John Crncic

The highlight of John Crncic's poker career came in November 2012. He won the WSOP Circuit Main Event at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. That event was the first WSOP Circuit tournament ever held in Canada and, at the time, the largest live buy-in tournament in the country. Crncic earned his seat in the Main Event through a $180 satellite and ultimately outlasted a field of 1,032 entrants to win $286,382, a WSOP-C gold ring, and a seat in the WSOP National Championship.

Crncic entered the final table (9 players) with 2,415,000 chips, ranking sixth. After intense play, he defeated Ryan Biermann heads-up to claim the title. The final table prize pool distribution was as follows:

• 1st: John Crncic — $286,382
• 2nd: Ryan Biermann — $177,060
• 3rd: Justin Ciolfitto — $131,580
• 4th: Malachy Hagan — $98,917
• 5th: Sonny Sekhon — $75,217
• 6th: Calvin Anderson — $57,864
• 7th: Tyler St. Clair — $45,031
• 8th: Michael Collins — $35,449
• 9th: Glenn Sullivan — $28,236

Crncic, from Vancouver, Canada, was considered a "poker amateur." After winning, he said in an interview, "I'm afraid I'll wake up and find this was just a dream." His boss promised to pay for his buy-in to the 2013 WSOP Main Event if he won, and Crncic confirmed his boss would keep that promise.

According to official WSOP data, John Crncic's total career earnings are $286,382, with only one WSOP final table (1 cash), and he holds one WSOP Circuit ring. He ranks 4,213rd on the WSOP leaderboard.