All Eyes on Pilgrim and Cartwright
Today, a lot of attention is being focused on Dwyte Pilgrim and Kyle Cartwright. Both have found tremendous success on the Circuit and epitomize the "rags-to-riches" story. If you're not familiar with these two, here is a post we ran on Day 1 that is still applicable considering both have made it to Day 2 (plus we've added a video):
Not since Dwyte Pilgrim has a player found such success on the WSOP Circuit as 23-year-old Kyle
Cartwright. It all began in February when Cartwright, who had only $2,000 to his name, decided to play his first major live tournament at the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Tunica. Amazingly, he played four events at that stop and took home gold rings in two of them: Event #20 $345 No Limit Hold’em ($25,678) and Event #44 $345 No Limit Hold’em ($31,111). His performance earned him enough points to make him the Harrah’s Tunica “Casino Champion”, for which he was awarded a spot in the National Championship.
Two months later in St. Louis, Cartwright added another pair of cashes to his résumé. One was a minor 42nd-place finish in Event #5 $345 No Limit Hold’em for $751, but the other was a $142,290 score for a victory in Event #30 $1,600 Main Event. The latter win also came with a spot in the National Championship; however, since Cartwright had secured his seat in Tunica, the second spot will be awarded to another points-competitor from the National Leaderboard.
Cartwright, a graduate from the University of Memphis, only has four WSOP Circuit cashes, all within nine weeks of each other and three of them victories in ring events. Quite the impressive feat considering the record for most rings is only four — a tie between Mark “Pegasus” Smith and Men “The Master” Nguyen, both of whom have been traveling the circuit for years. An even better comparison would be to Pilgrim, who also made his name on the WSOP Circuit.
Pilgrim’s rise to fame came during the 2007-2008 season when he scored his first WSOP-Circuit cash at the Caesars Atlantic City stop. It was a modest $2,877 win for a 17th-place finish in Event #4 $1,000 No Limit Hold’em. Almost a year later, 364 days to be exact, Pilgrim won his first ring in the WSOP-C Caesars Atlantic City Event #4 $560 No Limit Hold’em, good for $83,955. Three weeks later, Pilgrim won the $5,150 Circuit Championship Main Event at Harrah’s Rincon for his second ring and $125,775. His third and final ring came a year later in Event #8 $340 No Limit Hold’em at Harrah’s Rincon during the 2009-2010 season. Although Cartwright hasn’t been on the circuit nearly as long as Pilgrim, their victories in two smaller buy-in events, as well as a Main Event Championship, are eerily similar.
Pilgrim vs. Cartwright
| Player | Rings | WSOP-C Cashes | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dwyte Pilgrim | 3 | 23 | $506,238 |
| Kyle Cartwright | 3 | 4 | $199,830 |
Perhaps the most interesting similarity between these two is that they are currently seat at the same table, side-by-side; however, while Cartwright is often considered the next Pilgrim, the latter has position on the former.