2025 WSOPC Calgary Oct – Event #1: $400 Big 30 Stack NLH

It was a pretty wild heads-up, with chips flying around liberally. Both players had the lead at various times, with a chance to win it, but Josh Molnar had the most chances and finally capitalized.

Jacob Parent started short going into heads up, but he scored a few quick doubles to get into the lead. Molnar then chipped back close to even before the big confrontation. It all went in preflop with ace-queen for Parent and ace-ten for Molnar. Molnar was behind initially, but found a ten on the flop and held on a board of 3♥9♣10♦8♥9♦.

This was Molnar’s first Circuit Ring, and just as a reminder, all winners in this series also get a free Ticket to Paradise in the Bahamas in 2026.

They limped to the A♠3♦5♦ flop. Josh Molnar checked, then raised to 500k when Jacob Parent bet 125k.

Molnar led for 700k on the 9♥ turn, and Parent called to see 6♦ on the river. Molnar checked, then snap called when Parent shoved. Molnar flopped the wheel with four-deuce against a five for Parent. That left Parent with 630k.

Parent then doubled in the next two hands to get back to about 2 million.

The board was out reading Q♣8♠4♦A♣6♣. After a check from Josh Molnar, Jacob Parent bet 750k. Molnar tanked for a bit, but eventually called. He hit a four on the flop, while Parent was on a bluff with five-deuce.

Jacob Parent is right back in it, now with the lead. He just doubled again to more than 7 million after his sevens held against ace-five for Josh Molnar on a board of Q♦2♣10♠J♦9♥.

Jacob Parent shoved from the button, and Josh Molnar called it off. Parent had fives against ace-three for Molnar. Molnar turned a spade draw and rivered an ace, but Parent had already flopped a set of fives on a board of 5♠3♠7♦4♠A♥.

Parent doubled his stack of 1.48 million, so he’s now playing more than 3 million, but still has a ways to go to catch up to Molnar.

I had to leave the room for a few minutes to use the washroom, and when I returned, they were down to heads up. Josh Molnar is the leader now, as it looks like he acquired Shafizadeh’s big stack, and he’s playing 9.7 million to about 1.6 million for Jacob Parent.

Place	Player	Prize
3	Mohsen Shafizadeh	$11,972
4	Jonathan Kozel	$8,339
5	Lee Clark	$5,934

Lee Clark just grabbed a double through Jonathan Kozel. Clark had ace-king into ace-four, and he hit his king to hold for the win.

Shortly after, Kozel got the remainder of his stack in with ace-queen against nine-seven for Josh Molnar. Molnar flopped it with eight-jack-ten, but after the ten paired on the turn, Kozel found a king on the river to complete his Broadway and stay alive.

Mohsen Shafizadeh is running hot tonight. He sent Jeremy Skinner home earlier in the evening with king-queen, and he just cracked the aces of Joseph Cosco to send him home in 6th place, with queen-jack. Cosco shoved his aces, and Shafizadeh called it off, hitting two queens with two kings on board for the boat.

Allen Shen shoved ace-eight, and Josh Molnar called with more and ace-nine. Molnar held for the win to send Shen home in 7th place tonight.

Jeremy Skinner shoved his small blind, and Mohsen Shafizadeh called from the big with the monster stack. Shafizadeh had K♥Q♥ against A♠2♥, and he hit a queen on the flop of 4♥Q♣7♣7♠3♦.

“At least I got it in good,” Skinner said as he got up. “That’s all I can ask for.”

Mohsen Shafizadeh is the big leader right now with more than 4.5 million, and the next biggest stack at under 2 million.

The game is now eight-handed after Gregory Vaderford busted out in 9th place tonight.

Shawn “The Cannon” Buchanan was the first player off the final table tonight. He shoved just over 200k from late position, and Lee Clark called from the small blind. Buchanan was on suited connectors with eight-seven of spades, while Clark had pocket sevens. Buchanan turned a gutshot draw, but ultimately couldn’t crack the pair and hit the rail for 10th place tonight.

