It was an entertaining first weekend of the 2025 WSOP Circuit Calgary. A total of four tournaments were played at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino between October 4-5, including Day 2 – i.e., the final day – of the $400 Mini Main Event. Apart from this event, three other winners were also crowned, one of them in the prestigious $800 T.O.R.S.E. event. Without further ado, let’s recap what went down in the Canadian gem the past weekend.
“The Doctor” Has Arrived
All eyes are currently on the 2025 WSOP Circuit Calgary, which commenced on October 1. Currently, the festival has more or less reached the halfway point, and one could argue that the highlight so far has been the aforementioned $400 Mini Main Event.
The tournament offered four starting-day flights, and those who managed to survive bagged their chips for Day 2, which commenced on October 5, 13:00 local time. 86 players out of the total 1,668 entries (which meant the tournament was the second-biggest field ever for a Calgary WSOP Circuit event) started the final day, and they were all guaranteed a $1,338 min-cash. Presumably, though, they all had their eyes on the juicy $75,190 first-place prize.
After several hours, the field had been reduced to 11 players, meaning that play was now on the final table bubble. Eventually, Ryan Cairns went out in eleventh place, meaning the tournament entered its final stage. Within half an hour, Russel Watson (tenth, $6,121) and Gordon Wong (ninth, $7,576) were both eliminated. Paolo Tana (eighth, $7,791) and Faramarz Ghorbani (seventh, $10,134) also hit the rail after another half an hour; one can only assume the stacks were relatively shallow at this point. The next one to bid farewell was Jacob Parent, who earned $13,439 for his sixth-place finish. Minutes later, it was Reza Aminababi who pulled the shortest straw, as he made his exit in fifth for $18,165.
With four players left, the soon-to-be doctor Nicholas Lee was the chip leader by some margin; in fact, he had 25,275,000 out of the total 51,500,000 chips in play. He eventually extended his lead even more when he eliminated short-stacked Pascal Gregoire in fourth place for $25,015. All three players left had their own rail, with that of Kezheng Peng being, as poker.pro live reporter Lyle Bateman put it, “the rowdiest”. With support from the crowd, Peng managed to pick up crucial chips, effectively making Dylan Ellis the short stack. Eventually, Ellis was eliminated in third place for $35,086.
After eliminating Ellis, Peng had managed to overtake the chip lead from Lee. It was not by much, though, and eventually, Lee was once again in the driver’s seat. On the final hand before the break, Lee won a big pot after being very aggressive on all three streets.
Not too long after the break, Lee limped the 600,000 Big Blind from the Button, before Peng raised to 2,100,000. Lee made the call, and the dealer revealed a three-four-five flop featuring two hearts. All the money went in the middle; Peng revealed a flopped straight with the 2♥, while Lee had a big draw with his 8♥7♥ holdings. The J♥ turn was the final nail in the coffin for Peng, as he was drawing dead to the 10♥ river.
With that, Nicholas “the Doctor” Lee won the $400 Mini Main Event, and in doing so, he captured his fourth WSOP Circuit ring. The $75,190 Lee got for his win is his biggest cash so far; if he still has bills to pay from medical school, that should hopefully be taken care of now.
2025 WSOP Circuit Calgary – $400 Mini Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Nicholas Lee | Canada | $77,846 |
| 2 |  Kezheng Peng | China | $48,082 |
| 3 | Dylan Ellis | Canada | $35,590 |
| 4 | Pascal Gregoire | Canada | $26,663 |
| 5 | Reza Aminabadi | Canada | $20,219 |
| 6 | Jacob Parent | Canada | $15,523 |
| 7 | Faramarz Ghorbani | Canada | $12,068 |
| 8 | Paolo Tana | Canada | $9,501 |
| 9 | Gordon Wong | Canada | $7,576 |
| 10 |  Russell Watson | United States of America (USA) | $6,121 |
In other news, the $600 Mystery Bounty NLH attracted 395 entries, generating a $203,425 prize pool. When the tournament reached the later stages, it stayed idle for a while with six players. Eventually, Kevin Huang busted, which started “the Ketchup Effect.” With the average stack being not much more than 12 Big Blinds, there wasn’t much room for creativity, and one and one, the remaining warriors had to wave the white flag. Eventually, Quinn Kannekens emerged victorious, claiming the $26,234 first-place payout (not counting the bounties).
2025 WSOP Circuit Calgary – $600 NLH Mystery Bounty Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quinn Kannekens | Canada | $26,234 |
| 2 | Cristian Moldovan | Canada | $17,424 |
| 3 | Craig Caldwell | Canada | $11,838 |
| 4 | Guneet Singh | Canada | $8,221 |
| 5 | Griffin Ristevski | Canada | $5,839 |
| 6 | Kevin Huang | Canada | $4,243 |
| 7 | Johnny Yu | Canada | $3,157 |
| 8 | Bron Johnson | Canada | $2,406 |
| 9 | Kurt Lillemo | Canada | $1,880 |
The $400 NLH Seniors Event attracted a whopping 519 entries; an astonishing number for such an exclusive tournament. From the first hand, it took almost 18 hours before Angelo Gambrelis had conquered the field; for his feat, he was awarded $33,728, which was the biggest slice of the $171,270 prize pool. Considering Gambrelis’ career-high cash was $4,345 prior to this, one can imagine he was somewhat pleased with his performance.
2025 WSOP Circuit Calgary – $400 NLH Seniors Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angelo Gambrelis | Canada | $33,728 |
| 2 | Wayne Gair | Canada | $22,461 |
| 3 | Graham Lupton | Canada | $15,511 |
| 4 | Eric Kettner | Canada | $10,913 |
| 5 | Allan Hobbins | Canada | $7,824 |
| 6 | Cameron Mcarthur | Canada | $5,718 |
| 7 | Jack Wong | Canada | $4,262 |
| 8 | Steven Labelle | Canada | $3,241 |
| 9 | Cliff Green | Canada | $2,516 |
The final event of the weekend was the $800 T.O.R.S.E. For those who’re unfamiliar with this discipline, it’s the same as H.O.R.S.E.; the only difference is that the Texas Limit Hold ‘Em is replaced with Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw. 95 entries were made in the tournament, and the top 15 Mixed Games enthusiasts would all be guaranteed a $1,578 min-cash from the $66,025 prize pool. When the dust settled, Stephen Dauphinais was deemed the winner; he got $17,933 for his Mixed Games masterclass, and considering T.O.R.S.E. is his favorite game, perhaps, he was always deemed to win it. Dauphinais has already surpassed $1,000,000 total live earnings on The Hendon Mob, despite having his only first documented live cash back in 2021.
2025 WSOP Circuit Calgary – $800 T.O.R.S.E. Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Dauphinais | Canada | $17,933 |
| 2 | James To | Canada | $11,776 |
| 3 |  Fat-Cheong Wong | Hong Kong | $7,992 |
| 4 | Stephen Horak | Canada | $5,610 |
| 5 | Nu Teliani | Canada | $4,078 |
| 6 | Jeffrey Mulder | Canada | $3,073 |
| 7 | Matthew Osario | Canada | $2,404 |
| 8 | Craig Caldwell | Canada | $1,956 |
| 9 | Jordan Pennock | Canada | $1,657 |
| 15 | Remy Bhend | Canada | $1,578 |
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