Dongwoo "David" Ko just won his second Circuit Ring in about six months after taking down Event #1: Big 30 Stack tonight. His previous bracelet came at the end of last July in the UK after he won the Colossus at WSOPC Super Circuit London.

It was a bit of a rollercoaster for Ko tonight as his stack was up and down all throughout the final table. He was one of the shorter stacks to start the FT, then ran it up to more than 5 million at one point before he was coolered by Manvir Dhaliwal when he ran his pocket tens into the pocket aces for Dhaliwal.

That left Ko with barely a million but he managed to chip back up again to the lead after busting Curtis Singleton and Evan Thomas in short order. That wasn't the end of his ride though as runner-up Rob Bridger won a huge flip against him to send him to the bottom of the three-way table at that point.

Ko followed that up by taking the lead again after sending Dhaliwal to the rail in third and he never gave up the lead during heads up. The win tonight will push his Hendon Mob total to just shy of $100k, all of it since December of 2022.

After the win, Ko dedicated it to his mother. "This one is for my mother, her birthday is next week. She is my best friend, a proud Cancer survivor, and the biggest supporter of my poker life. Respect and love for her is bigger than the prize of this event."

Heads up was a fairly short affair tonight, lasting less than a level. In the final hand the money went in with Bridger in a huge lead with pocket kings against ten-eight for Ko, but Ko flopped a straight on . He had Bridger covered by a bit and it was all over.

On the final hand of the last level, they both limped preflop and Rob Bridger check-called for 250k on the flop. They both checked the turn, and Bridger led for 700k on the river. Ko called and Bridger showed for the missed flush draw while Ko took it down with jack-four.

David Ko and Manvir Dhaliwal just had a huge confrontation that left Dhaliwal with nearly nothing left. Both players had an ace, but Dhaliwal was dominated and couldn't find his card.

That left him with just a single 25k chip, but he managed to survive for a few hands with doubles, but it wasn't to be. In the final confrontation, he was in good with the best ace, but couldn't fade the lower kicker.

Rob Bridger is up to about 6 million now after he won a race against David Ko. Ko got it in with pocket tens but had to fio against the for Bridger. Bridger spiked his king on the flop and never looked back.

Evan Thomas was short after his kings were cracked by Curtis Singleton but he still managed to last one spot longer than his rival in that hand. I missed the action but Thomas hit the rail in 4th for $9,948.

Curtis Singleton couldn't last much longer after his double up as a couple of hands later he ran his pocket sixes into pocket tens for David Ko. There was no miracle six on the board and Singleton had to settle for 5th place tonight.

Curtis Singleton was the short stack when Evan Thomas raised to 1 million from the button. Singleton called with but ran into the pocket kings for Thomas.

Singleton has been using a scale model of a Borg cube as his card protector, engaging the Borg every time he shoves his chips. It worked well for him this time as the ace came on the flop to crack Thomas' kings.

It was a huge cooler between Manvir Dhaliwal and David Ko in the final hand of the last level. Ko raised the button with pocket tens and called when Dhaliwal shoved the big blind.

Ko was looking for a ten against the aces for Dhaliwal, but it never came and he is down to just over 1 million now while Dhaliwal has taken the lead with more than 5 million.

They are down to 5 players left now after Bruce Takedo ended his run in 6th place. He'd been short for the whole final table but managed to ladder up several spots before he finally lost a race to David Ko. Takedo shoved and Ko called it off with the big stack.

Bruce Takedo:
David Ko:

The board of missed both players and Ko's pair held for the win.

Curtis Singleton just got a double through David Ko in the final hand of Level 28. Ko raised to 200k from the cutoff and Singleton called from the big blind. The flop came and Singleton checked to Ko who bet 110k. Singleton came over the top for a shove and sent Ko into the tank.

He finally made the call and Singleton was ahead with against . The turn looked to counterfeit Singleton, but he spiked another on the river to pull it back out.

They are down to 6 players left now after Preston Stevenson hit the rail in 6th place. I missed the action but Stevenson's chips went to the stack of David Ko, who now looks to the the chip leader.

Evan Thomas just grabbed a double through David Ko. Ko raised the button with a stack of blue chips, enough to put both blinds all in with a call. Evan Thomas snap-called from the small as Manvir Dhaliwal got out of the way from the big.

Thomas was best with against and the ace held on a board of .

