2009-2010 Season
World Series of Poker Circuits
Official Statistics – Player Rankings
Las Vegas, NV – The 2009-2010 World Series of Poker Circuit season is about to come to an end. This week’s scheduled events taking place at Harrah’s New Orleans will conclude the sixth successful year of WSOP Circuit events. The WSOP Circuit was initially launched in January 2005 in order to give as many players as possible an opportunity to participate in the world’s biggest and most prestigious poker tournament series. WSOP Circuit events typically take place over two-week periods between October and May.
This season included tournaments held in Chicago (Hammond, IN), Southern Indiana, Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Atlantic City, Tunica, Council Bluffs, Caesars Atlantic City, Harrah’s Rincon, Harrah’s St. Louis, Caesars Palace Las Vegas, and Harrah’s New Orleans.
This year’s WSOP Circuit series awarded $20,209,935 in total prize money to all winners [1]. With the prize money awarded at the WSOP in Las Vegas amounting to more than $174 million in 2009, all WSOP-related events together over the course of the last 12 months amounted to nearly $200 million in total prize money for winners.
Many players now travel around the WSOP Circuit regularly and play at multiple stops. Several of these players have established themselves at the Circuit’s best players. Here are the top-ranked players of the 2009-2010 WSOP Circuit season, ranked in each of the major categories [2]:
MOST GOLD RING WINS:
2 – Mark “Pegasus” Smith (Georgetown, KY)
2 – John “Cowboy” Land (Dallas, TX)
1 – (146 players)
MOST FINAL TABLE APPEARANCES:
5 – Mark “Pegasus” Smith (Georgetown, KY)
5 – Christopher Cardenas (Woodridge, IL)
5 – Michael Ashar (Vermilion, OH)
4 – Dwyte Pilgrim (Brooklyn, NY)
3 – (13 players)
MOST CASHES:
8 – Mark “Pegasus” Smith (Georgetown, KY)
8 – Michael Ashar (Vermilion, OH)
6 – Dwyte Pilgrim (Brooklyn, NY)
5 – (10 players)
It should also be noted that “Chicago Johnny” Nowak (Fairview, TX) set a record for the most cashes at one WSOP Circuit stop. He recently cashed five times alone at Harrah’s New Orleans.
The top money winner of the season was Dan Livingston (Oak Forest, IL), with $291,749 in earnings. Livingston won the Main Event championship held in Chicago in October 2009. Runner up was Chris Klodnicki (Vorhees, NJ), who accumulated $281,277. Klodnicki won the Harrah’s Atlantic City championship in December 2009.
Next season’s WSOP Circuit schedule will be released sometime during the WSOP in Las Vegas. More locations and events are planned for 2010-2011 than ever before. So, stay tuned for more details about how to be a part of next year’s excitement.
– Nolan Dalla
Please note there are still two events to be played at Harrah’s New Orleans, which are not open events (Seniors and Women’s events).
[1] Figure does not include last two events held at Harrah’s New Orleans, to be played on May 19th.
[2] Data compiled by Alan Fowler of WSOP staff.
