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Gennady Klimenko Wins Mini Main at WSOP Circuit Calgary

By Mrinal Gujare

4 hours ago

Mrinal Gujare 4 hours ago

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Four champions confirmed at WSOP Calgary mid-series.
Gennady Klimenko won his biggest live event, joining Kaspers, Wang & Robertson.
C$2,300 Main Event starts October 8 with three starting flights.

Image by Poker.pro

Four champions have been confirmed at the 2026 WSOP Circuit Calgary, with Gennady Klimenko joining Martin Kaspers, Pengju Wang and Matthew Robertson as ring winners. Attention now turns to the C$2,300 Main Event, which begins on October 8.

The 2026 WSOP Circuit Calgary stop has progressed further into its 18-ring schedule at Deerfoot Inn & Casino, with four champions now confirmed following Gennady Klimenko's victory in the C$400 Mini Main Event.

Klimenko joins Martin Kaspers, Pengju Wang and Matthew Robertson among the early ring winners at the Calgary festival, which began on September 30 and runs through October 12.

The next major point on the schedule is the C$2,300 Main Event, which gets underway on October 8 with the first of three starting flights.

Matthew Robertson Claims Black Chip Bounty Ring

Matthew Robertson became the third ring winner at the Calgary stop by taking down Event #3, the C$600 NLH Black Chip Bounty.

Official WSOP results recorded 198 entries and C$82,170 in tournament prize money. Robertson collected C$19,154 for first place after defeating Duong Bach heads-up. Bach earned C$12,592 as the runner-up, while Patrick Griffin finished third for C$8,527.

The heads-up contest ended shortly after the final break. Bach moved all-in holding king-jack offsuit, while Robertson had ace-three.

Robertson's ace remained in front throughout the board, bringing the tournament to a close and giving him the third ring awarded during the stop.

The result followed approximately 12 hours of play and completed the third ring event on the Calgary schedule.

Gennady Klimenko Wins C$400 Mini Main Event

Gennady Klimenko became the fourth confirmed champion of the series after winning the C$400 Mini Main Event.

Day 2 started with 96 returning players and took almost 14 hours to produce a winner. Klimenko controlled much of the final table before eventually finishing the tournament with all the chips.

His position was tested during three-handed play when Carter McCauly moved into the chip lead for a period. Klimenko later regained control by eliminating McCauly in third place and adding his stack.

That elimination gave Klimenko a major advantage entering heads-up play against Anthony Casten. Klimenko started the final duel with approximately 50 million chips compared with around 8 million for Casten.

The final hand developed after Casten picked up a straight draw on the turn and the chips went into the middle. Klimenko held a set of queens, which stayed ahead to complete the victory.

The result gave Klimenko his first live tournament win and represented the largest recorded score of his career by a significant margin.

Before the Mini Main, Klimenko had approximately $11,500 in lifetime live tournament earnings listed on Hendon Mob. His Calgary result therefore exceeded the total of his previous recorded career earnings.