More than $5 Million Awarded at the October 2025 Edition of WSOP-C Calgary

After 13 days of intense poker action, the World Series of Poker Circuit Calgary is done for another series. It was a huge series with 18 events across 13 days, with poker action running from 11 am through 4 am or later on most days.

The big game for the series, as always, was the Main Event. It ran over 3 starting days from Oct 9-11, with Day 2 and Day 3 in the money on the 12th and 13th. 910 entries paid the beefed-up buy-in of $2,300 this time, making it the fourth biggest prize pool ever at WSOP-C Calgary.

Overall, the first edition of a WSOP-C in October in Calgary also came in as the fourth biggest series to date at Deerfoot Inn & Casino. More than $5 million was awarded throughout the series, with more than 1/3rd of that coming from the Main Event. That’s a fairly typical ratio for the history of this series, with the Main Event to Total Series Prizes coming in between 35% and 40% for all the bigger series, though in some of the smaller May/Aug series, that ratio has been as high as 54%.

Over the years, the series has also grown in terms of events. In January of 2022, the first edition of this series ran 12 events, with 13 events for May 2022. 2023 saw an increase to 15 games in January, with May staying at 13, while 2024 bumped the May series to 16 events. There were 16 games again in Aug 2024, with Jan 2025 jumping to 17 events, and 18 for the most recent series.

WSOP-C Cal Oct 2025 at a Glance

The Big Games

Travis MacMillan Wins Event #12: $2,300 NLH Main Event ($2050 + $250)

After three starting days for the Main Event, they got 910 runners with the increased buy-in this time around. That didn’t quite generate the record prize pool that had been predicted, but the game still came in as the fourth biggest prize pool ever at WSOP-C Calgary.

Travis MacMillan kind of came out of nowhere on the final day to take it down. Early on the final day, it was runner-up Victor Li and 3rd-place Kwong Au who held the big stacks. MacMillan played a quiet game, mostly staying away from big pots and cooler spots until they got down to the business end.

Li was the leader when it got to heads up, with about 25 million to 11 million for MacMillan. The big turnaround came when MacMillan flopped a heart draw, then turned a pair of fours. MacMillan shoved the turn for a bit less than pot, and when Li called, MacMillan was behind Li’s flopped second pair, but the river was a heart, and he scored a huge double to the lead.

That reversed the stacks, giving MacMillan about a 2.5:1 lead, and it ended shortly after when MacMillan rivered trip kings and shoved the covering stack. Li tanked for almost 15 minutes, with nearly 10 of that extending into a break, before MacMillan finally called the clock on his opponent.

Li made the call with less than 5 seconds remaining in his countdown, but his flopped pair of queens was no good, and MacMillan won his first Circuit ring & almost $313k.

Andy Truong Wins First Ring in Event #17: $3,500 High Roller ($3,130 + $370)

Local regular Andy Truong picked up his first Circuit ring on the final day in the biggest buy-in of the series, but he nearly got it on opening day in a smaller one.

On the first day of the series, Truong was heads-up against Praba Siva in the $600 NLH/PLO Mix. He wasn’t able to find the ring then, finishing second to Siva, but destiny may have played a part. Siva was looking to go back-to-back in this event after winning it in January, and that’s exactly what he did.

It took the rest of the series, but Truong got himself there in the High Roller. He faced off heads up against Cristian Moldovan, who was also playing his second heads-up match of the series. Moldovan was runner-up to Quinn Kannekens in the Mystery Bounty, and both players commented that neither wanted to finish second again.

That’s not how poker works, of course, and Moldovan had to settle for his second runner-up spot in the series. He was in tough to start heads up, with Truong holding a big chip advantage. That didn’t change throughout heads up, but Moldovan knew when to pick his spots, staying alive on the short stack.

It took two levels before they finally decided it. Moldovan was short and shoved ace-nine from the button. Truong called it off with pocket tens and held to take down the second biggest prize of the series.

Nicholas Lee Wins 4th Ring in Event #4: $400 NLH Mini Main Event ($330 + $70)

Nicholas Lee usually wins his rings in January. He won his first in Jan 2023, followed it up with #2 in Jan 2024, then got #3 this past January. He broke the January streak by adding his fourth ring this series in the Mini Main Event.

He took down the top prize over a whopping 1,668 entries, the second biggest field ever for a WSOP-C Calgary event, behind only the Jan 2024 4-Flight (which is what this event used to be called). That put more than $550k into the prize pool, and meant Lee’s winning share was more than $75k.

Lee faced an aggressive opponent in Kezheng Peng, a Toronto resident who had a fairly raucous rail to cheer him on. Lee had to come from behind, finding a gutshot to take a big pot and jump into the lead. The final hand saw a huge cooler on the flop when Peng flopped the wheel straight, while Lee was drawing to the nut hearts and a bigger straight. Lee turned the hearts, and that was all he needed to bag his fourth ring since 2023 here at Deerfoot Inn & Casino.

Corey Arsenault Wins First Ring in Event #10: Monster Stack ($330 + $70)

Corey Arsenault had to survive a crazy heads-up battle with Anthony Casten to take down his first ring. He topped the field of 1,203, but he was down to less than a big blind at one point on the final table before rallying back.

He scored a double knockout to take the game from five to three, sending Ngoc Nguyen and Amarjot Brar home with his pocket jacks. Nguyen was on the lower pair of nines, while Brara had a suited ace.

That gave Arsenault a big lead, and despite Casten taking out Chengdong Zhao in 3rd, he was still way behind to start heads up. The lead changed multiple times, and Casten, who late-registered for this game with 10 big blinds, used aggressive play to reverse the stacks and give himself a 3:1 lead.

Arsenault doubled once with the nut flush, then again when he turned trips while Casten couldn’t find his flush draw. That left Casten short and he shoved blind on the next hand. When Arsenault woke up with AK and called it off, it looked like Casten might be out the door.

Then he turned over his cards to find pocket aces, and he doubled back. He then rivered a boat to take the lead again. Arsenault was at risk shortly after with jack-ten against a suited king-seven. He flopped a ten, Casten turned his king, but Arsenault rivered two pair with a jack.

Arsenault then jumped to the lead again when he flopped another straight before the final confrontation. They got to a flop where Casten shoved with straight outs, but Arsenault tank-called with king-high and held for his first ring.

That wasn’t the last we saw of Arsenault, however, as he bagged his second ring on the final evening of the series in the closing Big 30 Stack. After that game, he told me the Monster Stack and the final Big 30 were the only events he played this series.

Other Big Stories from the First October Series

The marquee events like the Main Event and High Roller always draw attention, but there are always stories from the smaller one-day events as well. Perhaps the biggest was Jenelle Exner winning her 3rd Ladies ring in the last four events. She had to settle for third in January, but she won the ring in May and Aug 2024.

Kyle Ho picked up his 3rd lifetime ring, and second in Calgary, with his victory over 364 runners in the Two-Day $1k. Both of Ho’s other rings came in $1k events, so it seems to be a format and buy-in he excels at. His most recent ring before this was from the $1k in Montreal last April, while his first came in the Calgary $1k in May 2023.

Gallery of the Winners