Bruce Takeda has been on the short stack for a while, but he just got his money in from the small blind after action folded to him. Preston Stevenson called the 225k shove from the big, but his couldn't get there against the for Takeda on a board of .

Alex Tran hit the rail in 8th place to bring the final table down to 7 left on break. Rob Bridger is leading with more than 5 million while Preston Stevenson and David Ko are in second and third with about half as much.

Things are moving quickly at the final table. As I was trying to get pictures and stacks, Jason Tran and Mark Mendoza busted to bring the game down to 8 left. I'll get pictures and final table names up ASAP.

They are now down to 10 players on the final table after the exits of Garry Smith and Derek Letourneau. I'll grab some chips and names for the FT shortly.

Julian Yasis is near felted now with only about 50k left after his tens ran into king-nine for Preston Stevenson. Stevenson shoved early, and Yasin tank-called it off with the pair. A king on the flop sent Stevenson to the lead and Yasin couldn't find any other help.

Previous chip leader Luke Waldner is now out and Rob Bridger was the recipient. Bridger is now sitting on close to 3 million chips.

They are down to 18 players now on the final two tables. Wallace Aebli too the final payout of $1,111 while Deven Lane, Anthony Casten, and Ian "Tang Jooce" Tang all pocketed $1,293. Full details under the payouts tab.

The final three tables have moved to the Chrome room to finish out the night alongside the end of the satellite game. They are now down to 22 players left after recent exits by players like Toby Wu, Jordan Johnstone, and Jayvee Lumahan.

Here is a look at the five biggest stacks I spotted on the break.

The players are now on a break following Level 20 with 31 players left. Among the recent busts were Johnny Dalphond and Glen Taker. Full payouts under the Payouts tab.

They are down to the final four tables now with 35 players remaining. Haven Taylor was the last player to collect $665 while Julius Roque was the first to collect $713 for 36th place.

There was a just a huge hand that sent Vincent Chahley to the rail in 47th place. There were three players all in with Chahley holding the best of it with jacks against deuces for Dan Bong and big slick for Evan Thomas.

Thomas covered the lot and an ace in the window looked good for him to jump into the lead but the flop also contained a deuce for a set for Bong. The ace on the turn gave Bong a boat and the river bricked for Thomas who had to pay off 86k to Bong while Chahley hit the cage.

They are down to 49 players left now with about half of the $631 payout level complete as Level 18 ends. See the Payouts tab for a full look at the cashes so far.

They are down to 53 players now with about 15 minutes left in Level 18 and payouts of $600 and $610 are now complete with players like Trent Hopper, Harold Hines, Thomas Taylor, and Dale Campbell cashing out for $610 and Bicholas Peterson taking the first payout of $631 for 54th place.

Among the early busts tonight were Trevor Simpson, Brendan Ellis, and Kyle Keegan for a $600 min-cash, while Ben Locker was the first player out for a small pay jump to $610.

They are now in the money in Event #1 with 69 players left. Toms Varghese was the unfortunate bubble tonight when his queens ran into kings and couldn't find any help.

They are down to 70 players left now, one off the money, and the clock is now paused.  They'll take 2 minutes off the clock for every hand now until the next elimination, after which the normal clock will be restarted.

They are now on the soft bubble with 71 players left in action and 69 paid. They'll go hand-for-hand after the next elimination. There are now about 5 minutes left in Level 16.

Derek Letourneau, Chip Leader of E1 after Dinner

There was an extra bust in the final hands before dinner to bring the field down to 78 left, 9 players off the money now. Those busts will likely come shortly after dinner.

After a wander around the room it looks like the chip leader has more than 500k right now, and there are a few stacks in the 400k range as well. However, as no one is in their seats right now, I'm not sure who belongs to what stack, so I'll add some names to those numbers when they return from dinner.

The final few hands before dinner are finishing and there are 79 players left in the action as the dinner break begins now. That puts the 10 off the money when they return to the felt in about 40 minutes from now.

I'll have a quick look around the room on the dinner break and try to find a few of the bigger stacks.

The field is down to 86 players left in action now with just under 15 minutes left until the dinner break. With 69 paid, they are now 17 players off the money so it looks like they'll be very close when they head for dinner.

Level 15 has just begun and they are down to 99 players left on the board. They'll head for dinner in just over 20 minutes.

There are just under 10 minutes to play in Level 14 and the field is now down to about 108 players left. They are updating the numbers with each table break, so, likely, there are fewer than 108 players left with the next update at 99. They will be going on dinner after the end of the next level, and it still looks like the money bubble will burst shortly after that.

