The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) event at the Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati has blazed through four more events, with Samuel Panzica, Pavlin Karakikov, John Robertson and Andy Spears each winning gold with two more events remaining.
One man who is going to have fond memories of the WSOPC circuit stop in Cincinnati is Samuel Panzica. The 21-year old can now boast three gold rings, in different variations of poker, after taking down Event #8: $365 Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) with $100 rebuys.
When only 94 players entered the competition there were fears that the prize pool would verge on the low side. Fortunately, PLO is PLO and 436 rebuys contributed to a total prize pool of $71,800, with $21,538 now in the back pocket of Panzica. That’s 4.64 rebuys per person or one rebuy every 16.53 seconds.
The victory – his second of this tournament series – also ensured that he took the lead in the Casino Club Championship with an additional 50 points to add to his already impressive tally.
It was a tough final table with six-time WSOPC winner Ari Engel, and WSOP bracelet holder Bryan Campanello pushing Panzica all the way.
Pavlin Karakikov wins Event #10
It’s not often that a WSOPC gold ring finds pride of place on a non-American finger, but that’s exactly what happened when Event #10 reached its climax.
It wasn’t for the want of trying either, with Bulgarian Pavlin Karakikov, making six final table appearances before he finally bagged the top prize in the $365 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) event for $11,589.
“I was close before and I was kind of disappointed I didn’t win. Now I would have been even more disappointed if I hadn’t won because I had the chip lead,” Karakikov said.
It would have taken some doing to blow this one though. The Bulgarian cleaned house at this final table, and enjoyed a 10 to 1 chip lead when he faced Jason Gwinn in heads up action.
Karakikov has cashed 14 times in WSOPC events and has more than $100,000 in WSOP career earnings.
Put that ring on John Robertson’s finger
John Robertson is an old school grinder, who has been making a living out of low stakes poker for the past 15-years, and he is now a WSOPC gold ring winner courtesy of victory in the $365 NLHE event that attracted 138 players.
“[My girlfriend and I] decided to come to Cincinnati on Thursday to play the Main Event. I got knocked out, so I played [Event 11]. It certainly worked out the way I wanted it to,” Robertson said.
Robertson defeated Thomas Midena in heads up action after surviving a final table that included previous WSOPC gold ring winner Brian Schultz (5th).
Law school grad takes gold
Andy Spears took victory in Event #12 $365 NLHE in record time. Only nine hours passed between ‘shuffle up to deal’ and the final river card, in a hectic one-day event that breezed by with ruthless efficiency.
120 players contributed to a prize pool of $36,000 and Sears picked up $10,801 for the victory.
“I have some friends that grind the Circuit and those that haven’t won [a ring] will probably be pretty mad at me because I’ve only played a few tournaments,” Spears confessed.
The final table was once again an interesting mix, but the most interesting story centered on Pavlin Karakikov who was making his third final table of this stop. The Event #10 winner needed to make the top two spots to take the Casino Championship away from Samuel Panzica, but came up short with a fifth place finish.
