The WSOP Circuit Events, where the gold rings await the champions, are also currently underway at Harveys Lake Tahoe in Nevada, USA. And it's here that an interesting story has been born.

The WSOPC in Lake Tahoe has attracted a number of players from various parts of the predominantly US. But it also attracted two friends from Alaska named Jordan Ramirez and Sterling Lopez. Neither of the pair, however, had any idea that the other was planning to play the WSOPC in Lake Tahoe.

Unexpectedly, this pair of friends met in this poker room, which is almost 5,000 miles from their home. Lopez said that the poker community in Alaska is small, so he plans his travels so that he doesn't run into Alaskan players at tournaments because he likes to play against other players. He also noted that most people from Alaska have paying jobs, so they can only spend a week or two traveling to WSOP Circuit or WSOP tournaments. It is therefore a great rarity for two players from Alaska to get together somewhere else for tournaments.

The two ended up celebrating the win

In addition to meeting so far from home, the pair of friends also both became new WSOPC champions, winning their first WSOPC rings in the process. To make matters worse, they did it two days in a row.

Jordan Ramirez was the winner of Event #7, which was a $400 NLH 6-Max with 195 entries and a prize pool of $64,350. He took home a $14,991 prize with his ring for the win.

The very next day, Sterling Lopez was also a winner, dominating tournament number 8, which was the $400 PLO 8 or Better with 113 entries and a prizepool of $37,290. Lopez also won his first ring and a $9,767 prize to go with it. Both friends have now secured seats in the WSOP Tournament of Champions, which will be held next year.

Source - poker.org, wsop.com, google maps