Joseph Cheong won the High Roller at the end of the Planet Hollywood Circuit.
LAS VEGAS (April 2, 2018) – The Circuit at Planet Hollywood wrapped up Monday night with the last four rings being awarded. Joseph Cheong (pictured) capped off the series with a victory in the $2,200 High Roller event just after midnight, earning the second Circuit ring of his career and $65,399.
Earlier in the day, Ben Zamani dominated the final table of the Main Event to earn his first WSOP Circuit ring and $192,152. Zamani already has two WSOP bracelets, and now a ring to go with them.
Leo Worthington Leese was one of 11 players to make Day 2 of Event #12: $365 No-Limit Hold'em, and he outlasted the other 10 to earn his first ring and $11,589.
The final event of this Circuit series was Event #14: $365 No-Limit Hold'em (20-minute levels). Tim Cannon emerged victorious for his first ring and $10,163.
Completed Events:
Event 1: $580 Double Stack No-Limit Hold'em (30-Minute Levels) – Jim Juvancic topped 186 entries to win $24,178
Official Report | Winner's Photo | Results
Event 2: $365 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry – Jeremy Dresch topped 567 entries to win $35,723
Official Report | Winner's Photo | Results
Event 3: $365 No-Limit Hold’em Single Re-Entry – Bill Hamilton topped 112 entries to win $10,079
Official Report | Winner's Photo | Results
Event 4: $365 No-Limit Hold’em Single Re-Entry – Wendy Freeman topped 136 entries to win $11,423
Official Report | Winner's Photo | Results
Event 5: $365 Pot-Limit Omaha Re-Entry – Jesse Carter topped 117 entries to win $10,531
Official Report | Winner's Photo | Results
Event 6: $365 No-Limit Hold’em Single Re-Entry – Kip Jones topped 157 entries to win $12,718
Official Report | Winner's Photo | Results
Event 7: $250 No-Limit Hold’em Tag Team – Taylor Williams and Dalton Brinker topped 74 teams to win $2,218 each
Results
Event 8: $365 No-Limit Hold’em MONSTER STACK Single Re-Entry – Ghislain Pigeon topped 443 entries to win $29,233
Official Report |
Winner's Photo | Results
Event 9: $250 Seniors Event (Age 50+) – John Robertson topped 222 entries to win $11,100
Results
Event 10: $365 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed – Samuel Lee topped 165 entries to win $13,860
Official Report | Winner's Photo | Results
Event 11: $1,675 MAIN EVENT – Ben Zamani topped 610 entries to win 192,152
Official Report | Winner's Photo | Results
Event 12: $365 No-Limit Hold’em – Leo Worthington-Lees topped 138 entries to win $11,589
Official Report | Winner's Photo | Results
Event 13: $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller – Joseph Cheong topped 109 entries to win $65,399
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event 14: $365 No-Limit Hold’em (20-minute Levels) – Tim Cannon topped 121 entries to win $10,163
Official Report | Winner's Photo | Results
Casino Champion:
Samuel Lee is the Casino Champion at Planet Hollywood. Lee won one ring, made two additional final tables, and also cashed in the Main Event. His ring victory was actually his first-ever WSOP cash. The four in-the-money finishes earned him a total of 100 points. The title of Casino Champion comes with a free seat into the 2018 WSOP Global Casino Championship.
Planet Hollywood Casino Championship Leaderboard
About the Winners:
Event #1: Jim Juvancic
Jim Juvancic is a professional poker player from Westchester, Illinois. This was Juvancic’s third career WSOP Circuit victory and first in no-limit hold’em. Juvancic won his first two WSOP Circuit rings in 2015. His first came at Horseshoe Hammond in a $580 H.O.R.S.E. event. One month after winning his first ring, Juvancic won his second here at Planet Hollywood in a $365 pot-limit omaha event.
Juvancic said that he made the trip out west to take run at winning the Casino Championship. Juvancic missed out on the reaching the Global Casino Championship last year by just seven points. This victory marked Juvancic’s 23rd career WSOP cash (8 WSOP, 15 Circuit) and pushed his WSOP career tournament earnings over $325k.
Event #2: Jeremy Dresch
Jeremy Dresch is a 43-year-old poker player and business owner from Fridley, Minnesota. This victory marked Dresch’s 15th career WSOP cash (10 WSOP, 5 Circuit) and fourth final table. Dresch finished in 6th place for $61,068 in a $1k no-limit hold’em event at the 2014 World Series of Poker. That cash remains as Dresch’s largest career WSOP cash. His victory in this event pushed his career WSOP tournament earnings over the $200K mark. He has over $750K in live tournament earnings across all tours and tournaments.
Event #3: Bill Hamilton
Bill Hamilton is an energy manager from Ontario, Canada. Hamilton’s job is to find ways to save energy for companies. Hamilton visits Vegas and in particular Planet Hollywood multiple times a year. This victory marked Hamilton’s eighth career WSOP cash and first final table. Hamilton plans to play in the upcoming monster stack event, seniors event and $1,675 Main Event. Hamilton also hopes to one day play in the summer $10,000 World Series of Poker Main Event held at the Rio Las Vegas.
