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POTAWATOMI CIRCUIT SEPT 2019
This is the central page for information about the ongoing WSOP Circuit series at Potawatomi Milwaukee. Check back here daily for updated schedule and results.
23 September 2019 (Milwaukee, Wi.) For the second time this year the WSOP has made a stop at the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino marking its fourth since its inaugural dating back to 2017. It’s fourth stop held $1,000,000 in prizepool guarantees and was scheduled to run 13 ring events in a matter of 12 days. A total of 3,797 entries were logged during the tournament series, which was highlighted by Wisconsin native winners and an exciting, points-fueled Casino Champ race.
Kicking things off was a double stack event. Out of the 256-player field, Nicholas Pupillo took down Event #1, claiming his third WSOP gold ring and $19,413. Pupillo was one and done after his first victory as he left the Circuit grind to his younger brother James. Casino Champion Shane Thorne also made his presence felt getting on the leader board with a fourth place finish.
A new face to the circuit, Jacob Rich. was born in Plymouth, Wisconsin, took some time away from his business to grind out the Circuit and wasted no time in making some noise. His first he played in was Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Multi-Flight.
The four-day event reeled in a combined 921 entries between four starting flights. In the end, Rich took home a sizeable payday of $52,680 along with 50 casino points to begin his hunt for casino cahmpion.
Event #3: $600 No-Limit Hold’em saw two of the final three players who would battled it out for casino champion hit the leader board with Nikolas Stone and Craig Trost. Stone was eliminated in 12th place just putting him on the map but Trost climbed near the top after his first place finish awarding $14,834 along with his second gold bracelet.
There were other players making splashes, but none was bigger than Josh Reichard making histoy. As Thorne, Trost and Stone were climbing ranks on the leaderboard, Reichard came right into the mix after he captured his 12th ring in Event #9: $400 No-Limit Hold’em, which marked his fourth consecutive ring at Potawatomi since its inaugural.
Reichard stayed in contention until his Main Event run ended leaving him with only 77.5 points while Thorne sat on the top with 95.
The most interesting turn of events came during the final day as Thorne held the lead but both Trost and Stone could take the #1 spot.
Stone was still in Event #10: $1,700 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event. While Trost was still alive in the final event with Thorne. Unfortunately for Stone, he was knocked of the main event in 6th place out by a three-outer giving him a total of 102 points, which wasn’t good enough as Thorne secured another final table appearance.
Thorne was able to lock up the victory with a 7th place finish but ended up busting in 8th, leaving the door open for Trost to sneak away to the top if he could secure another first place finish. Unfortunately, Trost would follow the same path as Stone and took a 6th place finish and secured the throne for Thorne.
The Circuit dust finally settled, Thorne appeared at four final tables and cashed a total of seven times, for a grand total of $20,057 and 112.5 points
Attached to the honors is an automatic bid to the 2020 Global Casino Championship, effectively a $10,000 seat. The other player securing a seat at the series was the Main Event Champ, Richard Bai. Bai topped a 447-entry field to capture the Mani Event title, winning $138,317 along with his second WSOP Circuit gold ring.
Completed Events
Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack - Nicholas Pupillo topples 256 runners to claim third ring.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Multi-Flight - Jacob Rich battles through first massive field to earn first ring.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #3: $600 No-Limit Hold'em - Craig Trost claims second ring in home state.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #4: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed - Bradley Jansen wins Circuit gold at for early wedding gift.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #5: $250 No-Limit Hold'em Multi-Flight - Danny Dombrowski captures first ring to join wife Melissa Big Rippers Crew as ring winners.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #6: $400 Pot-Limit Omaha- Hao (John) Sun wins Circuit first ring.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #7: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack - Nick DiTrapani tames the monster for second ring.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #8: $1,125 No-Limit Hold'em - John Gallaher holds true to "Run-Good" nickname to win third ring.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #9: $400 No-Limit Hold'em (1 Day) - Josh Reichard wins fourth consecutive ring at Potawatomi putting him in second all-time with 12 total and 1 behind Maurice Hawkins.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #10: $1,700 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event - Richard Bai takes down Potawatomi Main Event for $138,317
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #11: $400 No-Limit Hold'em (1 Day) - Michael Moncek wins second ring in dedication to father.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #12: $400 No-Limit Hold'em (1 Day) - Jeremy Jacobs takes down first Circuit ring along with $11,529.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Event #13: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack - Steve Buell gets monkey off back and claims first ring.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Ladies Event: $135 No-Limit Holdem - Robin Glaysher battles through 55 ladies and claims first ring.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Seniors Event #1: $250 No-Limit Hold'em - Sam Rameshk outlasts 258 seniors for first ring.
Official Report | Winner Photo | Results
Seniors Event #2: $250 No-Limit Hold'em - John Michalak battles through 206 seniors to claim first Circuit ring.
Official Report | Winner Photo| Results
Casino Champion Update
Shane Thorne wins with 112.5 points.
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About the Winners
Event #1 - Nicholas Pupillo
The three-ring club now has a new member. Nicholas won his third career World Series of Poker Circuit ring Friday night with a victory at the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. Pupillo won Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold’em earning $19,413 for his victory.
