Ari Engel's climb up the career tournament winners list for World Series of Poker's Circuit series continued on Wednesday when he captured the $400 H.O.R.S.E. Event #10 at WSOP Circuit Graton for his 14th lifetime ring.
The win at California's Graton Casino & Resort, a new Circuit venue in California's Bay Area, came just three weeks after Engel collected ring #13 in a WSOP Online Super Circuit event in Michigan. Engel's latest win was worth $6,647 in an event that drew a smallish 60 total entries.
More important, however, was that the win moved Engel out of a tie with Daniel Lowery for third place on the career Circuit victories leaderboard, and into a new tie with Josh Reichard for second place with 14 lifetime wins. Both Reichard and Engel now trail Maurice Hawkins' 15 Circuit wins in an informal race that has grown very tight over the last couple of years.
Engel acknowledged on social media that the field was small by Circuit standards, and that he also rebought early on before battling to the win:
Engel, who is also a two-time WSOP bracelet winner, spoke briefly with Pokerorg following his win. Being one of poker's most dedicated grinders, especially at WSOP-branded events, he acknowledged that he plays at more WSOPC stops then the other players at the top of the Circuit wins list. "Their records are all more impressive than mine," he stated.
Engel, though, is younger than the other three players at the top of the Circuit wins list, and combined with his ability to grind away at stop after stop, it likely makes him the favorite to become the all-time Circuit victories leader at some point within the next few years.
To view Engel's full post-victory chat with PokerOrg's "Instant" coverage from Graton, click here:
http://instant.poker.org/wsop-circuit-graton?post=7211
Feature image source: Graton Casino & Resort / Hayley Hochstetler/ 8131 Media
