Poker Tournament Records Broken On Both Sides Of The Atlantic

The latest attendance figures for the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) season have broken all previous records demonstrating the increasing popularity of the game.
The World Series of Poker Circuit events is a series of no limit Texas hold ’em tournaments held each year at an assortment of casinos as a build up to the WSOP.
In North America, WSOPC 2009-10 Event 1 drew in a field of 1,412 players for a new attendance record. The event was a $345 buy-in NLHE tournament held at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana. The previous record took place at the Tunica Grand Resort and Casino in Mississippi in 2006 where 1,345 players attended. The latest record took place 20 minutes from Chicago and Nolan Dalla, the WSOP media director commented:
“Chicagoland has become one of the WSOP Circuit’s most popular destinations for poker players. Attendance eclipsed last year’s near-record for the same event, which was 1,187 entries.”
Josh Shmerl, a 23 year old poker pro from Wauconda, Illinois won the tournament and earned $79,107 for his first-place finish.
In the meantime, on the other side of the Atlantic, the 2009 Boylepoker International Poker Open in Ireland had broken the record for the highest attendance of any tournament held outside the USA.
The previous non-U.S. attendance record was broken by almost 100 people when 1,440 players from over 18 countries entered the $250 buy-in NLHE tournament to relegate the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas with 1,347 attendees to second position.
Markus Sippe from Germany won the tournament and the first-place prize of $62,250. Following the event, Paul Spillane, head of Boylepoker.com said:
“This year’s International Poker Open was another great success, breaking last year’s record by a further 140 players. The event is proving more and more popular every year, among all levels of players. The IPO has become an unmissable event on any poker lover’s calendar, and we are already excited about the next one.”