New Orleans, LA – The most recent World Series of Poker Circuit tournament held at Harrah’s New Orleans won’t set any attendance records. Even though the overall numbers through the first 14 events are up slightly over last year, the tournament which just concluded attracted only 13 players. Of course, there’s a justifiable explanation for the low turnout. The buy-in was five-grand….as in five-thousand dollars.
In fact, this was the largest non-championship event ever held in the six-year history of the WSOP Circuit. While most gold ring tournaments are in the $300 to $1,000 range, organizers of the Harrah’s New Orleans event wanted to try out a big buy-in tournament with the hope it could ignite greater interest and participation in a wider range of buy-in events in the future.
The 13 pioneers of Pot-Limit Omaha each forked over $5,000 and played a one-day tournament, which paid only the top two spots. This was the 14th gold ring event of 19 on this year’s WSOP Circuit schedule at Harrah’s New Orleans.
Players agreed to a deal when play reached three-handed. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The official tournament winner was William Benton, from Houston, TX. His official payout amounted to $37,830 – which was not bad for what amounted to a ten-hour poker session. Benton was also presented with the coveted gold ring, awarded to all WSOP Circuit event winners. This was his first time to cash in a WSOP-related tournament, following two previous cashes at the Mid-South Classic two years ago.
The official runner up was Cameron New, from The Woodlands, TX. He had just one prior cash prior to this payout, which took place a few months ago in Las Vegas. Mr. New collected a nice consolation prize amounting to $25,220.
Video highlights of the day can be seen at:
http://www.youtube.com/wsopdotcomIt’s tough to predict if and when events of this size will be offered in the future. But one thing is for sure. Whether it’s bigger buy-in tournaments, shootouts, heads-up tournaments, mixed games, or run of the mill No-Limit Hold’em events, Harrah’s New Orleans has clearly demonstrated the willingness to take risks and try out new things. And for that, they should be applauded.