Event #4: Wendy Freedman
Wendy Freedman is a Las Vegas local who frequents the World Series of Poker. Her victory in Event #4: $365 No-Limit Hold’em earned Freedman her second career WSOP Circuit ring. Freedman has 41 career WSOP cashes (12 WSOP, 29 Circuit) for more than $330K in WSOP tournament earnings. Freedman has reached a final table the past two summers at the WSOP at the Rio. Last summer she final tabled the $1,500 Razz event and the previous one she final tabled the Ladies Event.
Event #5: Jesse Carter
Jesse Carter won Event #5: $365 Pot-Limit Omaha for his first career WSOP Circuit ring. Carter is from Knoxville, Tennessee and owns a video game store called “Replay Games and More” in Jefferson City, Tennessee. Carter has increased his WSOP play as of late and it has paid off with 13 cashes this season and enough Global Casino Championship points to put him in strong contention to earn one of the 50 at-large bids to the GCC.
Event #6: Kip Jones
Kip Jones defeated the 157-player field in Event #6: $365 No-Limit Hold'em to earn $12,718 and his second career WSOP Circuit ring. Jones had to survive a tough final table that included two WSOP gold bracelet holders in Greg Kolo and Ryan Laplante. He also was challenged with outlasting Mans Montgomery in a two hour heads up duel.
Jones won his first career WSOP Circuit ring in 2011 at the IP Biloxi stop. Jones is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the majority of his 22 career WSOP cashes are at IP Biloxi and Horseshoe Tunica.
"It feels good. I haven't been playing as much lately. I wanted to validate the first [ring]," said Jones.
Event #8: Ghislain Pigeon
Ghislain Pigeon is a social worker from Montreal, Canada. He works with the Inuit. When the Inuit need medical care they fly to Montreal and Pigeon helps them transition from the hospital to the hotel. When not working, Pigeon enjoys playing poker. He plays tournaments at the Montreal Playground Poker Club. Pigeon said that he has started to dabble in cash games in the past year, but still prefers tournaments.
Event #10: Samuel Lee
Samuel Lee is the latest ring winner on the WSOP Circuit. He took first place for $13,860 in Event #10: $365 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed, besting a field of 165 players. It’s not only Lee’s first ring, it’s also his first career Circuit cash.
“I’m excited, but it doesn’t even feel real,” Lee said a few minutes after eliminating his final opponent. “I just came to play some tournaments. I didn’t expect first place. It’s crazy.” Lee, a Seattle resident working in medical device sales, is an amateur player returning to poker after taking time away to focus on his career.
Event #11: Ben Zamani
At noon today, a veritable murderer’s row of poker talent sat at the final table of the WSOP Circuit Main Event at Planet Hollywood – bracelet winner Barry Hutter, Jesse Yaginuma, November Niner Joseph Cheong, Dylan Wilkerson, and twotime bracelet winner Benjamin Zamani were all among the final ten players, ready to battle on the felt for the $192,152 first-place prize and WSOP Circuit ring. Despite the star-studded field and tough final table, for most of the last day of competition, the result was never in doubt. Zamani absolutely ran with it, putting on one of the Circuit’s most dominating performances in recent memory.
This is the first WSOP Circuit ring of Zamani’s career, but he already has other WSOP hardware in his trophy case. He has two career WSOP bracelets, one from 2015 and one from 2017.
Event #12: Leo Worthington-Leese
Leo Worthington-Leese has won $11,589 and his first WSOP Circuit ring after a long heads up battle against Chris Herrin in Event #12: $365 No-Limit Hold'em. The tournament drew 138 players to generate a $41,400. Worthington-Leese finished the first day as the chip leader with 11 players remaining. After a rocky start to Day 2, Worthington-Leese found some momentum and rode it to his first WSOP victory.
Worthington-Leese is professional poker player from Brighton, England. In addition to playing poker professionally, Worthington-Leese runs a staking and coaching business called "Unstable Stable".
Event #13: Joseph Cheong
It was a long day of poker for Joseph Cheong. To begin he started off the Planet Hollywood Main Event, eventually busting in 8th place for $22,436. Immediately after he registered for the $2,200 High Roller where he very quickly got to work building a stack from the starting stack of 25,000 chips. By the end of the first level of play today, Cheong had already built up to nearly 100,000. From there, it was all uphill, and by the end of the night the former November Niner had earned his second Circuit ring for $65,399.
Event #14: Tim Cannon
Tim Cannon has just won the final event of the Planet Hollywood Circuit series by defeating a 121-player field in the one-day Planet Hollywood turbo event. Cannon earned $10,163 and his first career WSOP Circuit ring for the victory. The score marked Cannon's first career WSOP cash.Cannon, who resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a newly turned professional poker player. He said he turned pro just two months ago.
Prior to becoming a pro poker player, Cannon worked as a freelance writer. He said he still writes in addition to playing poker. Cannon's writing includes a little bit of everything from movie scripts to professional documents for scientists and doctors.