They are down to the 10-handed final table now after the exits of Vikram Gill and Maher al Mouselly. The players are on a 10-minute break before the final table convenes.

Recent Busts

Place	Player	Prize
11	Maher Almouselly	$1,515
12	Vikram Gill	$1,238

Final Table Players

I arrived at the table with action on the turn and the board reading 5♦A♥6♣10♥. Josh Molnar bet 200k into a pot with 5 blues and a bunch of greens in it.

Maher al Mouselly called to the 5♥ river, where, after a check from Molnar, he bet 520k. Molnar hit the tabk for almost a minute before he called.

“Good call,” said al Moselly. “I have a ten.” he showed queen-ten of hearts, but Molnar showed ace-nine off for top pair and the win.

They are down to 12 players left, 2 off the ten-handed final table.

Place	Player	Prize
13	Skyler Edgar	$1,238
14	John Nielsen	$1,037
15	Zeyu Huang	$1,037
16	Oleksandr Pugach	$1,037
17	Alex Liu	$1,037
18	Peter Vyrobik	$891

There was just a huge hand on Table 57 with four all-ins. Joseph Cosco had pocket aces against queen-jack for Skyler Edgar, and pocket tens for both Zeyu Huang and John Nielsen.

Cosco flopped a set of aces, while Edgar hit a jack to cap the two pairs of tens. Cosco won the main pot for a huge quadruple up, by Edgar won the side pot with 45k for a triple to stay alive.

In the next hand, Peter Vyrobik busted to bring the field to 17 while taking the final payout of $891.

Gregory Vanderford raised big to 130k, and Joshua Molnar called from the big blind. Molnar check-shoved for 505k on the [invalid notations] for top pair, but more importantly, a draw to hearts. The turn bricked, but when the board completed 6♠4♥, Molnar’s hearts were on top.

Meanwhile, they are down to the final two tables with 18 left – see below for the recent busts.

Place	Player	Prize
19	Ruby Mcdonald	$891
20	Raghav Sharma	$891
21	Bobby Jones	$891

The field is down to 21 players left with about 15 minutes to play in Level 22. Below is a look at cashes since my last update, with the full list under the Payouts tab.

Place	Player	Prize
22	Timothy Bignell	$891
23	Jeremy Graham	$891
24	Stephen O’Bertos	$891
25	Mike Letal	$891
26	Jack Dick	$891
27	Graham Lupton	$787

Below is a look at the final 24 players in action tonight.

John Nielsen raised the button to 45k, then called off with more when Jeremy Graham shoved his big blind for 105k. It was a not-so-classic race between A♦9♥ for Graham against Q♠J♠ for Nielsen. Graham hit his ace and held for the win.

At the same table is Canadian pro and WSOP bracelet winner Shawn “The Cannon” Buchanan playing 580k.

Allen Shen limped the small blind, and Mike Letal checked in the big. Shen check-called for 25k on the 4♦6♣K♥ flop, then led for 20k on the A♦ turn.

After Letal called, Shen slid out 300k worth of greens on the [invalid notations] river, and Letal quickly mucked his hand.

Meanwhile, the field is down to the final three tables now; see below for the recent busts, with full prizes so far under the Payouts Tab.

Place	Player	Prize
28	Youssef Hmama	$787
29	Patricia Kananda	$787
30	Dwayne Reid	$787
31	Tyler Bourassa	$787
32	Oleksandr Lobur	$787
33	Tyler Dorion	$787
34	Ryan Cairns	$787
35	Chris Duffy	$787

They are down to 29 remaining, and Skyler Edgar is the leader with more than 900k. Mohsen Shafizadeh is second with 860k, and Greg Vanderford is 3rd with just over 700k.

Level 17 has seen a lot of players hit the rail, and I’ve barely been able to keep up. The field is down to 35 players remaining now, and there’s a long list of recent busts below, with the full prizes under the Payouts tab.

