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Las Vegas, Nevada (September 3, 2025) - What started as a single bullet into an online satellite tournament turned into a record-breaking win for Pickering, Ontario, Canada’s Jacob Hobday.

Achieving a feat some may find to be “Moneymaker-esque”, Hobday won a seat to the recent $2,500 CAD buy-in WSOP Circuit Main Event at Playground in Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada through a $75 buy-in satellite on GGPoker.

Turning a $75 satellite entry into a $2,500 CAD live tournament seat is already a value, but Hobday would make the absolute most of his $75 investment by winning the largest first-place prize in WSOP Circuit history.

Hobday celebrating with friends following his career win (Photo courtesy of Poker.Org).

Drawing 1,978 entries that contributed to a staggering $4,450,500 CAD ($3,240,030) prize pool, Playground broke the record for the largest prize pool in WSOP Circuit history.

Despite coming into Day 3 of the tournament with the 17th biggest stack out of 18 remaining players, Hobday went the distance in the record-breaking Playground WSOP Circuit Main Event, turning a $75 satellite seat into $620,000 CAD ($449,363).

Securing the biggest score of his poker career, worth eleven times his second biggest cash and WSOP Circuit ring #2, Hobday picked the right tournament to have a career-defining win via a satellite seat.

Along with his life-changing score, Hobday’s victory in the WSOP Circuit Main Event at Playground also earned him a $5,000 package for WSOP Paradise 2025, plus free entry to the $5 million guaranteed WSOP Circuit Championship Mystery Bounty.

1,978 total entrants in the Playground WSOP Circuit Main Event resulted in a $3,240,500 prize pool, the largest in WSOP Circuit history.
(Photo courtesy of Poker.Org)

While his $75 satellite seat already awarded him with $449,363, by qualifying for the WSOP Championship Hobday has a chance at turning $75 into seven-figures.

Every WSOP Circuit ring winner live or online from July 1 through December 2, 2025 receives free entry to the $2,750 buy-in WSOP Circuit Championship Mystery Bounty ($5M guaranteed prize pool) taking place at WSOP Paradise 2025 December 4-6, 2025. Along with free entry to the WSOP Circuit Championship, ring winners also receive a $5,000 hotel package to fund their stay at the host property: Atlantis Bahamas.

Playground continues to offer the best WSOP action in all of Canada

Photo courtesy of Poker.Org.

Although Playground only recently broke the record for the largest prize pool in the history of the WSOP Circuit, the Quebec poker room is no stranger to setting new milestones for the tour.

Owning the record for not only the largest prize pool and entry total in WSOP Circuit Main Event history, four of the ten largest Main Events in WSOP Circuit history have taken place at Playground.

In 2018, Playground set a new record for total entries in a WSOP Circuit Main Event, drawing 2,401 total entrants.

As if the records for the biggest prize pool and entry total in WSOP Circuit Main Event history weren’t impressive enough, the WSOP Circuit Main Event hosted by Playground in 2019 nearly broke the property’s record of 2,142 total entrants.

In 2024, 1,660 total entrants hosted by Playground made up the eighth-largest field size in WSOP Circuit Main Event history.

Setting the new record high for prize pool generated in a WSOP Circuit Main Event, the recent Playground Circuit Main Event also had the fourth-largest entry total of all time.

Playground’s next WSOP Circuit series is scheduled for later this year, taking place November 3rd through 18th.

A series likely already circled on the calendars of poker players across Canada, we will see if Playground can make more history in 2025.