Chicago Traffic Delay Causes Late Re-Start
Day Two Will Play into the Money, Get Close to Final Table of Nine
HAMMOND, IN -- The record-shattering Main Event is underway in Chicago.
The $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Championship began yesterday at the Horseshoe Casino with the largest tournament field in WSOP Circuit history. A whopping 872 players entered the three-day Texas Hold'em competition, which more than doubled the previous record set two years ago. By day’s end, only 162 players remained. Day Two began with James Kasputis, from Rockford, IL as the chip leader. He started with 360,000 in chips, which led Joe Roppolo, who began the re-start in second place. The average stack size was about 85,000. The tournament was delayed by 90 minutes due to an unforeseen development outside the casino. An auto accident on the Chicago Skyway temporarily closed a major access point from Downtown Chicago. Traffic was rerouted. But the delay affected nearly 50 players who were not present when play was scheduled to begin at noon. Tournament officials decided to suspend play until players had enough time to reach the casino and take their seats. Play finally began at 1:30 pm.Play will continue today as the tournament is scheduled to include ten more levels, at one hour each. Day One included 16 levels, which were 40 minutes long. Today, play will reach deep into the money and is expected to get close to the final nine. The top 90 finishers will collect prize money. The final table will be composed of the last nine survivors. Poker play is expected to take place on Sunday until the conclusion. The winner will collect $242,909 in prize money. The winner also receives the coveted Gold Ring, presented to all WSOP Circuit champions and an automatic entry into the $1 million freeroll tournament to be held in Las Vegas. That Gold Bracelet event, the first of its kind, will take place next May at Caesars Palace. Only 100 players will be eligible to compete, making it the first WSOP gold bracelet qualifying event in history.This is the eighth of 11 Gold Ring events taking place this year at the Horsehose Casino and is the third year it has hosted a WSOP Circuit stop. All tournament events take place inside the special events arena called “The Venue.” Horseshoe Hammond is conveniently located just a short distance from the Illinois-Indiana border, and is convenient to Downtown Chicago -- when traffic cooperates. This is the third WSOP Circuit stop of the 2010-2011 season. See the complete HORSESHOE HAMMOND poker tournament schedule here. This year’s events take place from October 15-28. The full WSOP CIRCUIT SCHEDULE for the 2010-2011 season, including all upcoming stops and dates is also listed.
Horseshoe Casino (Hammond)
777 Casino Center Drive
Hammond, IN 46312
Telephone: (219) 473-6065
Toll-Free: 1 (866) 711-SHOE
www.chicagohorseshoe.com