Over the past few weeks, ClubWPT.com (WPT’s VIP subscription-based membership website*) has offered VIP members several opportunities to win a seat in a World Poker Tour Main Event. Two of those qualifiers included an $11,000 package for WPT LA Poker Classic, which is coming up on February 24, 2012. The winner of one of those seats and the chance to become the next poker player to have their name engraved on the WPT Champions Cup is 36-year-old Casey Hidle from Grover Beach, CA.
Hidle has been playing live and online poker for the last eight years, with the last year spent as a VIP member at ClubWPT.com. One of the benefits of being a member was the chance for him to enter the ‘WPT LAPC Seat’ tournament where he played against 2,200 entrants for almost six hours before taking down the event and winning the $10,000 WPT LA Poker Classic seat and $1,000 in cash to help cover travel expenses.
“After I won I jumped up and screamed ‘I freaking won’,” said Hidle. “I did laps around my house for I don’t know how long, then hugged my wife and two daughters and called my entire family.”
Prior to the WPT LA Poker Classic, the largest live poker tournament Hidle has ever played was a $240 buy-in event at Caesars Palace, where he made the final table and went out in 9th place for a respectable $700 payday. The stakes wil be considerably higher when Hidle takes his seat at the Commerce Casino. Last year’s champion, Greg Brooks, faced down a WPT televised final table that included poker heavyweights Carlos Mortensen and Vivek Rajkumar and took home a staggering $1,654,120 for his victory.
Said Hindle about playing for such high stakes, “I feel very confident. However, I realize the extremely tough competition that I am up against. I plan on playing my game and seeing what happens.”
Follow Hidle’s progess here on the WPT Blog and on the WPT Live Updates page when the WPT LA Poker Classic kicks off on February 24, 2012.
*NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO WIN. See Terms and Conditions for details.