Josh Shmerl Kicks Off WSOP Circuit At Horseshoe-Hammond With $79,107 Win

Twenty-three-year-old Poker Pro Josh Shmerl won his first major poker tournament along with a cash prize of $79,107, when he captured the first event at Hammond Indiana's Horseshoe Casino during their WSOP circuit event. This was the opening event in the WSOP circuit's sixth season, and the event itself was as much the news as Shmerl's victory-setting a new attendance record as the largest tournament in WSOP circuit history, with 1,412 entrants.

Josh Shmerl is from Wauconda, IL, a small community of 12,000 residents located in a lake resort area, northwest of Chicago. Shmerl began playing poker while in his teens, and has played professionally for nearly five years. Shmerl initially played poker online, but has since opted for live play. He also travels regularly to tournaments held throughout the Midwest and Las Vegas.

Shmerl previously finished second at the Venetian deep stack series held last year in Las Vegas, and second at the WSOP circuit at Council Bluffs in 2008. Shmerl officially collected $79,107 in prize money for first place. With one win, two final table appearances, and two in-themoney finishes at WSOP Circuits, his total prize money earnings now total $96,520 in WSOP-related tournaments. When heads-up play began, Shmerl and Aaron Massey were about even. But Massey took and early lead and held a slight advantage. The biggest hand of the tournament came when Massey moved all-in with A-J against Josh Shmerl, who made a crying call with 5-5. The pocket pair held up, giving Shmerl a massive chip lead.

EVENT #10 10/21-22/09
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT H.O.R.S.E.
BUY-IN $500 + $55
PLAYERS 119
PRIZE POOL $52,515
1. Eric Crain . . . . . . . . $14,703
2. Mark Dimberg . . . . . . $9,089
3. John Klawitter . . . . . . $6,016
4. Joseph Kunst . . . . . . . $4,247
5. Bradley Libson . . . . . $3,186
6. Michael Komarek . . . $2,530
7. Matthew Rosen . . . . . $2,120
8. Kevin McClayton . . . $1,870
9. Jonathan Rogers . . . . $1,427

EVENT #9 10/21-22/09
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $2,000 + $125
PLAYERS 106
PRIZE POOL $200,440
1. Tuyen "Twin" Ngo . . $58,126
2. Drew Youngblood . . $36,079
3. Steffan Naas . . . . . . . $24,053
4. Ray Wu . . . . . . . . . . . $17,438
5. Chad Freid . . . . . . . . $12,427
6. Gary Datro . . . . . . . . . $9,822
7. Susie Zhao . . . . . . . . . $8,018
8. Will Durkee . . . . . . . . $6,815
9. Michael Johnson . . . . $5,813

EVENT #8 10/20-21/09
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT POT-LIMIT OMAHA WITH RE-BUYS
BUY-IN $200 + $35
PLAYERS 117
REBUYS 464
PRIZE POOL $63,898
1. Jeff Boudreau . . . . . $18,529
2. Eric Rindal . . . . . . . . $11,502
3. James Siple . . . . . . . . . $7,668
4. Joe Magliera . . . . . . . $5,559
5. Chris Viox . . . . . . . . . $3,962
6. Jonathan Depa . . . . . . $3,131
7. Michael Piccillo . . . . . $2,556
8. Jon Ulrich . . . . . . . . . . $2,173
9. Michael Foster . . . . . . $1,853

EVENT #7 10/20-21/09
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT SIX-HANDED NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $55
PLAYERS 234
PRIZE POOL $108,290
1. Nick Frost . . . . . . . . . $30,324
2. Jeffrey Lenz . . . . . . . $18,744
3. Johnny Neckar . . . . . $12,144
4. Andy Magolis . . . . . . . $8,233
5. Curt Householder . . . $5,829
6. Timothy Begley . . . . . $4,302
7. Rostislav Chizhevsky $3,286
8. Dylan Thomassic . . . . $3,286
9. Charlie Cibula . . . . . . $2,459

EVENT #6 10/19-20/09
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT POT-LIMIT OMAHA
BUY-IN $2,000 + $125
PLAYERS 24
PRIZE POOL $46,560
1. Jason Newburger . . . $23,280
2. Scott Mandel . . . . . . $13,968
3. Jim Egerer . . . . . . . . . $9,312

EVENT #5 10/19-20/09
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $45
PLAYERS 635
PRIZE POOL $179,585
1. David Sesso . . . . . . . $40,392
2. Bob Grim . . . . . . . . . $24,962
3. Gary Kreymer . . . . . $16,384
4. Mike Lee . . . . . . . . . . $11,371
5. Jean "Prince" Gaspard . $8,324
6. Greg Koutelidakis . . . $6,409
7. Robert Rusak . . . . . . . $5,179
8. Christopher Cardenas $4,382

EVENT #4 10/18-19/09
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM LADIES CHAMPIONSHIP
BUY-IN $200 + $35
PLAYERS 183
PRIZE POOL $33,502
1. Nadya Magnus . . . . . . $8,877
2. Patty Till . . . . . . . . . . . $5,494
3. Alicja Duda . . . . . . . . $3,638
4. Katie Smith . . . . . . . . $2,596
5. Emily Bayer . . . . . . . . $1,940

EVENT #3 10/18-19/09
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $1,000 + $100
PLAYERS 223
PRIZE POOL $211,110
1. Justin "Fluffdog" Filtz $51,727
2. Brian Zimcosky . . . . $31,962
3. Drew Youngblood . . $21,195
4. Shawn M. Reed . . . . $14,997
5. Matthew Humphrey $11,301
6. Mike Picardi . . . . . . . $9,019
7. Chris McMillian . . . . $7,602
8. Michael "MJ" Bernstein $6,751
9. Eric Matulis . . . . . . . . $6,300

EVENT #2 10/17-18/09
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT NO-LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $500 + $55
PLAYERS 550
PRIZE POOL $261,550
1. Marvin Thompson . . $60,156
2. Darryl Ronconi . . . . $37,164
3. Steve Quirin . . . . . . . $24,376
4. Jason Newburger . . . $16,967
5. Phil Sourn . . . . . . . . $12,445
6. Benjamin Beebe . . . . . $9,607
7. Cullen Kurzmann . . . $7,786
8. Mark "Pegasus" Smith . $6,612
9. John Nguyen . . . . . . . $5,869

EVENT #1 10/16-17/09
WSOP CIRCUIT EVENT NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
BUY-IN $300 + $45
PLAYERS 1,412
PRIZE POOL $405,692
1. Josh Shmerl . . . . . . . $79,107
2. Aaron Massey . . . . . $48,683
3. C.J. Sullivan . . . . . . . $31,997
4. Chris Vankirk . . . . . $22,313
5. Stuart Marshak . . . . $16,431
6. Elvin Simpson . . . . . $12,698
7. George Snow . . . . . . $10,345
8. Nick Frost . . . . . . . . . . $8,804
9. Jeff Lou . . . . . . . . . . . $7,854