Place	Player	Prize
36	Glenn Slater	$749
37	Keith Weideman	$749
38	Kam Lee	$749
39	Robert Cobreil	$749
40	Dave Howat	$749
41	Dylan Vaughan	$749
42	Mathiraj Sabanathan	$749
43	Mike Leah	$749
44	Anthony Casten	$749
45	Preston Stevenson	$749
46	Baasandorj Batdorj	$749
47	Alan Zhu	$749
48	Fred Werezak	$749
49	Paul Sokoloff	$749
50	Scott Longstaff	$749
51	Tyler Kadachuk	$749
52	Colten Yamagishi	$749

Once the bubble burst, the action picked up again. The bubble took almost 10 hands to complete, but within a couple of minutes after the bubble, they lost 4 players.

Recent busts will be posted individually in each post, with the full list under the Payouts tab.

Place	Player	Prize
53	Chris Klementis	$749
54	Adrian Chan	$749
55	Austin Alfke	$749
56	Jed Derkaoui	$749

They are in the money in the opening event now after Ryan Simpson was the bubble. He raised to 20k from his button, and Dwayne Reid called on the big blind. The flop was 10♣3♣5♦ and Reid checked.

Simpson shoved 49k, and Reid called it off. He hit the ten with 10♦6♥ and that was ahead of the pocket nines for Simpson. There was no help for the nines on the Q♦A♥ runout, and Simpson bubbled the game tonight.

Event #1 is on the bubble now with 57 players left. The clock is paused and they’ll play hand-for-hand with two minutes coming off the clock manually for each hand played until the next elimination puts the field in the money.

They are down to 63 left, and have just broken down to the final 7 tables. That will be the last table break before they hit the money with 56 players left.

5 minutes remain in Level 16, so it looks like the bubble play will start sometime in Level 17.

In the final hand before the break on Table 55, Vikram Gill limped in from the middle. He got one caller from late position, as well as both blinds.

The flop was 4♠4♦6♥, and it checked to Gill, who fired 12k. It folded around to Tyler Kadachuk in the big blind, and he check-shoved for 50k exactly. Gill didn’t take too long to think before he pushed his hand to the muck and headed out for the break.

They are now 16 eliminations off the money with 72 players left.

Lorne Gaetz opened to 13k from the hijack before Keith Weideman shoved the small blind for 87k. After some time in the tank, Gaetz called it off with A♣2♣, but he was up against it, as Weideman had A♠J♥. The board of 7♥J♣4♣7♠K♣ just improved Weideman, and Gaetz gave up the double.

They are less than 30 off the money now with 85 players left. There are 10 minutes left in Level 14, with the next break to follow Level 15.

Baasandorj Batdorj is the leader now with 450k, while Maher al Mouselly has 350k. Stephen O’Bertos, Tyler Bourassa, and Dave Howat round out the top-five counts right now.

The final field numbers are confirmed at 371 entries, for prizes of $122,430. That beats last year’s May & Aug numbers, but still falls a bit short of this year’s January numbers.

The winner later tonight can expect to pocket $26,288, with 3 players scoring five figures. See below for a look at the top 10 prizes, and the full prizes will be loaded under the Payouts tab shortly.

It looks like Syler Edgar is the chip leader right now with 301k in front of him. I am using the WSOP.com app to look at the numbers, as Deerfoot Inn & Casino has the new system in place for the first time in this series. That means I should be able to keep a better tab on chips and players in these events, depending on how often the app is updated. Players should also grab the app for their phones (Android and iOS versions are in the appropriate app store) as players can see live tournament data from their phones.

Edgar is the only player in the 300k range, with Baasandorj Batdorj in second with 191k. Pavel Krumer, Randall Alwood, and Rodney Poirier round out the top five counts with 150-180k.

With a bit of a rush on registration right at the end of the break, the final field for Event #1: Big 30 Stack looks to be 371 entries. That number still needs confirmation from the casino staff before it’s official, but if it holds, it should mean 56 players sharing in $122,430 later tonight.

