The World Series of Poker Circuit has announced its schedule and Horseshoe Cincinnati will host a March event. Also, Horseshoe Indiana locations, which certainly are drivable from most of Ohio, will host two events in October in southern and northern parts of the state. Once again, no circuit event for long suffering Cleveland players.
In Cincinnati, Jason Newman dialed things up a notch with a $500K Labor Day event.
“Excitement is already starting to build for our WSOPC event next March, so we decided to keep the momentum going with this tournament,” he said. “We also thought a $500K tournament would help spark some friendly and fun competition among the area’s best players.”
HOLLYWOOD TOLEDO: New manager Ken Lambert gave Toledo its first tournament series, hosting the Hollywood Poker Challenge in late August (after press time), which featured a $330 opening event with a $50K guarantee and a $1K main event. The series was player-friendly, offering many great satellite opportunities and had an appearance by poker icon Chris Moneymaker, who is the Pro Poker Ambassador for the Hollywood Poker Open. Look for a recap in our next issue.
The Hollywood Poker Open will host 2014-15 events at both Ohio locations (Columbus and Toledo). The HPO series continues to grow in strength and numbers throughout the region. Bill Bruce, tournament director for HPO, offers great structures and fee structures that are undoubtedly among the best in the business. Season 3 of the HPO is sure to deliver players exciting opportunities to play in first-class events in a range of buy-in levels. As always, expect to see Moneymaker on hand. Cash action at these events is good so even if you’re not a tournament player, there’s something for you in these events.
RIVERS: The PPO at the Rivers Casino will continue with increased vigor with an expected five events during the course of the year and a great list of monthly events in Pittsburgh. Manager Jim Tinney is continuing to build on this brand and the action is always good.
ESPN: Why did the sports giant ESPN come to Girard, Ohio? Thomas Sarra Jr., who finished 15th in this year’s WSOP main event, is going to be featured in the upcoming airing of the event. The former poker dealer had an amazing run and won nearly $450K, half of which went back to his 40-member league. Unlike many in that spot, he is all too happy to be giving each of those members more than $5K each.
— Dan Harkenrider hosts the Division of Poker and Chris Moneymaker radio shows. Email him at anteupdan@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @DivisionofPoker.
