February 25 2012, Chad Holloway

The World Series of Poker Circuit has returned to West Palm Beach, Florida, for one of the biggest stops of the year. The 12-event series kicked off on February 16 and will culminate in a $1,600 Main Event on Saturday, Feb. 25. Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be providing coverage of the Main Event, but we thought we’d set the stage with a look back at the preliminary events.

Without a doubt, the most notable preliminary tournament was Event #1: $555 No-Limit Hold’em, which drew an astounding 2,607 players, the second-largest turnout in WSOP Circuit history, and created a prize pool of $1,250,345, the largest-ever outside of Main Events.

Caesars Interactive Entertainment Media Director, Nolan Dalla described the scene during Event #1: “There were unavoidable lines. There were scalpers – yes, selling places in line to get a seat in the tournament. There was a near riot during one of the opening days. There was also a calm and cozy peace that prevailed over the sprawling tournament area once cards finally flew into the air and competition began, with poker tables terraced along the atrium-like windows facing out towards circling greyhounds and throngs of horseplayers screaming for their favorite ponies, appearing on simulcast.”

It took five days of play, including three separate starting days, for the tournament to finish, but before that happened, the final 30 players had to play down to a winner. One man who was looking for his first piece of WSOP gold was Harrison Gimbel, whom you may recall won the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Unfortunately, Gimbel’s run came up a bit short in seventh place, for which he earned $32,214, and his first WSOP Circuit cash.

When all was said and done, a 50-year-old nail technician by the name of Anh Lu emerged victorious to capture the $182,750 first-place prize, which was the biggest payout for a WSOP Circuit prelim event. In what would be the final hand of the tournament, Lu held a 2:1 chip lead over Charles Flett in heads-up play, which lasted just 10 minutes. Flett was all-in with , but was behind the of Lu. The flop gave Lu a set, and it held as neither the turn nor river completed Flett’s open-ended straight draw.

Here’s a look at the WSOP Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club events completed thus far: