Event #1 Breaks Attendance Record

The WSOP Circuit Hammond is notorious for drawing large fields. With a huge player base to draw from throughout the Midwest, the stop has been among the most successful every year. Historically, the first event of the stop has kicked off with a bang. In 2009, Event #1 drew 1,412 players, and almost 200 entries more in 2010. This year, those numbers were blown out of the water when an astonishing 3,001 players forked over the $350 buy-in for a shot at a gold ring.

The event was a reentry, meaning players who busted on Day 1a were allowed to buy in again on Day 1b, and after three long days of play, Aaron Bieck (25) emerged victorious and laid claim to the $124,438 first-place prize. Bieck, who resides in Plymouth, Wisconsin, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 2008 with a degree in finance and had the following to say after winning the largest WSOP Circuit event in history:

“Amazing. I’ve only played like 10 live tournaments so to take one down with 3,000 runners is something very special. It’s the first live tournament I’ve ever won and it’s very important that it was a WSOP Circuit event. To win something that big, that prestigious. To have the opportunity to even play in a tournament that big, and to take it down — it’s amazing.”

Regarding his plans for the money, Bieck explained: “I don’t exactly know what I’m going to do with it. Like everything else, like poker, you analyze it, you make a decision and you take things as they come.”

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

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$300+$50	3,001	$873,291

Place	Player	Hometown	Prize
1	Aaron Bieck	Plymouth, WI	$124,438
2	David Schonback	Geneva, IL	$76,911
3	Jeffrey Manza	Naperville, IL	$58,982
4	Peter Nigh	St. Louis, MO	$45,691
5	Javier Figueroa	Chicago, IL	$35,875
6	Jason Zeller	Peoria, IL	$28,129
7	Daniel Acevedo	Belvidere, IL	$22,208
8	Leo Whitt	Louisville, KY	$17,649
9	Jenchwen Chang	Atlantic City, NJ	$14,200