Bucking the trend of dwindling turnouts at major poker tournaments around the country, The WSOP Circuit Event at the Horseshoe Casino in Chicago managed a huge increase in attendance. Last year’s tournament drew a modest 165 players while this year’s edition saw 248 players take to the felt.

Perhaps a harbinger for the strong turnout for the Championship Event was the 1,412 entrants for the $345 tournament that kicked off the series.

In the end it was Dan Livingston of nearby Oak Park Illinois who took home the crown.  Livingston, a low to middle stakes player, happened to be chosen in one of the Casino’s daily giveaways: The Horseshoe Casino randomly selected up to four tables each day, and the player drawing the highest card was awarded a seat into the $5,000 buy-in event.

The $291,000 in prize money eclipsed Livingston’s previous high of $4,000.

Tags: WSOP Chicago, WSOP Circuit event, WSOP circuit series

This entry was posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 1:12 pm and is filed under Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.