Dominink Nitsche Wins National Circuit Championship

The 2014 World Series of Poker officially begins tomorrow, but the first bracelet has already been awarded to Dominik Nitsche.

The National Circuit Championship brought the German player $352,800 in cash, as well as his second WSOP bracelet. The event took place at an American poker room in Atlantic City, where Nitsche had to make his way through a 126-player field to get to first place.

WSOP offered a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million for the event. According to local gambling news, 100 participants qualified via the website, and the other 26 paid a $10,000 buy-in to join the competition. Nitsche paid the fee and the investment was worth it.

2014 WSOP promises to be bigger than ever

With 2013 WSOP $50,000 Players Championship winner Matt Ashton in the final day, it was a tough battle. The British player came in third after Nitsche hit running spades for a flush to beat his pocket 3s. After another 31 hands, the German pro won the title, beating Athanasios Polychronopoulos.

The 2014 WSOP begins tomorrow, with the Casino Employees No-Limit Hold’em Event and promises to be the biggest poker tour ever to be held.

Here are the final results of the National Circuit Championship:

1. Dominic Nitsche - $352,800
2. Athanasios Polychronopoulos - $218,056
3. Matthew Ashton - $157,399
4. Christopher Bibb - $115,655
5. Tracy Doss - $86,461
6. Andrew Robinson - $65,734
7. Ylon Schwartz - $50,816
8. Jeffrey Gunnip - $39,917
9. Sean Lippel - $31,865