This page is the hub for information on the WSOP Circuit at the Seminole Casino in Coconut Creek. Check back here for updated information and links on this ongoing tournament series.
Martin Ryan's return to Circuit dominance highlighted the first of two Circuit stops this season in Coconut Creek
Coconut Creek, FL (25 September 2018) - Martin Ryan qualified for the 2018 Global Casino Championship thanks to a dominant performance throughout the 2017-’18 Circuit season. He had to leave Council Bluffs early last April because of some health problems and was unable to take his seat in last month’s GCC because of those same issues.
He made his return to the felt at the first of two stops at the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek and picked up right where he left off. He cashed four times, made three final tables, won his sixth ring and took down the Casino Champion title to become one of the first players to guarantee themselves a spot in the 2019 GCC.
He finished 103rd in the $400 no-limit hold’em multi-flight re-entry event, won the $1,125 no-limit hold’em, finished fourth in the $250 no-limit hold’em turbo and fifth in the final event of the series, the $400 no-limit hold’em. He cashed for $26,920 throughout the series and showed why he is one of the Circuit’s most dominant players.
Ryan took one of the two automatic seats into the 2019 GCC that came out of the series. The other went to Dmitrii Perfilev, the winner of the $1,700 no-limit hold’em main event. While Perfilev spends most of his time playing cash games and running his businesses, he showed that he also has a ton of poker talent after taking down the 735-entry field and earning his first-ever live tournament victory and $222,691.
The Russian-born Perfilev has been playing poker since he found it on a video game at just four years old and is well-known in the South Florida cash game scene. He defeated Sheddy Siddiqui heads-up to join Ryan as the two automatic qualifiers from this stop.
Perfilev wrapped up the series with his win, but the series started off with John DePersio winning his second ring. Depersio won the $400 no-limit hold’em single-day event with 30-minute levels and won $19,649. Like Perfilev, DePersio is a business owner and a South Florida local. The victory gave him his second career ring after getting his first in a $1,125 no-limit hold’em at the Palm Beach Kennel Club in 2015.
Mark Stephen Edwards was joined Ryan and DePersio as the only other player in the series to add another Circuit ring to his collection. Edwards won a $500 no-limit hold’em in New Orleans in 2008 for his first one before adding a second one in South Florida. Edwards is a cash game grinder that plays $5/$10 no-limit hold’em in the local poker rooms. He defeated Francis Margaglione heads-up, who he plays with nearly every day in the cash games.
Not all the first-time ring winners were novices. Some were. And some had a respectable resume. None of them, however, could match up to what Jerry Wong has done over the years. The former November Niner followed up a monstrous summer at the Rio with a win in the $2,200 no-limit hold’em high roller.
The win comes on the heels of a summer in which he made final tables in the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha, the $10,000 razz and the $10,000 seven-card stud hi-lo championship events. He earned $48,300, but more importantly, he got a win under his belt and the proverbial monkey off his back.
Of the other first-time winners, Ryan Weiss took home the biggest payday. The attorney took down the $400 no-limit hold’em multi-flight re-entry event and earned $70,713 for his efforts. Like Ryan, Weiss was returning to the game, but he took time away from it after Black Friday to go to law school and dedicate his time to becoming an attorney. He realized he missed the game and came back with a bang, along with a Circuit ring.
Two local legends also got into the winner circle for the first time. Wally Maddah earned his 100th cash at a Seminole property by winning the $250 no-limit hold’em turbo event. Maddah, a Tampa native, earned $6,721 for his win in the 112-entry field. Matthew Zarcadoolas was born and raised in South Florida and is a regular in all the events that go on in the area. He won the $600 no-limit hold’em turbo and netted $12,436.
William Watson, Mitchell Lekarczyk, Cory Blum and Greg Baird round out the 12 ring winners at the stop.
Watson won a $400 no-limit hold’em just a month after coming up just short in the $600 no-limit hold’em at Cherokee, where he finished second for $28,980. The poker dealer from Kentucky picked up $6,805 for his first ring.
Lekarczyk came to the series as a stop on his road trip around the country. After quitting his job as an engineer, the Colorado native decided he was going to take a few months to travel, play poker and see some loved ones before starting his next job. He took down one of the bigger paydays of any of the preliminary events by topping the $400 no-limit hold’em monster stack field for $40,619. He plans on heading up the East Coast into New York before heading west and eventually back to Colorado to rejoin the workforce.
Blum took down the only non-hold’em event of the series, while Baird won the final event on the schedule. Blum won the $600 pot-limit Omaha event and Baird took down a $400 no-limit hold’em. Blum took home $11,394 and Baird left with $11,385.
There isn’t much of a break on the Circuit schedule. The online series is currently running for those players located in Nevada and New Jersey, while the Horseshoe Southern Indiana stop gets cards in the air in just two days.
Casino Championship Update
John DePersio started out the series with a sizable lead, Then Zo Karim overtook DePersio to sit atop the leaderboard throughout the middle of the series, but Martin Ryan ended up with the last laugh and the top spot of the Casino Championship leaderboard. Ryan wins the title thanks to four cashes, three final tables and his sixth ring. He gets one of the two automatic berths from this stop into the 2019 GCC.
Completed Events
Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold'em 1-Day - John DePersio defeats 243 entries for $19,649
Results | Winner Photo | Official Report
Event #2: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Multi-Flight Re-Entry- Ryan Weiss defeats 1,207 entries for $70,713
Results | Winner Photo | Official Report
Event #3: $1,125 No-Limit Hold'em - Martin Ryan defeats 57 entries for $21,375
Results | Winner Photo | Official Report
Event #4: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo Double Stack - Mark Stephen Edwards defeats 153 entries for $13,632
Results | Winner Photo | Official Report
Event #5: $400 No-Limit Hold'em - William Watson defeats 55 entries for $6,805
Results | Winner Photo | Official Report
Event #6: $400 No-Limit Hold'em Monster Stack - Mitchell Lekarczyk defeats 586 Entries for $40,619
Results | Winner Photo | Official Report
Event #7: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha - Cory Blum defeats 69 entries for $11,394
Results | Winner Photo | Official Report
Event #8: $600 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo - Matthew Zarcadoolas defeats 69 entries for $12,436
Results | Winner Photo | Official Report
Event #9: $2,200 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller - Jerry Wong defeats 69 entries for $48,300
Results | Winner Photo | Official Report
Event #10: $1,700 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event - Dmitrii Perfilev defeats 735 entries for $222,691
Results | Winner Photo | Official Report
Event #11: $250 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo - Wally Maddah defeats 112 entries for $6,721
Results | Winner Photo | Official Report
Event #12: $400 No-Limit Hold'em - Greg Baird defeats 115 entries for $11,385
Results | Winner Photo | Official Report
For the full schedule of events here at Coconut Creek or for more information on the Circuit, use the links below:
