Planet Hollywood Las Vegas
Dates: November 14 – 27, 2018
Total Entries*: 2,978
Total Prize Pool*: $1,766,075
Main Event Winner: Travis Dorsey
Main Event 1st Place: $168,722
Casino Champion: Cosmin Joldis
*Includes all ring events
Travis Dorsey Wins Planet Hollywood Main Event
Dorsey will be joined by Casino Champion Cosmin Joldis at the 2019 Global Casino Championship.
Las Vegas (November 28, 2018) – The Planet Hollywood Circuit has come to an end in Las Vegas. The 14-event series drew 2,978 entries and awarded $1,766,075 in prize money. The largest prize won was by Main Event champion Travis Dorsey. Dorsey defeated the 518-player Main Event field to earn $168,722 and his third career WSOP Circuit ring. Remarkably, all three of Dorsey’s WSOP Circuit cashes have been victories. In addition, Dorsey receives a free entry to the 2019 Global Casino Championship for being a WSOP Circuit Main Event Champion.
Joining Dorsey at the 2019 Global Casino Championship will be Romania’s Cosmin Joldis. Joldis earned a free entry to the event for winning the series’ Casino Championship. The Casino Champion is the player who collects the most points over the course of the series. Joldis earned the title by earning 95 points for reaching three final tables, including winning Event #5: $600 No-Limit Hold’em Double Stack. Joldis earned $19,758 for his win and a series total of $26,541.
The race for the Casino Championship title came down to the final day of the series. Joldis started the day with the lead, but with four events finishing on the day, many points were still yet to be earned. The closest player and the one with the best chance to catch Joldis heading into the series’ final day was seven-time Circuit ring winner Josh Turner. Turner had 77.5 points after winning Event #4: $400 No-Limit Hold’em and finishing in 4th place in Event #8. Turner reached the money in the final event of the series and finished in 17th place, but that was well short of the 7th place finish he needed to pass Joldis. Others making it close at the end were two-time Circuit ring winner Paul Sokoloff and Kindah Sakkal. Both players would have passed Joldis with a victory in the final event, but they finished in 8th place and 7th place respectively to end Joldis’ sweat at the free seat bid.
The final day of the series featured four WSOP Circuit ring winners – Main Event winner Dorsey, the winner of Event #12: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Sean Yu, who collected his fourth career WSOP Circuit ring with the win, Event #14: $400 No-Limit Hold’em (One-Day) winner Dylan Wilkerson and the $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller winner, Nirath Rean. Rean defeated three-time WSOP Circuit ring winner Joseph Cheong heads-up for the high roller title and top prize of $58,802. It was Rean’s first career WSOP win. Cheong had to settle for the runner-up payday of $36,348.
The series featured multiple international winners in mostly American dominated fields, which is normal for most U.S. Circuit events. Non-American winners included Joldis from Romania, Event #7: $400 No-Limit Hold’em (One-Day) winner Maxim Befus, who is German and the Event #8: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo winner, Martijn Gerrits, who is originally from the Netherlands.
The World Series of Poker Circuit is over at Planet Hollywood, but is currently running across the country at Harrah’s Cherokee in western North Carolina. The Main Event for that series starts Friday, November 30. The Circuit fires back up on the west coast this weekend at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles for a 12-day series. The next time the World Series of Poker Circuit is back in Las Vegas is February 15, 2019 for the Rio Las Vegas stop.
OFFICIAL RING EVENTS
EVENT #1: $250 CASINO EMPLOYEES NLHE - KEVIN NGUYEN
EVENT #2: $400 NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM MULTI-FLIGHT – AUSTIN REILLY
EVENT #3: $400 NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM – KEVIN LOTT
EVENT #4: $400 NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM – JOSHUA TURNER
EVENT #5: $600 NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM DOUBLE STACK– COSMIN JOLDIS
EVENT #6: $400 POT-LIMIT OMAHA – KEVIN GERHART
EVENT #7: $400 NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM (ONE-DAY) – MAXIM BEFUS
EVENT #8: $400 NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM TURBO – MARTIJN GERRITS
EVENT #9: $400 NLHE MONSTER STACK – MICHAEL YOUNGMAN
EVENT #10: $250 NLHE SENIORS EVENT – PATRICK McLAUGHLIN
EVENT #11: $1700 NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM MAIN EVENT– TRAVIS DORSEY
EVENT #12: $400 NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM – SEAN YU
EVENT #13: $2,200 NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM HIGH ROLLER – NIRATH REAN
EVENT #14: $400 NO-LIMIT HOLD’EM (ONE-DAY) – DYLAN WILKERSON
All rings at Planet Hollywood are furnished by Jostens, the official ring supplier of the 2018-19 WSOP Circuit season.
For more information about the WSOP Circuit, follow us on Twitter at @WSOP or visit WSOP.com.
For additional information please contact: Isaac Hanson (WSOP Media Coordinator) at [email protected]