Before the game, Deerfoot staff estimated a field of 363 for this opening event. With less than 5 minutes remaining in entries, the field is now at 363, for prizes just shy of $120k.

That’s a solid start for the series, and bodes well for the final numbers. That puts this event about 90 entries behind January’s total, but it puts the game bang on both May and Aug, which both saw 363 entries as well.

Level 10 has just begun, and entries will be closed when they sit down for Level 11 in just over 30 minutes. The prizes are now just shy of $115k with 347 entries on the board, so a final field of 350+ looks like a lock.

The field is now just shy of $110k in prizes with 333 entries on the board. This won’t be a complete list, but among the players I’ve spotted in the field today are Thomas Taylor, Alex Liu, Nicholas Teeuwen, Terry Langdon, Clair Leclerc, Shane Brotherwood, Fred Werezak, Avery Aloneissi, Dave Howat, Mike Leah, Jordan Banfield, and Chris Klimentis.

The action on the opening event for WSOP-C Calgary October is already over $100k in prizes. There are 319 entries on the board with about 30 minutes left in open entry. That puts the prizes at $105k and climbing, and it seems likely the final prizes for this one will be flirting with $120k or more.

Event #1: $400 Big 30 Stack NLH ($330 + $70)

The World Series of Poker Circuit is back in Calgary, with a familiar opening event, but a brand new starting date. The WSOP-C traditionally kicks off with the Big 30 Stack, and this year is no different, despite the different season.

The action for Event #1 kicks off at 11 AM, and there are 10 levels of entries. With levels at 25 minutes, that puts the last chance to enter at about 3:50 PM. Players get 30k to start the day in the Big 30 Stack.

In January of this year, Antoine Saddleback was the player to take down this opening event. He defeated Jacon Parent heads up for $28,680, over a field of 455 entries and prizes of $150,150.

This should be my main focus for the day, but expect me to be late to the floor. It’s going to be a long day to start a long two weeks.

It was a pretty wild heads-up, with chips flying around liberally. Both players had the lead at various times, with a chance to win it, but Josh Molnar had the most chances and finally capitalized.

Jacob Parent started short going into heads up, but he scored a few quick doubles to get into the lead. Molnar then chipped back close to even before the big confrontation. It all went in preflop with ace-queen for Parent and ace-ten for Molnar. Molnar was behind initially, but found a ten on the flop and held on a board of 3♥9♣10♦8♥9♦.

This was Molnar’s first Circuit Ring, and just as a reminder, all winners in this series also get a free Ticket to Paradise in the Bahamas in 2026.

They limped to the A♠3♦5♦ flop. Josh Molnar checked, then raised to 500k when Jacob Parent bet 125k.

Molnar led for 700k on the 9♥ turn, and Parent called to see 6♦ on the river. Molnar checked, then snap called when Parent shoved. Molnar flopped the wheel with four-deuce against a five for Parent. That left Parent with 630k.

Parent then doubled in the next two hands to get back to about 2 million.

The board was out reading Q♣8♠4♦A♣6♣. After a check from Josh Molnar, Jacob Parent bet 750k. Molnar tanked for a bit, but eventually called. He hit a four on the flop, while Parent was on a bluff with five-deuce.

Jacob Parent is right back in it, now with the lead. He just doubled again to more than 7 million after his sevens held against ace-five for Josh Molnar on a board of Q♦2♣10♠J♦9♥.

Jacob Parent shoved from the button, and Josh Molnar called it off. Parent had fives against ace-three for Molnar. Molnar turned a spade draw and rivered an ace, but Parent had already flopped a set of fives on a board of 5♠3♠7♦4♠A♥.

Parent doubled his stack of 1.48 million, so he’s now playing more than 3 million, but still has a ways to go to catch up to Molnar.