The tables are breaking quickly now with Level 14 just beginning. The remaining field is now down to 117 left with two levels to go before dinner. It looks likely that the money bubble will break shortly after they return from the dinner break following Level 15.

The numbers are official now and there were 454 entries for today's game for a total prize pool of nearly $150k. That's slightly off of last year's numbers but still a solid turnout for the opening day.

First place tonight is set to pocket $29,614 and there is more than $95k reserved for the final nine players with 69 players getting a payday of some kind.. See the Payouts tab for a full look at tonight's money.

Just as I finished the previous post, the winner of last year's opening event, Joon Park, hit the exit. That means there will be no repeat winner tonight, but both of the other two finalists still look to be fighting for prizes.

With the registration desk now closed, the numbers are dropping pretty quickly today. The field is now down to 171 players left in action and tables are breaking fairly quickly.

At the moment, it looks like all three of last year's finalists, Joon Park, Kevin Martin, and Matt Murray, are still in the mix for this year's top prize, though we are still waiting on confirmation of what, exactly, that top prize will be.

The prizes aren't posted yet but the board has just dropped to 454 entries with about 2 minutes to go in Level 11. That shouldn't change the number of payouts, but will have a small impact on the expected prize pool.

The players are now back in their seats for the start of Level 11, and entries for Event #1 are now closed. The final unofficial tally came to 455 entries for a prize pool of $142,643 if the numbers hold. I'll confirm these numbers when the payouts are posted but it looks like 68 players will be sharing in the prizes later tonight.

Level 10 has just finished and the players are now on a 20-minute break while chips are coloured up. Once they return to the felt entries will be closed for today's game.

The field is up to almost 450 entries now with prizes of nearly $140k. Ian Tang looks to be one of the chip leaders with 340k.

The prize pool is now over $130k with 423 entries on the board to start Level 10. They need just under 80 entries before the end of the break following this level to hit last year's opening day numbers, so it looks like we might fall a little short today, but there's still time for a last-minute rush on the reg-desk.

The field has just capped 400 entries with 401 on the board now and 254 players left in the game (though I expect that number isn't fully accurate ATM). That puts the prizes at $125,714 right now with about an hour left to enter the game. 

They are still about 100 entries off of last year's total, so it's going to be a race to the finish to see if this year matches or beats last years opening game.

The prizes are now approaching $125k with 394 entries on the board to start Level 9. There are now two more levels of entry before the field is set, which means there is just over an hour left to enter. Among the other players I spotted on my last tour of the room were Brendan Wolovick, Johnny Gagelonia, Thomas Taylor, and Tyler Thomas.

I've just had another wander around the room to see if I could spot a few more players I haven't had a chance to mention yet today, and indeed, among the players out there are Dylan Descheneaux, Dylan Payne, Raghav Sharma, Alicia Dodds, Ross Wilson, Trent Hopper, Toms Varghese, and a rare pre-Main Event appearance from Johnny "WowWow" Yu who is here for the full series this time as opposed to his usual MO of showing up just for the Main Event.

Level 8 has just begun with 370 entries on the board now for prizes of just shy of $116k. There are now three levels of entry remaining which means players have around 90 minutes left to get into today's game.

The three finalists from last year's opening event are now in the mix today. 3rd place Matt Murray has been grinding for a while now, but both GGPoker streamer and reality TV star Kevin Martin (2nd) and Joon Park (1st) have both just taken their seats within minutes of each other.

The field is nearing 350 entries now as Level 7 begins with prizes closing in on $110k. Among the players I spotted since the break is Mike Kim, who has just arrived from Vancouver and is in the mix. Along with Kim, Karen Brown, Karim Chatur, Nicholas Lee, Haven Taylor, and Kirk Nilson have also been spotted in the field today.

Matt Murray was 3rd in last year's opening Big 30 Stack, behind Kevin Martin and Joon Park. So far, Park has yet to make an appearance for this game, but Martin has been spotted in the building, though he hasn't bought into the game yet.

Murray is still playing roughly his starting stack at the moment, but the day is still young, and recent history at WSOP-C Calgary shows he has every chance of a repeat final table appearance.

Level 6 is just beginning and while the players were on break there were some extra entries to bring the field to 320 and put the prizes over $100k now. 

