Josh Reichard won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Council Bluffs $1,700 Main Event on Monday, earning the 13th gold ring of his tournament career. The win elevates him to second place on the all-time ring list by himself, breaking a tie with Valentin Vornicu. Reichard now sits just one ring behind Maurice Hawkins.
The win earned Reichard $120,445 and a seat in next year’s Tournament of Champions. And though he now has a baker’s dozen rings, this was his first Main Event win on the Circuit. He still doesn’t haven’t a bracelet win (I say “still” like it’s some horrible failing), but he aims to remedy that.
“I love poker, I love everything about it,” he told WSOP.com after the win. “I’m not going to move on to anything beyond poker regardless of results, but a bracelet is next on the list of accomplishments for sure.”
Two other tournament winners at Council Bluffs had already earned rings at previous stops: Frankie Zeta nabbed his second and Mark Fink got his sixth.
Reichard, from Janesville, Wisconsin, took his lifetime live tournament earnings to over $2 million, about half of which are from events in the World Series of Poker family.
WSOP Circuit Council Bluffs was a welcome sight on the schedule, as the Circuit had not stopped there since April 2019. Obviously, some of that had to do with the COVID-19 pandemic, which canceled tournaments throughout 2020. As has been the case for many tournaments over the past year, attendance was fantastic, eclipsing that of the 2019 Circuit stop.
September is just about over, but there are still two more stops this month. Currently in progress is a WSOP Circuit stop that couldn’t be in a more different locale than Council Bluffs: WSOP Circuit Aruba Hilton. It began September 22 and ends October 2. Thunder Valley Casino north of Sacramento is the next stop that has yet to commence, running September 29 to October 10.
The WSOP Circuit crisscrosses the country the rest of October, going to Isle of Capri in Pompano Beach, Florida October 13 through October 24 and then Harvey’s Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nevada from October 20 to October 31.
All WSOP Circuit gold ring winners qualify for the Tournament of Champions, a setup that was changed for this year’s TOC. Previously, getting into the event from the Circuit was a bet complicated, involving “casino winners” at specific Circuit stops and leaderboard rankings. Now it is simply ring winners and bracelet winners who qualify for the TOC.