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John Crncic Wins World Series of Poker Circuit River Rock Main Event

Amateur Turns $180 Satellite Entry Into $286,382 Payday In Canada

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John CrncicThe first-ever World Series of Poker Circuit stop in Canada turned out to be a huge success, with an impressive 1,032 entrants turning out for the $1,675 WSOP Circuit River Rock main event. The huge turnout built a $1,548,000 prize pool and made this the third largest WSOPC main event in the tour’s history.

From more than a thousand, only one player remained late on Wednesday night: John Crncic of Vancouver, British Columbia. The construction safety manager, who had won his entry into the main event in a $180 buy-in satellite, earned $286,382 for the win.

“I’m afraid I’m going to wake up and it’s going to just be a dream,” Crncic said just after play ended. “It’s absolutely fantastic. This is much more than I hoped for.”

In addition to the money, Crncic also earned a gold ring and 960 Card Player Player of the Year points.

The all-Canadian final table lasted nearly 11 hours, with a live stream shown on ESPN3. Crncic had little experience in larger buy-in tournaments, and no prior cashes on the WSOP Circuit, but felt comfortable at the final table event with a live broadcast going on.

“It didn’t bother me at all,” said Crncic. “I had never been in a situation like this, yet, it felt like I do it every week. It was great fun. I loved it. I wish I could do this every weekend.”

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Place Player Earnings POY Points
1 John Crncic $286,382 960
2 Ryan Biermann $177,060 800
3 Justin Ciolfitto $131,580 640
4 Malachy Hagan $98,917 480
5 Sonny Sekhon $75,217 400
6 Calvin Anderson $57,864 320
7 Tyler St. Clair $45,031 240
8 Michael Collins $35,449 160
9 Glenn Sullivan $28,236 80