We’re here in Paradise, and so are the many WSOP Circuit champions who earned their way to the most beautiful stop of the poker year, WSOP Paradise at the Atlantis Resort in The Bahamas.
The series got underway on Thursday afternoon with Event #1: $2,500 Circuit Championship Mystery Bounty Day 1A, the tournament that every WSOP Circuit winner in the second half of the 2025 season earned a seat into.
We caught up with several of them on the tournament floor as they began their island adventure on the felt.
Kathy Sawers (WSOPC Playground $400 Seniors NLHE champion)
“Oh, it’s awesome! I brought my sister here with me. She’s pretending to be my girlfriend for the weekend because most poker players have brought their girlfriends. We’re going to have a wonderful weekend.”
Adriano Wise (WSOPC Lake Tahoe - $400 PLO 8 or Better champion)
“My wife and I are loving it. We got in yesterday – we’re taking in all the sights, and we’re excited about it. To me, this is a freeroll. Hopefully, if I do great, great. If it doesn’t go so hot, we’ve got a whole week here, so I’m loving it.”
Jennifer Zewe (WSOPC Baltimore - $400 No-Limit Hold ‘em champion)
“Oh my God, it's the most fun – I’m so excited to be here. I hope to bag heaps today.”
Oh, but there's so much more!
Now, while the poker is the prime attraction of WSOP Paradise, as WSOPC Tulsa ring winner Mike Champion told us, “I couldn’t think of a better place to bust a tournament.”
That’s because with a seemingly endless array of options away from the poker room on offer, there’s something to see, do, eat, or drink around every corner of this beautiful resort that the players here fully intend on experiencing as well.
Hua Han (WSOPC Lake Tahoe $300 Ladies NLHE champion)
“You know what, I got a wristband for Aqua Adventure, so I’m hoping to hit the adventure park. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Ryan Anderson (WSOPC Council Bluffs - $400 NLHE champion)
“I want to go swim with the pigs. I saw that, and I was weirded out at first, but then I was like, y’know what? If a pig’s living that good, I’ve got to see this!”
Along with swimming pigs and aquatic adventures, the famous waterslides, the lazy river, the beach, restaurants, and excursions into the city of Nassau were mentioned. But it was Sawers who gave us our favorite answer about what’s going to make these next two weeks here in Paradise so great.
“The poker, the friendships, and the fun – just to get away from it all. Thank you, poker. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Event 1 - $2,500 Circuit Championship Mystery Bounty continues with Day 1B on Friday.
