WSOP Circuit Grand Victoria Stop Dominated By First-Time Winners
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The World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) festival at the Grand Victoria Casino came to a close over the weekend.
The festival was a showcase of new talent, with 15 of the 18 gold rings going to first-time winners.
Two of the remaining three rings went to players with only one previous WSOPC ring and only one ring went to a player with multiple previous victories. The Main Event ring went to Stephen Buell who held two WSOPC victories before he won the tournament.
The list of new ring winners included Ha Nguyen who won his first ring after being down to a third of a big blind while playing heads up in the Mini Main; Michael Muntean who won his first ring by beating the defending champion Christopher Thiel heads up in the $400 No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack; and Sandra McTernan who won the first ever Grand Master 40/40/40 to be hosted at the Grand Victoria.
Main Event Action
At a festival where newbies were knocking over the experts, Stephen Buell stood out. Buell is no stranger to the WSOPC and is a touring pro on the mid-stakes tournament circuit.
His consistent play over the last 15 years has put him in the top 1,000 U.S. tournament cash winners and 9th overall in the state of Wisconsin with a total of $1,793,233 in live tournament cashes.
"I had played with the entire field yesterday a decent amount," he told WSOP.com in his post-game interview. "I looked up everyone on Hendon Mob. I had the most experience of the field."
Buell already had a pair of WSOPC rings in his trophy case before he bought in — along with 637 players — to Event #13: WSOP Circuit Grand Victoria $1,700 Main Event. The turnout put $965,055 in the prize pool and $175,684 up top.
By the end of Day 3 of the tourney, Buell collected his WSOPC ring along with the winner's check after beating Matthew Lubawski heads up.
Lubawski earned $117,241 for second place.
WSOP Circuit Grand Victoria Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Buell | Las Vegas, NV | $175,684 |
| 2 | Matthew Lubawski | Brookfield, IL | $117,241 |
| 3 | Derek Hanauer | Highland Park, IL | $80,803 |
| 4 | Jason Flock | Milwaukee, WI | $56,753 |
| 5 | Ian Greendale | Highland Park, IL | $40,637 |
| 6 | Stephen Wangler | West Branch, MI | $29,674 |
| 7 | Sung Pil Kim | Skokie, IL | $22,108 |
| 8 | George Dietz | Oak Park, IL | $16,811 |
Action at Grand Victoria Casino
No sooner is the Grand Victoria riverboat casino debarking its poker players than the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Tunica gets underway.
The festival at the Horseshoe Tunica begins on Thursday, April 18, and runs until April 28. This festival then rounds the Circuit off for April.
Next month, there will be three events starting with the WSOP Circuit Harrah's Cherokee on May 1. Then there will be the WSOP Circuit Commerce and WSOP Circuit Caesars Southern Indiana, both of which kick off on May 8.
May will be the last month of the 2024/2025 WSOPC season. After the action closes, there will be a short break leading before action begins again on the 2025/2026 season.
WSOP Circuit Grand Victoria Full Series Results
*Photos courtesy WSOPC
