Previewing the 2012-2013 World Series of Poker Circuit River Rock

The fifth stop of the 2012/2013 World Series of Poker Circuit is currently taking place north of the U.S. border for the first time ever. The River Rock Casino Resort located in Richmond, British Columbia — just a short distance from Vancouver — is hosting 12 rings events, culminating this weekend with the $1,675 Main Event.

River Rock’s Main Event features three Day 1s — Nov. 2 through 4 — each day beginning at 12 p.m. local time. Players will be given the opportunity to re-enter twice, allowing one entry per starting day. For example, players eliminated on Day 1a can re-enter on Day 1b and/or Day 1c, and players eliminated on Day 1B can re-enter on Day 1C.

Aside from being the first-ever WSOP Circuit event in Canada, the stop has also made headlines by offering two online ring events in partnership with PlayNow.com. Events 11 ($320 buy-in) and 12 ($530 buy-in) are open to residents of British Columbia and Quebec and will take place Nov. 18 and 25, respectively.

Here's a look at the WSOP Circuit River Rock events completed thus far:

WSOP Circuit River Rock Ring Event #1 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$65	410	$123,000

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Mike Kim	Surrey, BC	$27,059
2	Charles “Woody” Moore	Las Vegas, NV	$16,722
3	Glenn Land	Coquitlam, BC	$12,219
4	Chen Yong	Richmond, BC	$9,072
5	Evan Thomas	Victoria, BC	$6,841
6	Jeremy Howe	Delta, BC	$5,236
7	Nguyen Phan	Vancouver, BC	$4,066
8	Curtis Berntsen	Vancouver, BC	$3,203
9	David Rogue	Vancouver, BC	$2,558

WSOP Circuit River Rock Ring Event #2 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$500+$80	296	$148,000

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Flemming Lund	Vancouver, BC	$35,523
2	Glen Ho	Coquitlam, BC	$21,951
3	Shannon Glenesk	Vernon, BC	$15,928
4	Louis Lam	Saint-Leonard, QC	$11,751
5	Brant Taylor	Delta, BC	$8,813
6	Joanne Lewis	Burnaby, BC	$6,716
7	George Zawadzki	Bowen Island, BC	$5,198
8	Jason McLean	Mile Rance, BC	$4,085
9	Mark Fraser	Mission, BC	$3,259

WSOP Circuit River Rock Ring Event #3 Pot-Limit Omaha

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$65	205	$61,500

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Adina Mazzucco	Coquitlam, BC	$15,989
2	Andrew Wan	Vancouver, BC	$9,878
3	Bryan Anderson	Langley, BC	$7,132
4	Dan Denghel	Brunaby, BC	$7,132
5	Ayaz Amiani	Campbell River, BC	$3,913
6	Hugh Jordan Drummond	Vancouver, BC	$2,974
7	Janis Campbell	Dawson City, YT	$2,297
8	Taras Kripps	Naramata, BC	$1,804
9	Dilovan Hussein	Edmonton, AB	$1,439

WSOP Circuit River Rock Ring Event #4 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$1,000+$125	354	$354,000

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Matthew O’Brien	Ottawa, ON	$81,422
2	Charles Shapiro	West Vancouver, BC	$50,335
3	Keith Wintermans	North Vancouver, BC	$36,720
4	Duck-Sin Jong	Burnaby, BC	$27,327
5	Shane Sandhu	New Westminster, BC	$20,518
6	Douglas Lamson	Abbotsford, BC	$15,693
7	Adam Cummings	Victoria, BC	$12,178
8	Andy Le	Mount Lake Terrace, WA	$9,586
9	Anthony Kook	North Vancouver, BC	$7,653

WSOP Circuit River Rock Ring Event #5 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$500+$80	347	$173,500

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Dean Engemoen	Chilliwack, BC	$39,903
2	Carson Wong	Vancouver, BC	$24,670
3	Lillian Chan	Vancouver, BC	$17,997
4	Sang Hyo Park	Vancouver, BC	$13,349
5	Braden Hall	Abbotsford, BC	$10,056
6	Bashar Ramahi	Sturgeon Country, AB	$7,691
7	Paul Vassallo	White Rock, BC	$5,968
8	Philip Elliott	Vancouver, BC	$4,698
9	Andre Groulx	Richmond, BC	$3,751

WSOP Circuit River Rock Ring Event #6 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$65	381	$114,300

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Victor Chen	Vancouver, BC	$25,143
2	Terry Chen	Vancouver, BC	$15,539
3	SandraWong	Burnaby, BC	$11,355
4	Ian Modder	North Vancouver, BC	$8,431
5	Tony Fazeli	Richmond, BC	$6,357
6	Richard Getty	Burnaby, BC	$4,866
7	Wipada Butwong	Vancouver, BC	$3,779
8	Ping Huang	Coquitlam, BC	$2,976
9	Liying Zhang	Vancouver, BC	$2,377

With several events yet to be determined, the race for the WSOP Circuit River Rock Casino Champion is undetermined. Whoever captures that title, along with the eventual winner of the Main Event, will automatically qualify for the Second Annual $1 Million National Championship. Here's a look at the players who have qualified:

National Championship Qualifiers

Player	Qualified
Josh Williams	Horseshoe Horseshoe Hammond Main Event Winner
Mike Leah	Horseshoe Hammond Casino Champion
Dan Heimiller	Horseshoe Southern Indiana Main Event Winner
Jonathan Taylor	Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino Champion
Quan Nguyen	Bossier City Casino Champion
Jeff Gibralter	Bossier City Main Event Champion
Kyle Cartwright	IP Biloxi Main Event Winner
Cory Wood	IP Biloxi Casino Champion

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*

Player	Points	Rings	Cashed	Earnings
Charles “Woody” Moore	150	0	7	$46,997
Caufman Talley	142.5	2	5	$82,963
Ashly Butler	112.5	1	4	$25,415
Rex Clinkscales	110	0	4	$28,874
Ari Engel	105	1	4	$68,762
Aaron Massey	105	1	4	$24,300
Blake Barousse	102.5	2	3	$59,916
John Dolan	100	1	4	$63,916
Austin Buchanan	92.5	0	5	$40,964
Chris Conrad	85	0	3	$16,077

*Leading up to the WSOP Circuit River Rock stop.

Here's a look at the remaining schedule for the 2012-13 WSOP Circuit:

Date	Event Location
Nov. 8-19, 2012	Harveys Lake Tahoe
Nov. 29 - Dec. 10, 2012	Harrah’s Atlantic City
Dec. 6-17, 2012	Harrah’s Rincon
Jan. 3-14, 2013	The Bicycle Casino (Los Angeles)
Jan. 10-21, 2013	Choctaw Durant (Dallas/Oklahoma)
Jan. 24 - Feb. 4, 2013	Harrah’s Tunica (Mississippi)
Feb. 7-18, 2013	Caesars Palace (Las Vegas)
Feb. 14-25, 2013	Palm Beach Kennel Club (Florida)
Feb. 28 - March 11, 2013	Caesars Atlantic City
March 14-25, 2013	Horseshoe Cleveland
March 27 - April 8, 2013	Foxwoods (Connecticut)
April 4-15, 2012	Harrah’s Cherokee (North Carolina)
April 11-April 22, 2013	Horseshoe Council Bluffs (Iowa)
April 25 - May 6, 2013	Harrah’s Philadelphia
May 9 - May 20, 2013	Harrah’s New Orleans
May 21-23, 2013	Harrah’s New Orleans (National Championship)

For more information on the 2012-13 WSOP Circuit season, visit WSOP.com.

*Photos courtesy of WSOP.com.

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