March 10 2012, Chad Holloway
March 1 marked the start of the World Series of Poker Circuit’s latest stop, which is happening at Caesars Atlantic City. The 12-ring event stop, which runs through March 12, is among the most anticipated tournament series on the East Coast, as evidenced by attractive numbers in the preliminary events.
The stop will culminate in the $1,600 Main Event beginning on March 10, but there were a number of motivating stories that developed throughout the prelims, though none more interesting than that of Brandon Croft, a 31-year-old recreational player from Sumter, South Carolina.
Croft’s story began in Event #3: $555 No-Limit Hold’em, which attracted 253 players and created a prize pool of $122,705. Croft managed to navigate the field and captured his first WSOP Circuit ring, not to mention the $30,062 first-place prize.
A few days later in Event #5: $555 NLHE, which drew 263 entrants and created a prize pool of $127,555. Croft was at it again. He certainly had momentum and experience as the event was the same buy-in and nearly the same size as his previous win, so watching him capture the gold ring was basically déjà vu.
That win made Croft an early favorite, if not a virtual lock, to claim the Caesars Atlantic City Casino Championship, which would qualify him for the National Championship along with the eventual winner of the Main Event.
Here’s a look at the WSOP Circuit Caesars Atlantic City events completed thus far:
With several events yet to be determined, the race for the WSOP Circuit Caesars Atlantic City Casino Champion is undecided. Whoever captures that title, along with the eventual winner of the Main Event, will automatically qualify for the Second Annual $1 Million National Championship. That event is limited to 100 players, and so far only a handful of players have qualified:
National Championship Qualifiers
| James Harnden | Palm Beach Main Event Winner |
In addition to the qualifiers, players who earn enough points on the National Leaderboard will be able to buy-in to the National Championship:
WSOPC National Leaderboard Top Ten*
| Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon | 137.5 | 1 | 6 | $61,156 |
| Chris Parsons | 132.5 | 0 | 6 | $72,849 |
| Russell Ivy | 130 | 0 | 7 | $72,703 |
| Benjamin Kramer | 130 | 1 | 8 | $58,600 |
| Michael Cooper | 130 | 0 | 7 | $55,092 |
| Roman Valerstein | 125 | 0 | 5 | $116,282 |
| Chris Tryba | 125 | 0 | 7 | $31,673 |
| Daniel Lowery | 122.5 | 0 | 6 | $240,522 |
| Matthew Chang | 122.5 | 1 | 7 | $25,468 |
*Leading up to the WSOP Circuit Caesars Atlantic City stop.
Don’t miss your chance to qualify for the National Championship. There are still plenty of opportunities to play, including any of the remaining stops on the WSOP Circuit schedule.
Remaining 2011-2012 WSOPC Schedule
| Circuit Event | Harrah’s Rincon | March 15 – 26, 2012 |
| Circuit Event | Horseshoe Council Bluffs | March 29 – April 9, 2012 |
| Circuit Event | Harrah’s St. Louis | April 12 – 23, 2012 |
| Circuit Event | Harrah’s Chester | April 26 – May 7, 2012 |
| Circuit Event | Harrah’s New Orleans | May 10 – 21, 2012 |
*Photos courtesy of Eric Harkins and ImageMasters.
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February 16 2011, Matthew Kredell
As the February 24 deadline nears for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to decide what he is going to do with the Internet gambling legislation sitting on his desk, the Poker Players Alliance leadership has weighed in on the topic it has long watched from a distance.
“We’re generally supportive of the bill,” PPA executive director John Pappas said. “Honestly, I think it builds some nice momentum for us to see a state move forward, so we’re hopeful the governor signs the bill.”
The PPA’s support is a quiet one. It never lobbied for the bill to pass through the legislature and it is not lobbying for the governor’s signature. The legislation was passed by the New Jersey State Assembly on January 10, leaving 45 calendar days for the governor to take action.
If the bill to establish intrastate Internet gambling through Atlantic City casino hubs is signed by Gov. Christie or if the governor allows Februaury 24 to go by without vetoing the legislation, the bill will become law and the next step will be to craft the regulations.
This is where Pappas said the PPA will jump in to protect the rights of players.
“We’ll be involved in the rule-making process,” Pappas said. “There’s nothing in the bill right now that appears to have a red flag for the rights of players.”
Pappas said that even if the bill does become law, he is not sure that intrastate Internet poker is a guarantee for New Jersey. The bill also includes casino games like roulette, slot machines, craps and blackjack, which are relatively easy to set up because they involve playing against the house software rather than gathering players to go against each other.
“We’re really going to have to see how the market develops and whether there’s even going to be a market for poker in this New Jersey system,” Pappas said. “Casinos may just find that liquidity issues are too much to overcome and may just offer casino games.”
Joe Brennan Jr. of the Interactive Media and Gaming Entertainment Association, who has led the lobbying of the New Jersey bills since the beginning, always has promoted it as a system that would include Internet poker.
One of the biggest concerns many players have regarding the intrastate New Jersey system is how popular international poker sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker will respond to it, especially after the sites withdrew from the state of Washington last year. As currently written, the New Jersey bill doesn’t criminalize Internet poker in any way.
“We’re curious to see how operators react to the legislation should it go into effect,” Pappas said. “The bill certainly doesn’t make it a crime for individuals to play on other sites outside the state sites.”
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