The importance of the World Series of Poker Circuit events continues to be driven home by the fact that so many circuit regulars continue to succeed both on the circuit and in bigger events. The low buy in tournaments delivered by the WSOP Circuit allow players to get involved in prestigious events that offer such valuable experience and of course plenty of chances to hit the big wins. With the 2012/2013 season hitting record numbers from every angle and the 2013/2014 looking likely to exceed that, the success and the appeal of the WSOP Circuit continues to grow.
So many players are now using these events as a base for bigger and better things, and 2013 saw many circuit grinders really step up to the plate and deliver. Success stories of the year include Jonathan Taylor who after winning 3 circuit rings proved he was able to up his game and scored a $454,424 win in Vegas in the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Event #14 at the WSOP, and took home his very first gold bracelet. Another player Bryan Campanello who after winning his first circuit ring in 2013 went onto win the WSOP $2,500 Razz Event #33 and took away $178,052. Since then Campanello has returned to the Circuit and won another gold ring, however there were 2 circuit grinders who did even better than that.
Loni Harwood is a huge WSOP Circuit success story and after winning her first circuit ring in February 2012 she never looked back, going on to add another a few months later and rack up 10 circuit cashes in total, worth $69,599. That was just the start for Loni however and she played her way to one of the best performances by a female player in the history of the WSOP and 2013 turned out to be her year. She cashed in 6 events for a total of $874,698 with her best being 1st place in the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Event #60. It was an incredible achievement, however, when Ryan Riess took down the main event all limelight was stolen.
Ryan Riess cashed for the first time in October 2012 at the circuit event in Hammond, coming home in 2nd place and winning $266,349. He stuck to the WSOP circuit and cashed a further 9 times earning his seat in the National Championships and although he didn’t fair too well there, he did make the trip to Vegas, and what a good move that turned out to be. Within the space of one year, Riess went from student to circuit grinder to WSOP Main Event winner and with that he won the 1st place prize of $8,361,570 and of course his first ever bracelet. The importance of the WSOP circuit continues to be seen and these 4 players are living proof that it plays such an important part of the scene as a whole. While these players may, and probably will, go on to much bigger things, they will be leaving empty seats for the next group of players to come through.