I had to leave the room for a few minutes to use the washroom, and when I returned, they were down to heads up. Josh Molnar is the leader now, as it looks like he acquired Shafizadeh’s big stack, and he’s playing 9.7 million to about 1.6 million for Jacob Parent.

Place	Player	Prize
3	Mohsen Shafizadeh	$11,972
4	Jonathan Kozel	$8,339
5	Lee Clark	$5,934

Lee Clark just grabbed a double through Jonathan Kozel. Clark had ace-king into ace-four, and he hit his king to hold for the win.

Shortly after, Kozel got the remainder of his stack in with ace-queen against nine-seven for Josh Molnar. Molnar flopped it with eight-jack-ten, but after the ten paired on the turn, Kozel found a king on the river to complete his Broadway and stay alive.

Mohsen Shafizadeh is running hot tonight. He sent Jeremy Skinner home earlier in the evening with king-queen, and he just cracked the aces of Joseph Cosco to send him home in 6th place, with queen-jack. Cosco shoved his aces, and Shafizadeh called it off, hitting two queens with two kings on board for the boat.

Allen Shen shoved ace-eight, and Josh Molnar called with more and ace-nine. Molnar held for the win to send Shen home in 7th place tonight.

Jeremy Skinner shoved his small blind, and Mohsen Shafizadeh called from the big with the monster stack. Shafizadeh had K♥Q♥ against A♠2♥, and he hit a queen on the flop of 4♥Q♣7♣7♠3♦.

“At least I got it in good,” Skinner said as he got up. “That’s all I can ask for.”

Mohsen Shafizadeh is the big leader right now with more than 4.5 million, and the next biggest stack at under 2 million.

The game is now eight-handed after Gregory Vaderford busted out in 9th place tonight.

Shawn “The Cannon” Buchanan was the first player off the final table tonight. He shoved just over 200k from late position, and Lee Clark called from the small blind. Buchanan was on suited connectors with eight-seven of spades, while Clark had pocket sevens. Buchanan turned a gutshot draw, but ultimately couldn’t crack the pair and hit the rail for 10th place tonight.

They are down to the 10-handed final table now after the exits of Vikram Gill and Maher al Mouselly. The players are on a 10-minute break before the final table convenes.

Recent Busts

Place	Player	Prize
11	Maher Almouselly	$1,515
12	Vikram Gill	$1,238

Final Table Players

I arrived at the table with action on the turn and the board reading 5♦A♥6♣10♥. Josh Molnar bet 200k into a pot with 5 blues and a bunch of greens in it.

Maher al Mouselly called to the 5♥ river, where, after a check from Molnar, he bet 520k. Molnar hit the tabk for almost a minute before he called.

“Good call,” said al Moselly. “I have a ten.” he showed queen-ten of hearts, but Molnar showed ace-nine off for top pair and the win.

They are down to 12 players left, 2 off the ten-handed final table.

Place	Player	Prize
13	Skyler Edgar	$1,238
14	John Nielsen	$1,037
15	Zeyu Huang	$1,037
16	Oleksandr Pugach	$1,037
17	Alex Liu	$1,037
18	Peter Vyrobik	$891

There was just a huge hand on Table 57 with four all-ins. Joseph Cosco had pocket aces against queen-jack for Skyler Edgar, and pocket tens for both Zeyu Huang and John Nielsen.

Cosco flopped a set of aces, while Edgar hit a jack to cap the two pairs of tens. Cosco won the main pot for a huge quadruple up, by Edgar won the side pot with 45k for a triple to stay alive.

In the next hand, Peter Vyrobik busted to bring the field to 17 while taking the final payout of $891.

Gregory Vanderford raised big to 130k, and Joshua Molnar called from the big blind. Molnar check-shoved for 505k on the [invalid notations] for top pair, but more importantly, a draw to hearts. The turn bricked, but when the board completed 6♠4♥, Molnar’s hearts were on top.

Meanwhile, they are down to the final two tables with 18 left – see below for the recent busts.

