WSOP Circuit at Horseshoe Hammond Draws Record Crowd

While the World Series of Poker is the most prestigious poker series in the world, the WSOP Circuit has often been overlooked. It has generally featured small fields, relatively low prize funds, and a lack of attention that is a little surprising considering the circuit’s close association with the WSOP.

However, all of that has changed this weekend, as the Horseshoe Hammond played host to a record-breaking crowd for their WSOP Circuit Main Event. The tournament drew a record 912 entrants – and that was just on Day 1A. After Day 1B’s entrants were counted, the total field was an incredible 1,615 players, each of whom put up $1,600 to participate.

This resulted in a $2,349,825 prize pool, one of the largest payouts in the history of the WSOP Circuit series. The winning player will take home $393,584.

After both Day 1 flights were completed, a total of 342 players were remaining in contention, with 171 spots in the money available. The chip leader is Paul Bianchi, who will take 353,500 chips into Day 2.

While many circuit events in the past have been notable for their lack of big names, several notable poker stars were part of the field for the Horseshoe’s record-breaking event. Dwyte Pilgrim, who has already won three WSOP Circuit events in his career, will bring a large stack to the second day of play, while Chad Brown is also still alive. Notable players who were eliminated on the first day included Kathy Liebert and Allen Kessler.

As has been the recent trend in events with multiple starting days, players did have the option of playing Day 1A and then choosing to reenter on Day 1B. In fact, both Liebert and Kessler took advantage of that option, according to WSOP.com.

The WSOP Circuit – Horseshoe Hammond Main Event will continue through Monday, October 24. The final table will be streamed live on WSOP.com.