News
WSOPC HAMMOND SMASHES ATTENDANCE RECORD
Oct 16 2009 03:30 PM EST
HAMMOND, IN - The first event of the 2009-2010 World Series of Poker Circuit season started out with a bang. A record 1,412 players entered the $345 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em tournament, which is being held at the Horseshoe Casino, just 20 minutes from downtown Chicago.
Attendance eclipsed last year's near-record for the same event, which was 1,187 entries. The previous all-time record attendance mark for any WSOP Circuit event had been 1,345 players, at the Tunica Grand Resort and Casino (in Mississippi) on January 7, 2006.
Chicagoland has become one of the WSOP Circuitís most popular destinations for poker players. The 13-event tournament series at the Horseshoe Casino is being held October 16th through 25th, which kicks off the sixth season of WSOP Circuits, which officially began play back in 2005. This year, 11 Harrah's properties will be hosting WSOP Circuit events. This marks the Horseshoe Casino's second year as part of the WSOP Circuit.
The event at Chicagoland runs through October 25th. One of eleven WSOP Circuit Events for the upcoming 2009-2010 season, the Horseshoe Casino Circuit stop features a variety of poker offerings not often found in the Midwest ñ including a $235 Pot-Limit Omaha w/ $100 re-buys tournament and a H.O.R.S.E. event.
The $555 buy-in to the H.O.R.S.E. event is the largest buy-in for such an event since the $1,000 H.O.R.S.E. at Horseshoe Southern Indiana, formerly Caesars Indiana, held back in March, 2007. The H.O.R.S.E. event, which begins Wednesday, October 21st, is slated to be one of the biggest mixed game events in the history of the region.
Also part of the WSOP Circuit schedule in Chicago is the $235 Ladies No Limit Hold'em event which started Sunday, October 18th. The Main Event Championship will begin Friday. October 23rd. Last year, Steve "MrSmokey1" Billirakis beat out a challenging final table which included poker pros Jason Dewitt, Thomas Koral and Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf to take down the nearly $209,000 first place prize. Billirakis is expected to be on hand to defend his title.
The Horseshoe Casino is a riverboat located in Hammond, Indiana located about 20 minutes away from Chicago. The newly-built poker room at the Horseshoe is spacious with an open layout and is the pride of poker room manager, Jason Newman. He recently took some time out of his busy schedule to talk to WSOP.com to discuss poker, the poker room and the upcoming circuit event. Click here to read the full interview.
The Horseshoe Casino, which underwent a $500 million renovation last year, is located on the shores of Lake Michigan. The huge luxury casino offers panoramic views of the downtown Chicago skyline, just 16 miles away. The Horseshoe Casino is actually located in Hammond, Indiana, a few minutes from the Illinois state line. Downtown Chicago can be reached by car or shuttle within just 20 minutes.