Level 5 has just finished and the players are off for their first break of the day.  The prizes are just shy of $100k now with 309 total entries so far. Among them are Jerry Li, back in town from six months back home in China, as well as Mike Lonigro, Matt Kwong, Weston Pring, and Mal Hagan.

The field has now capped 300 entries before the first break of the day with prizes of ~$95k. They haven't yet had to spill over to the Chrome Room for today's event, but the Sundance room is filling up fast.

Leve 5 is just starting with a field of over 290 entries and prizes of about $91k. They'll go for their first break of the day following this level, then return for five more levels of poker before the end of entries after the break following Level 10.

They are still more than 10 minutes away from the first break of the day now as Leve 4 ticks down. The field is now up to 273 entries for prizes of just over $85k and among the other players I've spotted battling for their share of it are Ryan "Rybo" Smith, Richard Behl, Dale "Soupy" Campbell, Johnny Dalphond, Dale Foyle, and Michael Malm.

Level 4 has just begun with more than 260 entries on the board. The prizes are now up to more than $80k and among the recent players I've spotted in the game are John Foley, Toby Wu, James Glass, Praba Siva, and DJ Sharma, who may well still be recovering from his epic birthday party and DJSOP games this past weekend.

It's a big field so far today with 250 entries on the board now and just under 10 minutes to play in Level 3. There are still 7 levels of entry after this one so there are still more than 3 hours left to get into the game.

Last year's field saw just over 500 total entries, so with 250 in the game already, it looks like a decent bet for Event #1 to beat last year's numbers. It remains to be seen how big today will get, but it seems almost certain they'll be playing for in the neighbourhood of $150k or more.

Level 3 has just begun and there are still almost 4 hours left to get into the game. The field is up to 240 entries now for prizes of more than $75k.

Among the other players I've spotted so far today are Fred Werezak, Shane Brotherwood, Anthoy Casten, Matt Murray (who arrived straight off his flight from Vancouver), Evan Thomas, and Daniel Lefebvre, who may just be biding his time until the High Roller next week, as he's been crushing local High Roller games lately.

Murray was third last year in this event, so he'll be looking to add a couple of places to that result here today. So far, I haven't seen either winner Joon Park, or runner-up Kevin Martin yet today, so Murray is the top-dog so far from last year's results.

Level 2 has just begun and the field is already over 200 entries. They are almost up to 210 now with prizes of more than $65k already. Among the other players I've spotted so far today are Jayvee Lumahan, Juss Viet, Jody Lewchuk, Annie Li, Shannon Lazorko, Cliff Green, Rob Bridger, and Benn Locker.

Level 1 has barely begun and the field is already almost 160 entries for prizes of just shy of $50k. The numbers are still growing fast with short lines at the reg-desk.

It's worth noting that while there have been lines at the desk, they've been very minor so far, with no more than ~30 or so waiting at any given time. Players who hit the desk now should get a seat fairly quickly.

Among the newer entries I've seen were Trevor Smith, Don Fujita, Laurence Louie, Rogelio "Ogie" Orian, and Julius Roque.

The opening event for 2024 WSOP-C Calgary is about to get underway. They are less than 15 minutes from cards in the air and the field is already flirting with 150 entries to start the day. 

While there's been no actual poker action yet this series, there are players here for sure. In my pre-game evening last night, I had a few chats with regulars like Jeff "Ironman" Charlebois, Eddie Seagris, Deven Lane, Bash Ramahi, Paul Sokoloff, Travis Kruger, David Thompson, and Jeff Saunders among many others.

Event #1: $400 Big 30 Stack
Jan 10, 11 am
Start Stack: 30k
Blinds: 25 Minutes
Entries: 10 Levels (~3:40 pm)

It's time for the 3rd annual edition of WSOP Circuit Calgary running from January 10 through Jan 22. The first shot at a 2024 Calgary Ring comes in the Big 30 Stack which kicks off at 11 am on Jan 10.

Players sit down with 30k in chips for their $400 buy-in ($330 + $70) and entries will be open for 10 levels of poker. Including breaks, that should put the final chance to enter Event #1 at about 3:40 pm and players will take a 45-minute dinner break following Level 15 at about 5:45 - 6:340 pm.

Last year, Joon Park burst onto the local poker scene with a win in this opening event for his first career ring. He had to face down tough competition from GGPoker streamer and reality TV star Kevin Martin heads-up with BC's Matt Murrey booking the third-place finish.

This is a one-day event so a winner will be decided before anyone goes to bed, so expect this one to be a late finish.