CANADA CROWNS ONE OF ITS OWN: MIKE KIM WINS EVENT 1
Richmond, BC (October 29, 2012) — Event 1 at River Rock Casino Resort was the first of ten WSOP Circuit ring events scheduled to take place between now and November 7 -- it also happened to be the first WSOP-sanctioned event ever held on Canadian soil.

And you can bet it won’t be the last.

The reception was tremendous, as 410 players made their way to The Theatre at River Rock, eclipsing the 400 player cap tournament staff had put in place. The extra ten players came from the late addition of an extra table to “accommodate as many players as possible” tournament staff told the WSOP.

Accommodate they did. The event was the third largest non-re-entry event to take place on the WSOP Circuit this season and was won by one of Canada’s own, Mike Kim.

“It’s awesome to be the first one to win a ring in Canada,” Kim said. “It’s great to be a Canadian winning the first Canadian event, for sure. I loved (the tournament). The blind structure was very good. The staff was great -- everything was great.”

Though he faced tough competition including WSOP Circuit Champion Charles “Woody” Moore, the final table served as a victory of lap of sorts for the hometown hero. Kim brought better than 1.4 million chips to the final table, more than three times of that second place Moore. He put his stack to use, besting the final table in just three hours.

Kim earned $27,059 for the victory. Additionally, he was awarded his first WSOP Circuit gold ring and 50 points toward the Casino Championship, giving him the early lead in the race to New Orleans.

With 11 events still to come, anything can happen, but Kim has a full schedule ahead of him to ensure he’ll take a seat in New Orleans in May.

“I will play the Pot-Limit Omaha (Monday) and, depending if I advance to Day 2 or not then I’ll play the $1,000 on the next day and the $500 on the following day -- but I already have my Main Event ticket.”

This was the first of 12 gold ring events on the WSOP Circuit schedule at River Rock Casino. Officially listed as Event 1, the $365 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament attracted 410 entries. The total prize pool came to $123,000. The top 45 finishers were paid. All players who cashed received WSOP Circuit National Championship ranking points.

The tournament was played over two consecutive days, starting on Saturday. Only 45 survivors took seats on the second day of action, played on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. It took six hours and forty-five minutes to reach the nine-handed final table. The final playing session began at 7:45 p.m. local time. Play finished at about 10:45 p.m. making the total duration of the final table three hours.

Notes on the Event
  • Event 1 was the first-ever WSOP-sanctioned event on Canadian soil.
  • The 410-player field was the third largest non-re-entry tournament to take place during the 2012-13 WSOP Circuit season, behind only the fields at Horseshoe Hammond outside of Chicago, IL often recognized as the most highly attended series on the Circuit.
  • Vancouver Canucks goalkeeper Roberto Luongo was the guest of honor. He lasted through the dinner break, but was eliminated with around 110 players remaining.
  • Moore (2nd) was the only final table participant with a WSOP Circuit championship. He also happened to be the only non-Canadian final table participant. He resides in Las Vegas, NV.
  • Antony Vidmer, (25th, U.S.A.), Lorenzo Ceccacci (23rd, Italy) and Moore were the only non-Canadian players to finish in the money.
  • Jeremy Howe (6th) celebrated his 30th birthday during the final table.

With the victory, Kim takes the early lead in the River Rock Casino Champion standings.

The player who accumulates the most overall points in River Rock’s twelve combined gold ring tournaments will earn the title “Casino Champion” and receive automatic entry into the $1 Million 2012-13 WSOP National Championship to take place in New Orleans May 2013, as will the winner of River Rock Main Event. The River Rock Casino Champion will not officially be crowned until the completion of the second of two online ring events to take place November 18 and 25. All players who cash in ring events will receive points that apply to both Casino Champion race and the season-long race to claim one of the 60 at-large National Championship bids awarded to the top point earners throughout the season. More information on the points system is available on WSOP.com.