Only 96 entrants signed up for the WSOP Circuit Main Event hosted by the Showboat Casino in Atlantic City on December 8th, but despite the light turnout the quality of play at the final table proved exceptional.
34 entrants made the ten thousand dollar buy-in for the 2005/2006 WSOP Circuit main event, held November 22nd at Paris/Ballys in Las Vegas. John Smith took out Doug Lee, a former WSOP Circuit champion, in early action at the final table, when Smith held J-10 and flopped a straight against Lees top pair. Canadian Lee took home $50,384 for his eighth place finish.
Indiana got its first taste of major tournament poker in early November 2005 when Caesar's Indiana hosted the 3rd WSOP Circuit Event of the 2005/2006 season. Over 900 players showed up for a preliminary $300 buy-in no limit hold'em event, while the Main Event, $10,000 buy-in no limit hold'em, involved 127 entrants.
The 2nd WSOP Circuit Event of the 2005/2006 season was held at Harrahs in Las Vegas September 16-18th, 2005. Since the final table was not televised, only 107 players entered the tournament. Too bad there were no cameras rolling though, because when the dust finally settled, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson beat out a hard-hitting final table to win $362,000 and a gold ring.
In what was almost the only major poker event cancelled due to a hurricane, the first WSOP Circuit event of the new 2005/2006 season concluded just forty-eight hours before Hurricane Katrina struck the state of Mississippi. Perhaps due to the fact that the storm was on its way, only 179 players entered the event held at the Grand Casino in Tunica.
The 2005 World Series of Poker World Championship saw the largest field ever in its history with 5,619 players, as well as the longest final table in the history of the Main Event. It was also the last time the WSOP Main Event would be held at Binion's. After a week of exhausting poker against the best players in the world, the final table proved amazing thrills and chills for players and spectators alike.
In what would prove to be the final World Series of Poker event in the Crescent City for the foreseeable future, 259 participants ponied up the ten thousand dollar buy-in and met at Harrahs New Orleans May 18th -28th to compete for prize money totaling close to two and a half million dollars.
Over a hundred people hung around the poker tables at the World Series of Poker Lake Tahoe Circuit Event's $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em main event at Harveys Resort and Casino, watching as Northern Nevadas top players, Tony Le of Reno, who started the day as the overall chip leader, Carson City's Robert Glenn and Genoa's Tony Prestigiacomo were knocked out early on.
The Rio All-Suites Casino-Resort hosted the third event on the World Series of Poker Circuit. The championship event attracted 222 entries. It took three days of play to eliminate 213 players. Rene Angelil, manager and husband of international singing superstar Celine Dion, was the last player to be eliminated, leaving only ten players for the finale.
The $10,000 buy-in No Limit Texas Holdem final event at the Rincon Casino in San Diego had one of the longest final tables, clocking in at 13 hours. The final event started with 208 entrants and a prize pool of over $1.9 million. At the final table familiar names rubbed elbows with young guns.