Through the end of nine events, duel gold ring winner Gary Bolden holds a commanding lead in the "Best All-Around Player" race. The player who accumulates the most overall points in Caesars Palace’s 12 combined gold ring tournaments receives a pre-paid entry into the $1 million 2011-2012 WSOP Circuit National Championship.

At least two players from this tournament series will qualify for the WSOP Circuit National Championship, which is classified as a WSOP gold bracelet event. The other automatic qualifier will be the winner of Main Event championship, which ended late Monday night.

WSOP Circuit National Championship, which is classified as a WSOP gold bracelet event.

The other automatic qualifier will be the winner of Main Event championship, which ended late Monday night.

Event No. 9 was a two-day $1,000 (+80) No-Limit Hold’em tournament, which attracted a respectable turnout totaling 228 entrants. Bryan Devonshire won the $55,291 top prize.

The total prize pool came to $221,160 – the biggest of any tournament so far. The top 24 finishers were paid. All players who cashed received WSOP Circuit National Championship ranking points – used to qualify for a seat in the season-ending championship, to be played in Las Vegas.

The runner up was Paul "Eskimo" Clark, originally from New Orleans, LA. Clark is undisputedly a living legend and has been one of the game’s most unique characters for more than 25 years. Clark had to settle for a nice consolation prize totaling $34,174.

Third place went to Samy Sharaban, an engineer from Israel. This was his first time to cash in any WSOP event, which was worth a very cool $24,872 in prize money.

Fourth place went to Mel Payne, a 41-year-old business owner from Smithfield, Utah. He has now played in five events at this Circuit and finished in the top 25 percent of all five.

Fifth place went to two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Scott Clements, from Mt. Vernon, Wash. He is a 30-year-old poker pro who is widely-regarded as one of poker’s best Omaha High-Low Split tournament players.

Sixth place went to Homero Salinas, a 24-year-old student from La Joya, Tex. He is also a registered nurse. This marked his first time to finish in-the-money in a WSOP Circuit event.

Seventh place went to Reagan Echols, a 35-year-old poker pro from Colorado Springs, Col. He is also the owner of IQFLOORS.COM. This was his first WSOP-related cash.

Eighth place went to Rip Fritzer, a 52-year-old realtor from San Diego, Calif. This was his ninth time to cash on the WSOP Circuit. He also has two WSOP cashes.

Ninth place went to Mark Kroon, a.k.a "Poker Ho." He is a 50-year-old poker pro from Madison, Wis. This was his sixth time to cash in the WSOP Circuit and third final table appearance.

WSOP EVENTS 1-9

Here are the nine winners from Caesars Palace’s WSOP Circuit gold ring events, which have been completed so far: The tourney was slated to conclude late Monday night.

Event 1 – Dan Di Zenzo defeated 482 players ($350 NLHE) and won $30,151

Event 2 – Aaron Klausman defeated 887 players ($350 NLHE) and won $50,329

Event 3 – Gregory Hartwick defeated 207 players ($560 NLHE) and won $26,106

Event 4 – Gary Bolden defeated 120 players ($350 PLO) and won $26,106

Event 5 – Jeff Dobrin defeated 203 players ($350 ANTE-NLHE) and won $15,357

Event 6 – Beaudoin defeated 349 players ($350 6-NLHE) and won $10,888

Event 7 – Blake Kelso defeated 187 players ($560 NLHE) and won $23,583

Event 8 – Gary Bolden defeated 424 players ($350 NLHE) and won $27,144

Event 9 – Bryan Devonshire defeated 228 players ($1,080 NLHE) and won $55,291.