Durant, Okla. (January 13, 2013) — It was clear event 2 at Choctaw Resort was going to be something special after registration closed Friday for the first of four starting days. The opening flight drew 576 entrants and with three more start flights remaining it was anybody's guess as to how big the $580 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry tournament would get.Flight B began at 5 p.m. the same day and drew 354 entrants, meaning 930 players registered during the first two flights combined and what was expected to be the biggest of the two starts days -- Saturday -- still remained.Saturday lived up to the hype.Its two starting flights drew a combined 1,279 entrants pushing the event over the 2,000 player mark and topping it out at 2,209. The $500,000 guarantee was more than doubled with the prize pool peaking at $1,104,500. The first prize of $168,433 is almost 300 times the buy in to the event!Event 2 is one of just four events in Circuit history to surpass 2,000 players. Additionally, its one of the largest poker tournaments ever to take place in the Dallas area.Numerous notables took their shot at the $168,000 first prize including six-time WSOP champion, TJ Cloutier, WSOP champion, Nick Jivkov, Seneca Easley, Jose Serratos, 2012 Choctaw Resort Main Event Champion Abraham Araya and three-time Circuit Champion Huy Nguyen.Less than 20 percent of the field advanced to Day 2 with 405 players taking their seats at 12 p.m. Sunday. Only the top 225 finishers receive prize money.
The full prize structure, as well as start of Day 2 chip counts, are available on WSOP.com.Event 2 is scheduled to play to a winner today, but don't be surprised to see it extend a fourth day due to tremendous player turnout. Nine more gold ring events, and nine more shots at history, remain at what is typically one of the largest stops on the WSOP Circuit tour.A complete schedule of events is available on the tournament's page on WSOP.com.