The WSOP Circuit tournament series begins in Connecticut at the famed Foxwoods Resort Casino starting August 6 and runs through August 17 with the entire 2015-16 WSOP Circuit series running through May, 2016.

Bally’s Las Vegas becomes a new stop added to the domestic leg of the tour, with a scheduled 2016 stop occurring February 25 to March 7.

Otherwise, U.S. Circuit regulars will be comforted to see their regular stops returning, and successful locales doubling up, with both 2015 and 2016 iterations. Maryland’s debut at the Horseshoe Baltimore was a success, and they will return this year with two stops scheduled for August 20-31, 2015 and March 24 – April 4, 2016. To commemorate the birthday of when Horseshoe Baltimore opened (August 26, 2014), their opening WSOP Circuit event, will include an event with a 2016 WSOP Main Event package in addition to the prize money for the winner.

The tour continues almost non-stop from August through May, with Harrah’s New Orleans returning as the ending point in the U.S. from May 12-23, 2016.

A new track of international events will run concurrently to U.S. tour and two automatic qualifiers from each stop will join the U.S. tour in a season-culminating championship to crown the 2015-15 champion.

A WSOP gold bracelet and a minimum $1,000,000 prize pool will again be on the line in the season-culminating WSOP Global Casino Championship. ESPN will televise the finale as part of their annual coverage of the World Series of Poker.

Once again, a points-ranking system for all open ring tournament participants will be used to reward those players who participate in multiple events – and automatic invites given to those who win the $1675 Main Event (this buy-in amount may be different for International Circuit events) and “Casino Champions” (those players who have earned the most rankings points at a given stop) – with 100 total players receiving free entry into the WSOP Global Casino Championship. There will be an expected 50 automatic qualifiers with 50 additional players expected to qualify based on points earned throughout their play on the circuit(s). Additional monies would be added to the prize pool for any qualifiers beyond a total of 25 events or any qualifiers via WSOP.com real money online poker site. (For every seat added, $10,000 will go into the prize pool).

For the first time, any winner of an official “ring event” who doesn’t otherwise qualify for entry due to an automatic invite or standings in the ranking events will be invited to buy-in to the WSOP Global Casino Championship for $10,000. Note that in 2015 only U.S.-based WSOP Circuit Events will award cumulative points towards “at-large” invites to the season-ending championship.

The “12 Rings in 12 Days” remains, with most stops beginning on a Thursday, and the three-day Main Event beginning on the second Saturday, thereby encompassing a total of 12 official WSOP gold ring events over 12 days, and offering players non-stop poker action at the regional level. Each stop will be encouraged to add Seniors and Ladies events, which will also award a ring but will not count in the National Championship standings. (Note: March stops in Atlantic City and Los Angeles start and end on different days of the week to work around Easter, etc.)

Each stop concludes with a $1,675 buy-in Main Event Championship slated to typically start on a Saturday (some will begin on Fridays with two start days due to capacity).  (Exceptions in March for Atlantic City and Los Angeles stops).

The Main Event’s will be played as re-entry, with a morning and evening flight available to players at most of the stops. New this year, players will be afforded the opportunity to re-enter once per flight. So, if they are eliminated, they may re-enter that flight. This allows as many as four total entries -- two entries per flight. Players must be eliminated from the tournament and out of chips or forfeit their stack at the end of a flight in order to re-enter.

Late registration for official ring events will also become standardized this season and offer eight levels of late registration for all events with buy-ins from $365-$1,125 and twelve levels of late registration for the $1,675 Main Event Championship.

Each WSOP Circuit stop Main Event winner will receive an automatic berth into the WSOP Circuit Global Casino Championship. Automatic bids will also go to the “Casino Champion” at each participating venue. A Casino Champion is defined as the player at each stop who accumulates the most points throughout the 12-event gold ring schedule. 

 “We know not everyone can make it out to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, and this is our way of bringing the flavor and feel of the WSOP to regional markets,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “The WSOP Circuit continues to be a great success, both at getting new players to the game and creating tomorrow’s stars and we’re excited to kick off the twelfth season August 6.”

