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The World Series of Poker Circuit festival at the Commerce Casino in California wrapped up proceedings yesterday. After two weeks and 18 ring events, the festival came to a close with its $1,700 Main Event crowning a winner.
That winner was television producer and Canadian poker pro Matthew Salsberg, who took down the WSOP Circuit Commerce Main Event, earning $286,134 as well as pocketing the gold championship ring.
Scripting a Victory
The Weeds producer, who also worked on shows like The War at Home and Big Wolf on Campus, had a stacked resume going into the main event at the WSOP Circuit Commerce.
He holds a WPT title for his win at the 2012 WPT Paris €7,500 Main Event and has made two other WPT Main Event final table appearances (both in 2013 and both 6th place finishes). On top of this, he has appeared at two WSOP final tables and had a deep run in the 2011 WSOP Main Event where he came 70th for $108,412.
Along the way, he had clocked up over $3 million in live tournament cashes. With his win on Tuesday, he hit a total of $3,574,279 and can now add a WSOP Circuit ring to his list of poker accomplishments.
WSOP Circuit Commerce Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Salsberg | Solana Beach, CA | $286,134 |
| 2 | Anthony Marquez | Ventura, CA | $190,774 |
| 3 | Michael Liang | Long Beach, CA | $134,958 |
| 4 | Davis Khobyer | Anaheim, CA | $96,858 |
| 5 | Luis Yepez | Turmero, Venezuela | $70,552 |
| 6 | Samvel Gspoyan | Glendale, CA | $52,158 |
| 7 | Richard Ham | Los Angeles, CA | $39,148 |
| 8 | Aram Mkhitaryan | Sunland, CA | $29,838 |
| 9 | Phongthep Thiptinnakon | Downey, CA | $23,100 |
A Fight To The Finish
The poker room at the WSOP Circuit Commerce filled with players as the Main Event attracted 1,209 entries across its three Day 1 flights.
When the field combined for Day 2 on November 24, the prize pool was set at a massive $1,831,635.
Although 161 players were paid, everyone had their eyes locked on the massive top prizes. The prizes tipped into six figures starting with third place and culminated in a first-place prize of $286,134.
Unusually, for a $1,700 buy-in tournament, all three of those top spots went to players who already had over a million in live cashes. Michael Liang, who took third, had over $4 million in live cashes. Meanwhile, Anthony Marquez, who Salsberg had to beat heads up, had $1.5 million.
Marquez won $190,774 for second, while Salsberg took home $286,134 for the tournament victory.
What’s Next For The WSOPC
With the WSOP Circuit Commerce consigned to the chronicles, there are now just two more WSOP Circuit events to tidy up before the circuit gets mothballed for the holiday season.
The WSOP Horseshoe Las Vegas is already well underway and will wrap up on December 2.
Then the final WSOP Circuit festival of 2024 will be hosted by Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina on November 28, running until December 9. We will have a festival recap for each of these when they finish.
You can see the full results from the WSOP Circuit Commerce below.
WSOP Circuit Commerce Full Series Results
| EVENT | ENTRANTS | PRIZE POOL | WINNER | HOMETOWN | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event #1: $400 No-Limit Hold’em – 30K Opener | 255 | $84,150 | Daniel Occhionero | Cleveland, OH | $18,755 |
| Event #2: $600 Mini Main Event | 1082 | $557,230 | Alexander Avila | Los Angeles, CA | $86,178 |
| Event #3: $400 No-Limit Hold’em | 165 | $54,450 | Jiachuan Luo | Chino, CA | $13,347 |
| Event #4: $400 No-Limit Hold’em | 256 | $84,480 | David Singontiko | Chatsworth, CA | $18,822 |
| Event #5: $1,100 Mystery Bounty | 295 | $206,500 | Phuoc Hong | San Jose, CA | $48,421 |
| Event #6: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha | 79 | $40,685 | Luis Concha | Downey, CA | $12,605 |
| Event #7: $400 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed | 190 | $62,700 | Taylor Howard | Blair, NE | $14,750 |
| Event #8: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better | 62 | $12,118 | Steve Hyung | Fullerton, CA | $12,118 |
| Event #9: $400 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack | 632 | $208,560 | Ernesto Ouano | Temecula, CA | $36,484 |
| Event #10: $600 H.O.R.S.E. | 92 | $47,380 | Jeremy Hamey | Juneau, AK | $13,143 |
| Event #11: $1,700 MAIN EVENT | 1209 | $1,831,635 | Matthew Salsberg | Solana Beach, CA | $286,134 |
| Event #12: $400 No-Limit Hold’em | 134 | $44,220 | Peter Piorkowski | Bowie, MD | $10,881 |
| Event #13: $400 No-Limit Hold’em | 166 | $54,780 | Paul Chauderson | Rosemead, CA | $13,429 |
| Event #14: $400 No-Limit Hold’em | 177 | $58,410 | Britton Purvis | Valley Village, CA | $14,006 |
| Event #15: $400 Seniors Event | 239 | $78,870 | tbc | tbc | tbc |
| Event #16: $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em | 160 | $156,000 | Andrew Wisdom | San Diego, CA | $38,640 |
| Event #17: $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller | 142 | $284,000 | Duey Duong | Anaheim Hills, CA | $72,131 |
| Event #18: $400 No-Limit Hold’em – Closer | 328 | $108,240 | tbc | tbc | tbc |
*Photos courtesy WSOPC