PALM BEACH ATTRACTS BIGGEST TURNOUT OF THE SEASON
A RECORD-SMASHING DAY AT PALM BEACH

It's D-Day at the Palm Beach Kennel Club!

The fourth and final starting day of the first gold ring event attracted the biggest crowd of any tournament so far, pushing the total number of entries for the West Palm Beach opener to 2,539 players.  This figure represents the highest attendance figure of the 2012-2013 WSOP Circuit season, to date.  Moreover, the turnout is the second-largest major poker tournament ever held in the state of Florida.

The current season's biggest tournament showed up for the re-entry opener held at Horseshoe Hammond (Chicago).  That event played in October 2012 attracted 2,498 players.  It should also be noted that this week's tournament in Florida had a higher buy-in – $580 as opposed to $365 for the former record-holder, which makes today's final number even more impressive.

The record for the largest major poker tournament ever held in Florida was set at last year's WSOP Circuit opener played here at West Palm Beach.  That attendance figure was 2,607 players, which obliterated all previous attendance figures for this state.  With another high mark set once again, breaking the WSOP Circuit numbers from the last two years of events here at Palm Beach will be a stretch for future organizers.

The $580 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em tournament is classified as Event 1.  As was the case last year, once again the Palm Beach Kennel Club included a $1,000,000 prize pool guarantee.  However, the actual prize pool will now exceed this number.  The exact numbers will be released on Saturday afternoon.

So far, 199 players have survived the first three starting days which were played Wednesday through Friday.  They will join the survivors of today's playing session and will combine into a single “Day Two” field, to be played on Sunday.  The final table for Event 1 takes place on Monday.  The winner will collect a huge sum of prize money (to be announced), plus the coveted WSOP Circuit gold ring.

Event 1 is just the start of what's expected to be an incredible two weeks of poker action here in South Florida.  It's not too late to come and join the action.  As of today, nine more gold ring events remain to be played.


Live updates from the tournament floor at the Palm Beach Kennel Club can be seen at the OFFICIAL WSOP CIRCUIT BLOG (PBKC).