Atlantic City, NJ (March 23, 2017) – Daniel Buzgon the World Series of Poker’s most recent recipient of a Casino
Champion title. He took the Harrah's Atlantic City Circuit stop by storm, claiming the first, and second gold ring of his career. Both triumphs came in turbo events, the only two of the 12-event series.
Buzgon has been a longtime, WSOP regular who plays exclusively at two locations, the annual WSOP in Las Vegas each summer, and the Atlantic City Circuit when it comes to town. Before the recent AC series, Buzgon had 48 cashes, worth around $460,000, but no gold rings to his name.
The New Jersey resident, started out with a small cash in Event #2: $365 No-Limit Hold'em Re-Entry. The 48th-place finish awarded him 2.5 points, a nominal start. Buzgon then went on to score a polar opposite finish in Event #6: $365 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo Re-Entry. He conquered the 197 entrant field to win his first gold ring and bank 50 points toward the Casino Championship.
It was Freddy Ferrell, winner of Event #1, who was first to take an outright lead in the points race. Ferrell was later dethroned by Paul Cogliano. Then, after his 3rd-place finish in the Main Event, Edward Duncan held the top spot with only one more tournament to go.
The final event of the entire series turned the Casino Chamionship race in to an interesting, and somewhat complicated, chess match. Going into the last two tables of Event #12: $365 No-Limit Hold'em TurboRe-Entry, there were four players left who had a shot at the title.
The points leader, Duncan, and second in points, Cogliano, both went bust before the final table. This opened the door for Buzgon to claim the Casino Championship with a solid finish. However, he still had one adversary also in the hunt, Vinny Pahuja.
Pahuja was in an almost identical situation as Buzgon. He had to finish in the top half of the competitors, and ahead of Buzgon in the process. In the end, Buzgon ran away with the turbo-style tournament, ultimately seizing his second gold ring, and Casino Champion honors in the process.
Buzgon will now be playing in the 2017 Global Casino Championship. The Global
Casino Championship features a minimum $1 million prizepool and will
award the winner a gold bracelet. All Casino Champions and Main Event
winners of the season earn a free seat into the tournament. There are
also 50 free seats for the players who earn the most post points over the entire 2016/17 Circuit season.
Anyone winning a gold ring this season, but not earning a free seat,
can buy-in to the Global Casino Championship for $10,000. All $10,000 of
the buy-in will be added to the prizepool.
More information and full point standings for the year-long race are available on WSOP.com.
Buzgon's Harrah's Atlantic City cashes:
Event #2 - $365 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry – 573 entries – 48th place for $610
Event #6 - $365 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo Re-Entry – 197 entries – 1th place for $15,366
Event #12 - $365 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo Re-Entry – 101 entries – 1th place for $9,089