WSOP Circuit -- Dan Livingston Wins Horseshoe Hammond

The first World Series of Poker Circuit champion of season six was crowned on Sunday at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Illinois. The tournament took place just a few miles away from Chicago, and it was won by Oak Forest, Illinois, resident Dan Livingston (pictured right), who won his way into the $5,000 no-limit hold’em championship event through a promotion at the host casino poker room. He topped a field of 248 players to take home $291,749 in prize money. He was also awarded a WSOP Circuit champion’s gold ring. Attendance at the event increased 12 percent from the previous year, while the prize money increased by 20 percent from the previous year.

Livingston is a 22-year-old part-time poker player who plays low- to middle-limit buy-in tournaments at the Horseshoe casino in Hammond. Livingston was ecstatic after the win in an interview with WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla. “I feel really good. What was it? Forty hours of work for nearly $300,000? I’ll take it,” said Livingston. He has yet to play in a WSOP event in Las Vegas, but he admitted that his recent tournament result might change things. “It’s going to make me consider giving poker a shot. I am going to see if I can play for a living,” said Livingston on his future prospects.

Livingston entered the final day with 867,000 in chips with 17 players remaining, which put him in second chip position. He won a few pots early to grow that to 2 million, and by the time play was down to four-handed, he was an overwhelming chip leader with 4 million. In the heads-up final, Livingston defeated another Horseshoe Hammond poker-room promotion winner, Tom Floros, who is from Indian Head Park, Illinois.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that one of the hottest players on the WSOP Circuit continued his streak of success at this event. Dwyte Pilgrim cashed in 19th place, and he took home $11,086 in prize money. Pilgrim has now cashed in five of the last six WSOP Circuit events. The next WSOP Circuit no-limit hold’em championship event runs from Oct. 31-Nov. 2 at the Horseshoe casino in Southern Indiana.

2009 WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond:

Buy-in: $5,000
Number of Entries: 248
Total Prize Pool: $1,190,800
First-Place Prize: $291,749
Places Paid: 27

Final-Table Results:

1st: Dan Livingston — $291,749
2nd: Tom Floros — $180,287
3rd: Chris Gentile — $119,556
4th: Tad Mosele — $84,594
5th: William Schweinebraten — $63,744
6th: William Miner — $50,871
7th: Joshua Goldstein — $42,881
8th: Jacob Bazeley — $38,082
9th: Michael Parisi — $35,533

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