The heads-up match didn’t last very long after Reichard flopped top pair holding king-jack but was inferior to Pupillo’s pocket queens. Reichard wasn’t able to triple up on his jack or pair his overcard and was eliminated in second place just one hand into the heads-up battle.
Event #2 - Jacob Rich
Jacob Rich secured a largest World Series of Poker cash on Sunday and snagged his first Circuit gold ring in the process. The 28-year-old, hailing from Plymouth Wisconsin, navigated his way through 921 entrants in Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Multi-Flight.
Among a group of 55 advancing players, Rich chipped up on Day 2 and eventually made the final table fourth in chips. Play stalled at nine players, most likely on account of the chips being very evenly distributed at the time. However, action began to pick up and eventually it boiled down to Rich and Scott Wilson.
Heads up did not last long, reaching a conclusion when Wilson woke up with a monster holding pocket kings and called Rich's all-in raise holding ace-four of spades. The heads-up match was looking like it was going to continue for a while until Rich spiked an ace on the river to send Wilson home in second place.
Event #3 - Craig Trost
After coming into the final day with a commanding chip led and losing it very early, Craig Trost still found a way to capture his second World Series of Poker gold ring on Monday at Potawatomi. The 34-year-old from Madison, Wisconsin defeated 87 players in Event #4: $600 No-Limit Hold'em, a tournament that took no longer than two hours to complete on the final day.
Day 1 saw a relatively small number of registrants, 87 to be exact. By Level 17 the field had already been cut to an unofficial final table, at which time Trost came in the middle among the 10 finalists. However, by the end of the night, four players remained with Trost bagging the chip lead. “It was a fun finale table,” he said. “Jeff Minnerly is a good buddy of mine so it was really fun to make a final table with him as well.”
Aside from the claiming his second gold ring in his home state, Trost also earned $14,834, and had a very important message he wanted to share. “I want to say thank you to my very supportive wife. She is amazing and I love her very much,” Trost said with a smile on his face.
Event #4 - Bradley Jansen
Bradley Jansen achieved a World Series of Poker Circuit milestone Monday evening at Potawatomi by taking down Event #4: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed. The 33-year-old, who has $186,183 in live tournament earnings, topped a field of 138 entries to win the first place prize of $12,065, 50 Casino Championship points, and a WSOP gold ring.
“Feels so good. This is my home casino, I love this place and I always feel like I bring my A game here,” said Jansen after his win.
“I wasn’t even planning on playing today,” Jansen went on to say. “I work at 7:30 in the morning and I’m getting married in a few weeks, but my fiancé told me to rip it and here we are, just seems it was meant to be.”
The heads-up battle played until almost the end of completion for the night until Jansen put Miraz all-in holding a suited queen-eight and was snapped off with Miraz holding ace-king. Big slick was no good for Miraz as Jansen turned a queen to end his run in another heart-breaking second place finish.
“I had a weird feeling I was going to turn a queen and sure enough she fell,” said Jansen after the win. “It feels good to get the monkey off my back and to have a supportive fiancé that lets me play the game I love.”
Event #5 - Danny Dombrowski
After three previous final tables at the Potawatomi Circuit, Danny Dombrowski finally secured his first Circuit gold ring at his home casino. “I know how poker tournaments go,” Dombrowski stated. “You need to win anytime you can and it feels great to get this first win under my belt here at my home casino.”
The three-day tournament featured two separate starting flights, which combined to bring in a total prizepool of $51,800. Dombrowski made it through the first flight as the chip leader on Monday, bagging 294,000 in chips. He had a break on Tuesday before restarting at noon on Tuesday for Day 2 of the ring event.
The heads-up battle between him and Richard Kaufmann lasted over three hours at which point saw Dombrowski down to 350,000 in chips while Kaufmann held almost all the chips in play, “I was down to crumbs.” Dombrowski continued, “But this is my home casino. You can’t ever give up. All my friends are here so its nice to have the support.”
Along with the gold ring, Dombrowski took home a sizable payday of $11,652 and had a very special thanks to give after his win, “This is huge accomplishment and I just want to say thank you to my parents who passed away. They were always supportive of me playing poker so I know they would be proud.”
Event #6 - Hao (John) Sun
For the first time, John Sun reigned supreme on the World Series of Poker Circuit stage. The 43-year-old Poker Pro topped 166 entrants in Event #6: $400 Pot-Limit Omaha at Potawatomi.
When the time arrived to begin the final day, Sun’s chair was empty, and stayed that way for two full levels. When Sun finally showed up and took his seat, it didn’t take long for the chips to start flowing to his stack. It only took one full level after Sun took his seat that the field was cut in half and he had over 90% of the chips in play to begin the three-way battle.
It looked like the battle might take a little longer after he doubled up both Shurbaji and Kyle Adams early in the match, but not long after he took the rest of Shurbaji’s chips holding a superior flush, the nuts to be exact, and cracked Adam’s pocket jacks to end the three-way battle.