WSOP Circuit Event stops feature standardized tournament structures and payouts, so players going from stop to stop will be treated in a consistent manner at each of the stops – (barring any regulatory or local law differences).

The entire 2015-16 schedule is as follows:

WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2015-2016 CIRCUIT U.S. DOMESTIC TOUR SCHEDULE

WSOP staff is hard at work finalizing more stops on the International phase of the WSOP Circuit. Like the domestic circuit, the International track will feature two qualifiers per stop for the WSOP Global Casino Championship. A Main Event winner and the Casino Champion will each win automatic entry into the season-culminating event, in addition to the gold WSOP Circuit ring and prize money from that event.  Already an event in Morocco earlier this year has awarded two seats. The lists of the remaining stops currently on the schedule are: (Other events may be added in the future).

 WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2015-16 INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT SCHEDULE

 *The WSOP Circuit Events and culminating championship are subject to tournament rules and restrictions to be released at a later date. The timing, number and location of events are subject to change and all applicable gaming regulations.

 ABOUT THE WSOP CIRCUIT

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Events are a series of poker tournaments hosted throughout the United States beginning in early August each year, and culminating the following Spring/Summer with a $1,000,000 National Championship televised on ESPN where the victor earns a WSOP gold bracelet as well.

WSOP Circuit Events are designed to give the recreational and amateur player an opportunity to participate in the WSOP experience at a more affordable price point and with less of a time commitment than the traditional WSOP in Las Vegas. Each stop features 12 official events in 12 days, including a $1675 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Main Event – the most expensive buy-in event on the 12-event schedule at each stop. Official WSOP Circuit events range in buy-in from $365-$1675 and award a prestigious WSOP gold ring to each victor. These poker tournaments are designed to reach a winner within two playing days, with some events even structured to complete in one day. In 2015-16, the WSOP Circuit season consists of 19 stops all tied together by a cumulative points system that awards points based on finish in individual events. A season-ending WSOP Global Casino Championship is held each Spring/Summer with the Top 100 qualifiers. The winner of each stop’s Main Event (the only three-day structured event) gains automatic entry into the season-ending WSOP National Championship, as does each stop’s Casino Champion – the person who accumulates the most points throughout the 12 official events at a stop. Two players at each stop earn automatic entries into the season-ending championship, with the remaining players being made up of at large qualifiers whom have accumulated the most points throughout the Circuit season. Players who finish within the top ten percent of the field are typically awarded prize money on an escalating scale until there is one player who has captured all the chips. That victor wins the largest share of the prize pool, a WSOP Circuit gold ring and points towards national championship qualification. The WSOP Circuit Events are a regional offshoot of the longest-running, largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world, dating back 45 years to 1970 – the famous World Series of Poker. This marks the twelfth year the WSOP Circuit Events have been held. They were initially established by Caesars Entertainment (then Harrah’s Entertainment) after its purchase of the WSOP brand in 2004 as a way to bring the WSOP experience to Caesars-owned properties throughout the U.S. In the inaugural season (2004-05), the WSOP Circuit featured five stops – Atlantic City, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, San Diego and New Orleans. Now, with 19 stops, the WSOP Circuit visits 12 U.S. states and cumulatively features more entrants than the Las Vegas version of the WSOP. Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc., (CIE) owns the WSOP and the WSOP Circuit Events. Visit us at www.WSOP.com/2015/Circuit/ or blog.wsop.com or www.twitter.com/wsop

 This release includes “forward-looking statements” intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements contain words such as “may,” “will,” “project,” “might,” “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “would,” “estimate,” “continue” or “pursue,” or the negative or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. In particular, they include statements relating to, among other things, future actions, strategies, future performance, and the outcomes of contingencies of Caesars Entertainment and the WSOP Circuit Events. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events.

 Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future events or results and involve risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified and, consequently, the actual events described herein may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following factors:

• our ability to secure all of the locations of the WSOP Circuit Events and the time and place of such events;
• rules and regulations of the gaming and other regulatory agencies that govern the WSOP Circuit Events; and
• our ability to secure a party to produce and televise the WSOP Circuit Events, and or the National Championship.

Any forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, speak only as of the date made. Caesars disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date stated, or if no date is stated, as of the date of this press release.

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