Dwyte Pilgrim added another title to his impressive resume last week by winning an event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit stop at Harrah’s Rincon. The Brooklyn pro bested a field of 169 players in the $340 buy-in tournament to collect $13,392 and his third WSOP Circuit gold ring, tying Chris “Jesus” Ferguson for the second most all-time, one behind Men “The Master” Nguyen and Mark “Pegasus” Smith.
Over the course of his 15-month poker career, Pilgrim has enjoyed unthinkable success at WSOP Circuit events. Along with his three victories, he’s amassed 10 final tables and 18 cashes. His first victory came in March 2009 at the Caesars Atlantic City Circuit Event for $83,955 and he followed that up less than a month later with a win at the Harrah’s Rincon Main Event for $125,775 plus a $10,000 seat into the WSOP Main Event, his biggest score to date. He was named the “unofficial” WSOP Circuit Player of the Year in May 2009.
Should Pilgrim stay on his current pace, he would likely shatter several WSOP Circuit records. He stands just one victory away from tying Nguyen’s and Smith’s total of four gold rings. He could also catch Doug “Rico” Carli, who has a record 41 cashes.
Following his victory at Harrah’s Rincon, Pilgrim spoke with WSOP Media Director and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Nolan Dalla about his hot streak: “For the past eight months, I’ve been playing some good poker. As of recently, I’ve been catching fire. I’m just trying to stay consistent. I always say I’m one of the best players; I’m just not promoted right. I’m working my way all the way to the top.”
Pilgrim plans to play as many WSOP Circuit Events as possible at upcoming tournaments in St. Louis, Las Vegas, and New Orleans, which will close out the 2009-2010 season. Those events lead up to the 2010 WSOP in Las Vegas, which gets underway on May 28th. Pilgrim, who has yet to cash at the WSOP, is gearing up for the series and intends to add a gold bracelet to his remarkable list of accomplishments.
“The rest of the year is to get ready for the World Series (of Poker),” Pilgrim told Dalla. “That’s the main part of the year. We’re gonna play the season, June’s gonna be the playoffs, and we’re gonna come with a strong playoff game. I think I should be one of the players to be watched for at the World Series and we’re gonna make it a show.”
Pilgrim has three other victories under his belt in 2010; two at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Southern Championship (within four days of each other) and another in the Mega Stack Challenge XV at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in February. Pilgrim currently ranks fourth in the CardPlayer 2010 Player of the Year Rankings, trailing only Tom “kingsofcards” Marchese, Harrison “gibler123” Gimbel, and Ty “puffinmypurp” Reiman.
