The first of four $10,000 buy-in, World Series of Poker Circuit Regional Championships, a tournament concept that was little more than a good idea less than a year ago, is now just nine players away from completion; nine very good players away.

Sitting at the tournament’s final set up table, of the nearly two-dozen that were originally occupied by the 226 person starting field, are still quite a few recognizable pros including Shannon Shorr, Bernard Lee, Brandon Adams and Curt Kohlberg, though all are still trailing behind the lesser known chip leader who has been relentless in keeping his dominating stack since Day 2.

That player, Gabe Patgorski, leads the final nine with nearly a million more in tournament chips than his closest rival, Dave “Doc” Sands, making him a favorite to earn the $525,449 top prize, despite the obviously high level of skill this table clearly possesses.

The current players and chip counts of the 2010/2011 Hammond Horseshoe World Series of Poker Circuit, Regional Championship final table, are as follows:

Gabe Patgorski- 2,263,000

Dave Sands- 1,360,000

Shannon Shorr- 905,000

Curt Kohlberg- 863,000

Bernard Lee- 401,000

James Anderson- 345,000

Mark Owens- 270,000

Anthony Hartmann- 194,000

Brandon Adams- 155,000

The final table of the WSOP Circuit, Midwest Regional Championship, will begin just outside of Chicago at 2 p.m. Central Time. To follow the final online, well before its eventual airing on the Versus channel, check out live updates and chip counts at PokerNews.com.