$5,150 Circuit Championship Event Day 1 | 2009 WSOP Circuit - Rincon

03-30-2009 12:24 UTC-7

Welcome to the Table, Devo

[user66118]

Bryan "Devo" Devonshire just entered the tournament room and took his seat. He tucked a motorcycle helmet under his chair, suggesting he may have literally just walked in the door.

On his first hand at the table, we find him involved in a heads-up pot. On the turn, there is 825 in the pot, and the board shows {6-Diamonds}

. From early position, Devo puts out a bet of 600. His opponent thinks for a minute or two before splashing in the calling chips. The river comes the {8-Hearts}

. This time, Devo considers his own options before slowly checking it over. His opponent quickly checks back. Devonshire turns over {2-Spades}

, and it's the winner as his foe returns his cards to the dealer face-down.

Tags: Bryan Devonshire Devo

03-30-2009 12:10 UTC-7

Familiar Faces

[user66118]

So far, this is looking to be an amateur-heavy field. Still, there are a few notables that we've already spotted in the room. WSOP-C Atlantic City final tablist Jason Young is here, as is Tunica finalist Matt "allinat420" Stout. Dwyte Pilgrim made the trip west too; he took home a ring at the last Circuit stop. We've also located Eric "Rizen" Lynch, Dan Lu, and Mickey "Mouse" Mills. Players are still trickling in the doors, so we may yet find a few fashionably late pros.

03-30-2009 12:03 UTC-7

Shuffle Up and Deal!

[user75032]

Cards are in the air! A few latecomers are still shuffling in, but the majority of the players are in their seats. Each player starts with 20,000 in chips. We will be playing twelve one-hour levels today.

Level: 1

Blinds: 25/50

Ante: 0

03-30-2009 11:51 UTC-7

Almost Set to Go

[user66118]

Welcome back to Harrah's Rincon this morning. We're just a few minutes away from the start of today's Championship Event. The tournament staff is hard at work preparing the room for play. The dealers are in the box, and the players have just begun to file into the outskirts of the room. We expect to get underway promptly at 12:00 noon, just about 10 minutes from now.

03-29-2009 20:58 UTC-7

Welcome to Harrah's Rincon!

[user66118]

Hello, good evening, and welcome to PokerNews' continuing coverage of the 2008-09 World Series of Poker Circuit. This week's stop brings us to sunny southern California. Nestled in the rocky hills about 45 miles northeast of San Diego, Harrah's Rincon has been playing host to a series of preliminary events for the past ten days. All of that warm-up action has been setting the stage for tomorrow's $5,150-buy-in Championship Event, and it figures to be a good one. The fields for the preliminary events have been right on par with expectations, and the staff hopes to have more than 100 runners for Day 1 tomorrow. Everyone anticipates a good mix of local grinders, established pros, and a couple dozen satellite qualifiers to round out the field.

Last year, Michael "Mickey" Pickett outlasted 147 other players (including a lethal final table) to take down the Championship. He picked up $229,002, along with his entry into the WSOP Main Event and the coveted diamond and gold ring. It's going to be tough task to draw the same size field this year, but the staff is still optimistic about the anticipated turnout.

Our live update team is on hand here at Harrah's Rincon to bring you all of the flops, turns, and rivers direct from the tournament floor. Play kicks off at high noon local time tomorrow (PDT), and we hope you'll join us right back here to catch all of the action!