Place	Player	Prize
19	Ruby Mcdonald	$891
20	Raghav Sharma	$891
21	Bobby Jones	$891

The field is down to 21 players left with about 15 minutes to play in Level 22. Below is a look at cashes since my last update, with the full list under the Payouts tab.

Place	Player	Prize
22	Timothy Bignell	$891
23	Jeremy Graham	$891
24	Stephen O’Bertos	$891
25	Mike Letal	$891
26	Jack Dick	$891
27	Graham Lupton	$787

Below is a look at the final 24 players in action tonight.

John Nielsen raised the button to 45k, then called off with more when Jeremy Graham shoved his big blind for 105k. It was a not-so-classic race between A♦9♥ for Graham against Q♠J♠ for Nielsen. Graham hit his ace and held for the win.

At the same table is Canadian pro and WSOP bracelet winner Shawn “The Cannon” Buchanan playing 580k.

Allen Shen limped the small blind, and Mike Letal checked in the big. Shen check-called for 25k on the 4♦6♣K♥ flop, then led for 20k on the A♦ turn.

After Letal called, Shen slid out 300k worth of greens on the [invalid notations] river, and Letal quickly mucked his hand.

Meanwhile, the field is down to the final three tables now; see below for the recent busts, with full prizes so far under the Payouts Tab.

Place	Player	Prize
28	Youssef Hmama	$787
29	Patricia Kananda	$787
30	Dwayne Reid	$787
31	Tyler Bourassa	$787
32	Oleksandr Lobur	$787
33	Tyler Dorion	$787
34	Ryan Cairns	$787
35	Chris Duffy	$787

They are down to 29 remaining, and Skyler Edgar is the leader with more than 900k. Mohsen Shafizadeh is second with 860k, and Greg Vanderford is 3rd with just over 700k.

Level 17 has seen a lot of players hit the rail, and I’ve barely been able to keep up. The field is down to 35 players remaining now, and there’s a long list of recent busts below, with the full prizes under the Payouts tab.

Place	Player	Prize
36	Glenn Slater	$749
37	Keith Weideman	$749
38	Kam Lee	$749
39	Robert Cobreil	$749
40	Dave Howat	$749
41	Dylan Vaughan	$749
42	Mathiraj Sabanathan	$749
43	Mike Leah	$749
44	Anthony Casten	$749
45	Preston Stevenson	$749
46	Baasandorj Batdorj	$749
47	Alan Zhu	$749
48	Fred Werezak	$749
49	Paul Sokoloff	$749
50	Scott Longstaff	$749
51	Tyler Kadachuk	$749
52	Colten Yamagishi	$749

Once the bubble burst, the action picked up again. The bubble took almost 10 hands to complete, but within a couple of minutes after the bubble, they lost 4 players.

Recent busts will be posted individually in each post, with the full list under the Payouts tab.

Place	Player	Prize
53	Chris Klementis	$749
54	Adrian Chan	$749
55	Austin Alfke	$749
56	Jed Derkaoui	$749

They are in the money in the opening event now after Ryan Simpson was the bubble. He raised to 20k from his button, and Dwayne Reid called on the big blind. The flop was 10♣3♣5♦ and Reid checked.

Simpson shoved 49k, and Reid called it off. He hit the ten with 10♦6♥ and that was ahead of the pocket nines for Simpson. There was no help for the nines on the Q♦A♥ runout, and Simpson bubbled the game tonight.

Event #1 is on the bubble now with 57 players left. The clock is paused and they’ll play hand-for-hand with two minutes coming off the clock manually for each hand played until the next elimination puts the field in the money.

They are down to 63 left, and have just broken down to the final 7 tables. That will be the last table break before they hit the money with 56 players left.

5 minutes remain in Level 16, so it looks like the bubble play will start sometime in Level 17.

In the final hand before the break on Table 55, Vikram Gill limped in from the middle. He got one caller from late position, as well as both blinds.