“I feel great. Think I’ll go get a nice dinner and party like a Rockstar,” Sun said after the win.
Event #7 - Nick DiTrapani
Nicola DiTrapani triumphantly conquered the Potawatomi Monster Sack Thursday afternoon, grabbing his second World Series of Poker gold ring and $25,400. DiTrapani defeated 353 entrants in Event #7: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack.
It had been five years in the making since DiTrapani won his last ring as owning a tiling business takes up a lot of his time. “I try and play as much as I can when the Circuit comes through and this was close enough to home to come play.” DiTrapani continued to say after his win,
“It’s been a been a long time coming since my first one and it feels great to get the monkey off my back.” Along with his second gold ring, DiTrapani took home a sizeable payday of $25,400 and will look too add to his earnings completing out the series at Potawatomi.
Event #8 - John Gallaher
John Gallaher secured his third World Series a Poker gold ring Friday evening, and first since 2014. The win came in Event #8: $1,125 No-Limit Hold'em at the Potawatomi Circuit series, a two-day tournament that registered 121 entrants. Along with the gold ring, Gallaher pocketed $32,964, pushing his WSOP earnings to $283,476.
The heads-up match began with pretty even stacks, but Gallaher stayed composed picking apart Rezentowski ‘s stack and Gallaher said his nickname might have had something to do with that. “My nickname is Johnny Run-Good so I usually do run pretty well, especially heads-up, it was just ridiculous.
In the final hand, Rezentowski was all-in holding jack-ten of hearts against Gallaher’s ace-eight of diamonds. Rezentowski was looking good after flopping two-pair, but Johnny Run-Good got there in the end hitting running diamonds, something that didn’t surprise him. “The way I run, the way I visualize, I honestly saw the diamond coming before it hit, and it didn’t surprise me one bit when it did.”
Event #9 - Josh Reichard
For the twelfth time, Josh Reichard reigned supreme on the World Series of Poker Circuit stage. The 28-year-old Poker Pro topped 146 entrants in Event #9: $400 No-Limit Hold’em and while setting a record at Potawatomi.
Reichard’s monumental will didn’t come without an uphill battle and had nothing but respect for his opponent. “I’ve played with Yoon a bunch, he’s a great player and he almost came back to take the win.”
“I wasn’t even going to play this event today,” Reichard said after his win, “The only reason why I came was I’ve won 3 rings at 3 Potawatomi stops and I wanted to keep that going, and here we are.”
Reichard has now gone four for four, winning a gold ring at each Potawatomi series since its inaugural year on the Circuit schedule in 2017. It is a fitting accomplishment for the Wisconsin native who lives approximately 1.5 hours from the Milwaukee Casino.
More impressively, Reichard claimed his twelfth gold ring overall, tying Valentin Vornicu and inching one ring closer to the all-time leader Maurice Hawkins, owner of 13 rings.
Event #10 MAIN EVENT - Richard Bai
Richard Bai became the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event conqueror after a threeday bout in the Potawatomi Events Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The 31-year-old ultimately topped a combined field of 667 entries, snatching his second WSOP gold ring and six-figure payout of $138,317.
Bai earned the top prize of $138,317, a Circuit Main Event ring, and automatic seat to the 2019 Global Casino Championship. The Poker Pro from Illinois has been absent from the tournament scene for an extended period.
With the automatic bid in his back pocket, Hudson was asked if he would be ready for the prestigious event when it comes around in the fall. Bai responded, "I’m Super excited. I've never got to play it. I've known about this forever, and it's just a great opportunity.”
Event #11 - Michael Moncek
Michael Moncek secured a debut World Series of Poker cash along with his first Circuit gold ring right here at the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino back in February, and tonight the 27-year-old claimed his second. Two consecutive stops equal two rings for the Chicago native who navigated his way through 169 entrants in the single day Event #11: $400 No-Limit Hold'em.
After the win, Moncek had a special dedication for his remarkable achievement.
“Getting this second ring is amazing and I want to dedicate it to my father who I lost earlier this year.
Event #12 - Jeremy Jacobs
Jeremy Jacobs achieved a World Series of Poker Circuit milestone Saturday evening at Potawatomi by taking down Event #12: $400 No-Limit Hold'em. The 41-year-old, who has $1,436 in live tournament earnings, topped a field of 130 entries to win the first place prize of $11,529, 50 Casino Championship points, and a WSOP gold ring.
Event #13 - Steve Buell
Steve Buell finally got the monkey off his back and won his first WSOP Circuit gold ring in his native home of Wisconsin at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. The 32-year-old from Green Bay, Wisconsin defeated 185 entrants in Event #13: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack to win $15,339 and his third gold-ring Circuit title.
Going into the final table, Buell went in wielding a middle-sized stack but in the end all the chips were in his possession.
“It feels great to get this monkey off my back especially here at home; I’m happy,” Buell expressed after his victory. Buell has a long track record dating back to 2009 where he has made nine WSOP Circuit final tables but with three 3rd-place finishes as well as 4th, 5th and hasn’t come up with a first place win until now.
