Southern Comfort 100 Proof National Championship Day 1 | 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit Event - Harrah's New Orleans

If you’ve traveled the 2012-2013 World Series of Poker Circuit at all, you’ve no doubt crossed paths with Rex Clinkscales. The heavily tattooed Vegas pro has been playing tournaments for just over two years, and already he has established himself as one of the most formidable players on the Circuit with 30 cashes for $249,209 and a ring.

Clinkscales explained his start in the game in a recent interview with PokerNews:

“I made the decision and moved out to Las Vegas the summer of 2006 and started grinding away at cash games. I won't say the transition for me to move from Texas to Las Vegas was an easy one because being away from my daughter and family was very difficult, but I felt it in my heart that Vegas was were I needed to be. At first, when I got out to Vegas, things were rough. I didn’t have very much of a bankroll and before you knew it I got felted and was questioning my move to Vegas. Since my support system, my family, was back in Texas I went home to regroup. Before I knew it, I was back on the felt in Vegas again. This time I was a little more prepared. I didn’t play tournaments very much at all and thought they were too boring. Playing cash when I felt like it was ‘the nuts’ at the time. I didn’t have very good bankroll management so I was always just grinding to pay bills and expenses.”

Clinkscales managed to turn his game around and things started to go his way in 2012-2013, but despite all his early success, a coveted ring eluded Clinkscales all season long as he finished runner-up in both the 2011/2012 Harrah’s Rincon Event #1 $355 No-Limit Hold’em and 2012/2013 IP Biloxi Event #10 $365 No-Limit Hold’em for $13,504 and $8,460 respectively. He also had a third-place finish in the 2012/2013 Horseshoe Bossier City Event #10 $365 No-Limit Hold’em for $8,097.

“All I can do is just keep putting myself in a position to win, and soon enough I will,” Clinkscales told PokerNews back in April. “I plan on getting over that hump and winning multiple rings. I have been one card away and lost it on the river. If a few cards fell differently, I would have four rings right now. All though it does suck to not have a ring, I know my time will come, so I just got to keep playing my game and stay focused and not worry about the ring. As for the record for most WSOP Circuit final tables without a ring, it can be a little irritating at times, and obviously I get needled about it a lot by my friends, but I can guarantee, I will have my name off that list in the very near future.”

Indeed, Clinkscales’ prediction came true just two weeks later when he won the WSOP Circuit Harrah's Philadelphia Main Event for $121,097 and the long-awaited ring. Needless to say, it was a moment that justified the 30-year-old’s decision to turn pro.

“I have never been the type of guy to work a nine-to-five job. Clocking in and being micro managed day in and day out just wasn't appealing,” said Clinkscales, who has a daughter and is being cheered on by his mother, Bonnie Clinkscales. “I love to travel and experience new places and meet people from different walks of life. Poker gives me the ability to do all of that. It isn't the easiest of "jobs," but to me it's the most rewarding.”

Check out Clinkscales' PokerNews Player Profile and the recent interview he did as a part of the popular Circuit Grinder series.

Tags: Rex Clinkscales

To play at the World Series of Poker Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club stop you just need to be 18 years old with a valid ID. Here at Harrah’s New Orleans things are a bit different in that patrons must be 21 years old in order to play. With that said, imagine the anxiety felt by Sam Panzica, who was just 20 years old when he won the WSOP Circuit Palm Beach Kennel Club Casino Championship back in February and earned a seat into the National Championship. Fortunately for Panzica, who was born on May 7, 1992, he celebrated his 21st birthday just 15 days ago.

“I am pretty excited for this event,” Panzica told PokerNews just prior to the National Championship. “It should be a lot of fun because a lot of my friends have already qualified for the event. It always a great tourney with a big first place and its a freeroll so that’s pretty nice too.”

Raised in Saline, Michigan, which is just outside of Ann Arbor, Panzica attended Central Michigan for his freshman year before moving back home and attending community college. While he played poker during that time, he’d learned the game before he was even out of middle school.

“I have been playing poker for a while. I started off in around seventh grade me and a bunch of my friends would have sit and gos at each other’s houses,” Panzica explained. “I probably started taking it a little more seriously at the end of high school and freshman year at college. Then Black Friday happened and I had to play a lot more live and move out of the country to play online.”

Panzica’s live options were limited due to his age, but he managed to find places to play.

“I have played a few times at Turning Stone where I have done really well,” he said. “I have also played a lot in Florida. I have also gone out of the country a few times including PCA and EPT San Remo, and I have playing a bit more online as of lately too.”

In order to play online Panzica had to leave his home in Michigan and move abroad, first going to Vancouver before heading south to Mexico. “The decision to move out of the country has been great so far,” Panzica said with a smile, “I really like going to different cities and meeting new people.”

Back in January, Panzica traveled to the WSOP Circuit Choctaw Durant stop and ended up winning his first ring after defeating 279 players in Event #12 $580 No-Limit Hold’em. A month later, he went to the Palm Beach Kennel Club stop and ended up winning the Casino Championship after a fourth-place finish in the 4365 H.O.R.S.E. event, runner-up in a $365 No-Limit Hold’em tournament and 21st in the $1,675 Main Event.

“I would have to say winning the ring meant more because first off it always feels a lot better to win,” Panzica said when asked which accomplishment meant more to him. “In the Palm Beach series I had a lot of deep runs but I could never get the win, which was kind of annoying. The ring is also cool because my parents thought that it was a really cool thing to win. I also won more money for the ring!”

While Panzica’s attention will be focused on today’s National Championship, he’s already said he’ll be headed straight to Vegas after it’s over where he’ll share a house with a bunch of friends. “I will pretty much be playing all the no-limit events,” he said. “I’m pretty excited to be able to play a live tourney everyday during the WSOP.”

Tags: Sam Panzica