All eyes in the poker world were on Turning Stone Resort Casino throughout March as we welcomed the World Series of Poker back for its second consecutive circuit event.

The tournament ran for 12 days, starting on March 16, and was the only WSOP Circuit event in New York. It was once again a huge success, surpassing last year’s exceptional performance. 

In all, more than 14,658 entries were tallied for championship rings (vs. 11,000 last year) across 16 different events with $5.4 million in cash winnings paid out, $1 million more than last year’s event and more than five times the event guarantee. Poker players traveled to Turning Stone from 38 states and four provinces of Canada just to be part of the WSOP this year.

The three-day championship event came down to a nail-biting finish that crowned Shaun Deeb, originally from Troy, NY (currently living in Las Vegas) the ultimate WSOP Main Event Champion. Winning a total of $275,916 in the Main Event, Deeb adds his first WSOP Gold Ring to his collection of five WSOP Gold Bracelets, the ultimate trophy of the World Series of Poker.  

Guy Renzi, Senior Vice President for Gaming Strategy, said the success of poker tournaments like this one hinges on our poker team—a team he described as the best in the business.

“When people hear World Series of Poker, they know it’s going to be a massive tournament with life-changing money and huge guarantees and exciting non-stop poker action,” Guy said. “When you couple that with Turning Stone’s remarkable reputation for guest service and providing exceptional guest experiences, you just knew this year’s WSOP was going to be another historic event.”

The WSOP at Turning Stone also hosted New York’s first-ever WSOP Ladies Tournament where Katelin Koper from Long Island, NY won nearly $10,000 and her first WSOP Gold Ring.  Koper will also join 15 other WSOP Circuit ring winners in Las Vegas as she competes in the $1 million Tournament of Champions.

Festivities to celebrate the WSOP Circuit event started with a Kickoff Event on March 15 with a 345-step processional from the poker room to the Event Center, where the tournament took place. The procession was led by the 16 World Series of Poker rings, each carried individually in clear cases by our dealers and winners from the 2022 WSOP. The parade also comprised three drummers, pounding out beats as they traversed around the resort.

The WSOP Circuit is always quite a spectacle. We were delighted to have it at Turning Stone for another year and are already counting down until next year’s event.