Over the past few days, the Great Canadian Resort in Toronto played host to the second iteration of the WSOP Circuit in Canada’s most populous city. Drawing on the success of last year’s inaugural event, organizers had big expectations for 2025, and these expectations came to fruition.
The C$2,000 WSOP Toronto Main Event was the star of the show, and although there was no official guarantee placed on the tournament, the expected prize pool was set in the neighborhood of C$3,000,000.
That prediction turned out fairly conservative as the event ended up attracting 2,139 entries, resulting in the C$3.7 million prize pool and over $500,000 for the winner. This was a significant increase compared to last year’s tournament, which saw 1,600 entries across the board, awarding C$2.8 million in total.
- Exciting tournament action
- Quality software & mobile apps
- Online WSOP bracelet events
Big Moment for an Online Qualifier
A part of the reason why this year’s WSOPC Toronto Main Event saw a sharp increase in numbers is the recent partnership between Great Canadian and GGPoker. The poker site put in the effort to give as many players as possible a chance to qualify, and quite a few clearly took them up on this offer.
Among these online qualifiers was one Joe Balsano, who secured his seat in the tournament via a $50 satellite. Balsano then went on to outlast all but four players in the Main Event, finishing in fifth and claiming $136,292 for his incredible run.
Balsano couldn’t quite make it all the way, but his story is still an inspiration and proof that a big tournament win is never out of reach.
As for the winner, that honor went to Pengxiang R, who managed to be the last player standing and take home a massive $510,245 and a WSOPC ring as a lasting reminder of this impressive win.
It is also worth mentioning that the big player turnout made the WSOPC Toronto the largest Main Event of the WSOPC Season this year.
Future Looks Bright for WSOPC Toronto
With the 2025 WSOP Circuit Toronto officially in the books and with all numbers pointing towards the festival being a big success, we can safely assume that this WSOP Circuit International stop is here to stay.
There was hardly any doubt in anyone’s mind that this would be the case, but players are the ones who have the final word, voting with their presence and their wallets. After the success of the original event and the numbers we saw last week, it is a landslide victory for WSOP Toronto and GGPoker ON.
An online qualifier turning his $50 into a five-figure amount will certainly help boost the event’s popularity even more, as these are the kind of stories we all love reading. After all, that is the kind of energy that triggered the poker boom way back.
We say goodbye to WSOP Toronto for now, but with hope that the next event will be announced sooner rather than later, giving players ample time to start trying to qualify and potentially make their own poker dreams come true.
