” Dobrin, who captured a gold ring in addition to the $15,357 first-place prize. Dobrin, 40, lives in Portland, Oregon, and plays poker full time. He defeated well-known poker personality Bryan Micon in heads-up play to capture the title.
This week, the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be providing coverage of the Main Event. Here's a look at the WSOP Circuit Caesars Palace events completed thus far:
WSOP Circuit Caesar Palace Ring Event #1 No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$50
482
$140,262
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Daniel Dizenzo
Sussex, NJ
$30,151
2
Andrew Youngblood
Las Vegas, NV
$18,645
3
Benjamin Palmer
Las Vegas, NV
$13,621
4
Robert Whalen
Cudahy, WI
$10,097
5
John Carreno
Los Angeles, CA
$7,594
6
Steven Morgan
Somerdale, NJ
$5,793
7
Jonathan Gerrick
Las Vegas, NV
$4,481
8
Matthew Peters
Lake Stevens, WA
$3,516
9
Kenika Terlep
Honolulu, HI
$2,798
WSOP Circuit Caesar Palace Ring Event #2 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$50
887
$258,117
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Aaron Klausman
Birmingham, AL
$50,329
2
Paul Gibbons
Middleton, WI
$31,103
3
Richard Dugger
Coronado, CA
$22,910
4
Doug Lee
Calgary, AB, Canada
$17,098
5
Robert Mercer
Las Vegas, NV
$12,926
6
Edilberto Pina
La Quinta, CA
$9,899
7
Larry Wright
McQueeney, TX
$7,676
8
Daniel Wojcik
Newark, NJ
$6,027
9
Richard Jackson
Key West, FL
$4,791
WSOP Circuit Caesar Palace Event #3 No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$500+$60
207
$100,395
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Gregory Hartwick
Bolton, ON
$26,106
2
Kevin Calenzo
New Hartford, NY
$16,124
3
Grantland Hillman
Oakland, CA
$11,643
4
Andrew Rudnik
Johnstown, PA
$8,551
5
Jason Kinder
Carrollton, TX
$6,388
6
Ricky Crandell
Overland Park, KS
$4,854
7
Daniel Savas
Temecula, CA
$3,750
8
Adel Parvanehgohar
Chandler, AZ
$2,945
9
Stuart Pfeifer
Los Angeles, CA
$2,349
WSOP Circuit Caesar Palace Ring Event #4 Pot Limit Omaha
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$50
120
$34,920
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Gary Bolden
Las Vergas, NV
$10,477
2
Tom Christopher
Rocheport, MO
$6,475
3
Jonathan Tamayo
Humble, TX
$4,610
4
Chris Back
Vancouver, BC
$3,349
5
Scott Davies
Las Vegas, NV
$2,481
6
Scott Silverman
Lone Pine, CA
$1,873
7
Brian Swinford
Hoopeston, IL
$1,440
8
Brent Carter
Oak Park, IL
$1,128
WSOP Circuit Caesar Palace Event #5 Ante Only No-Limit Hold'em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$50
203
$59,073
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Jeffrey Dobrin
Portland, OR
$15,357
2
Bryan Micon
Las Vegas, NV
$9,488
3
David Delaney
Long Lake, MN
$6,851
4
David Neal
Maple Valley, WA
$5,031
5
Jackson Kimball
Clarkston, MI
$3,759
6
Carlos Herrejon
Mexico
$2,856
7
Conrad Monica
Hemet, CA
$2,206
8
Ferdinand Quelle
Brandon, MB, Canada
$1,733
9
Scott Permann
Tampa, FL
$1,383
WSOP Circuit Caesar Palace Ring Event #6 No-Limit Hold’em Six Handed
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$300+$50
349
$101,559
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Dale Beaudoin
Bar Harbor, ME
$25,391
2
Robert Newman
Bossier City, LA
$15,689
3
Everett Carlton
St. Paul, MN
$10,888
4
Yeping Shan
Sherwood Park, AB, Canada
$7,648
5
Brett Kodet
Clay, MI
$5,436
6
Dwight Johnson
San Diego, CA
$3,909
7
Addy Litfin
Saratoga Springs, NY
$2,843
8
Robert Bland
Kamuela, HI
$2,843
9
Steve Gross
Las Vergas, NV
$2,091
WSOP Circuit Caesar Palace Ring Event #7 No-Limit Hold’em
Buy-in
Entrants
Prize Pool
$500+$60
187
$90,695
Place
Player
Hometown
Prize
1
Blake Kelso
Las Vegas, NV
$23,583
2
Ho Suk Lee
Honolulu, HI
$14,567
3
Sam Barnhart
Little Rock, AR
$10,518
4
David Curre
Fairport, NY
$7,724
5
Oliver Feldmann
Frankfurt, Germany
$4,385
6
Brian Bumpas
Long Beach, CA
$4,385
7
George Saca
Sacramento, CA
$3,387
8
Jeremy Burleson
Stanley, NC
$2,660
9
Barry Washington
Corvallis, OR
$2,122
With several events yet to be determined, the race for the WSOP Caesars Palace Casino Champion is still up for grabs. 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 the following players 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
Tuan Phan
Harrah’s AC Main Event Winner
Hao Le
Harrah’s AC Casino Champ
Freddy Deeb
Bicycle Casino Main Event Winner
Huy Quach
Bicycle Casino Champ
Raja Kattamuri
Choctaw Casino Champ
Abraham Araya
Choctaw 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
137.5
1
6
$47,015
Daniel Lowery
120
0
5
$238,921
Alexandru Masek
117.5
1
5
$125,015
Robert Newman
115
1
4
$45,619
Matthew Chang
112.5
1
6
$23,149
Orna Haynes
110
0
4
$53,349
Felicia Johnico
110
1
5
$22,620
Justin Gardenhire
107.5
1
3
$120,243
Russell Ivy
107.5
0
5
$68,208
*Leading up to the WSOP Circuit Caesars Palace 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.