The flop was 4♠4♦6♥, and it checked to Gill, who fired 12k. It folded around to Tyler Kadachuk in the big blind, and he check-shoved for 50k exactly. Gill didn’t take too long to think before he pushed his hand to the muck and headed out for the break.

They are now 16 eliminations off the money with 72 players left.

Lorne Gaetz opened to 13k from the hijack before Keith Weideman shoved the small blind for 87k. After some time in the tank, Gaetz called it off with A♣2♣, but he was up against it, as Weideman had A♠J♥. The board of 7♥J♣4♣7♠K♣ just improved Weideman, and Gaetz gave up the double.

They are less than 30 off the money now with 85 players left. There are 10 minutes left in Level 14, with the next break to follow Level 15.

Baasandorj Batdorj is the leader now with 450k, while Maher al Mouselly has 350k. Stephen O’Bertos, Tyler Bourassa, and Dave Howat round out the top-five counts right now.

The final field numbers are confirmed at 371 entries, for prizes of $122,430. That beats last year’s May & Aug numbers, but still falls a bit short of this year’s January numbers.

The winner later tonight can expect to pocket $26,288, with 3 players scoring five figures. See below for a look at the top 10 prizes, and the full prizes will be loaded under the Payouts tab shortly.

It looks like Syler Edgar is the chip leader right now with 301k in front of him. I am using the WSOP.com app to look at the numbers, as Deerfoot Inn & Casino has the new system in place for the first time in this series. That means I should be able to keep a better tab on chips and players in these events, depending on how often the app is updated. Players should also grab the app for their phones (Android and iOS versions are in the appropriate app store) as players can see live tournament data from their phones.

Edgar is the only player in the 300k range, with Baasandorj Batdorj in second with 191k. Pavel Krumer, Randall Alwood, and Rodney Poirier round out the top five counts with 150-180k.

With a bit of a rush on registration right at the end of the break, the final field for Event #1: Big 30 Stack looks to be 371 entries. That number still needs confirmation from the casino staff before it’s official, but if it holds, it should mean 56 players sharing in $122,430 later tonight.

Before the game, Deerfoot staff estimated a field of 363 for this opening event. With less than 5 minutes remaining in entries, the field is now at 363, for prizes just shy of $120k.

That’s a solid start for the series, and bodes well for the final numbers. That puts this event about 90 entries behind January’s total, but it puts the game bang on both May and Aug, which both saw 363 entries as well.

Level 10 has just begun, and entries will be closed when they sit down for Level 11 in just over 30 minutes. The prizes are now just shy of $115k with 347 entries on the board, so a final field of 350+ looks like a lock.

The field is now just shy of $110k in prizes with 333 entries on the board. This won’t be a complete list, but among the players I’ve spotted in the field today are Thomas Taylor, Alex Liu, Nicholas Teeuwen, Terry Langdon, Clair Leclerc, Shane Brotherwood, Fred Werezak, Avery Aloneissi, Dave Howat, Mike Leah, Jordan Banfield, and Chris Klimentis.

The action on the opening event for WSOP-C Calgary October is already over $100k in prizes. There are 319 entries on the board with about 30 minutes left in open entry. That puts the prizes at $105k and climbing, and it seems likely the final prizes for this one will be flirting with $120k or more.

Event #1: $400 Big 30 Stack NLH ($330 + $70)

The World Series of Poker Circuit is back in Calgary, with a familiar opening event, but a brand new starting date. The WSOP-C traditionally kicks off with the Big 30 Stack, and this year is no different, despite the different season.

The action for Event #1 kicks off at 11 AM, and there are 10 levels of entries. With levels at 25 minutes, that puts the last chance to enter at about 3:50 PM. Players get 30k to start the day in the Big 30 Stack.

In January of this year, Antoine Saddleback was the player to take down this opening event. He defeated Jacon Parent heads up for $28,680, over a field of 455 entries and prizes of $150,150.

This should be my main focus for the day, but expect me to be late to the floor. It’s going to be a long day to start a long two weeks.