Cherokee, NORTH CAROLINA – April 2, 2019 – The World Series of Poker Circuit concludes its 15th season at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee, North Carolina this August with the 2019 Global Casino Championship.

The three-day tournament is scheduled for August 6-8, 2019. This will be the fifth consecutive year Harrah’s Cherokee will play host to the prestigious season-ending event. The tournament will feature a minimum $1 million guaranteed prize pool and award the winner a WSOP gold bracelet.

The Global Casino Championship is set to take place during the Harrah’s Cherokee August Circuit series, which is part of the 2019-20 WSOP Circuit season. The series is scheduled to start Thursday, August 1 and run through Monday, August 12. The series will feature a $1,700 Main Event and a High Roller tournament.

The Global Casino Championship is the culminating event to the 2018-2019 Circuit season. It will include up to 132 automatic qualifiers. Of the potential 132 automatic qualifiers, up to 108 players will have qualified on the domestic tour and up to 24 on the International tour.

“Harrah’s Cherokee has become one of, if not the premiere destination on the WSOP Circuit with three annual stops, plus the Global Casino Championship,” said Regional Vice President and General Manager Brooks Robinson. “To be the home of the Global Casino Championship is an honor for us and we can’t wait for the new season to start and to welcome all the players back to the Smokey Mountains.”

For both the domestic and International WSOP Circuit, the Main Event winner at each stop of the 2018-2019 season receives a free entry, as does the Casino Champion at each stop.  In addition, the top 50 players on the season-long leaderboard for the domestic WSOP Circuit earn an automatic entry. Currently, the 50^th spot has accumulated 157.5 points, with four stops remaining including Horseshoe Council Bluffs in Iowa (March 28-April 8), Harrah’s Cherokee (April 10-22), Horseshoe Tunica (April 25-May 5) and the last stop of the season, Harrah’s New Orleans (May 9-20).

The standings of the season-long point’s race can be found on the Circuit leaderboard.  

The last chance to earn points toward qualifying for the 2019 Global Casino Championship is at the Harrah’s New Orleans stop in May. Any stop after that, including the Harrah’s Cherokee August Circuit, will award points to the 2020 Global Casino Championship.

All players who have earned an automatic entry will receive a $500 travel stipend and three nights at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, plus one additional night for anyone making the final table or for international participants. 

The top 100 players in the WSOP Player of the Year rankings from 2018 also have the opportunity to buy into the Global Casino Championship directly for $10,000.  The rankings are compiled based on players’ performance in WSOP gold bracelet events in 2018.  Those eligible can be found here.

For the fourth consecutive year, any player who won an official gold ring event on the WSOP Circuit this season also has the option to buy in to the Global Casino Championship directly for $10,000.  For all players who buy their seats, the $10,000 is added directly to the prize pool (rake-free), in addition to the $1,000,000 put up by WSOP.

Players looking to earn a seat to the 2019 Global Casino Championship still have time to do so internationally as well. The International Circuit stops remaining on this season’s schedule include Dusk Till Dawn Casino in Nottingham, England (March 31-April 14), Cannes, France at Le Croisette Casino Barriere from April 11-22, and in Morocco at Casino De Marrakech (June 15-23).

The three-day 2019 WSOP Global Casino Championship No-Limit Hold’em tournament will get underway at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, August 6 in the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort Event Center with all eligible players.

The remaining 2018-19 schedules are as follows:

DOMESTIC TOUR REMAINING SCHEDULE

INTERNATIONAL TOUR REMAINING SCHEDULE 

Circuit schedules are subject to change.  Stops may be added or removed. For more information on individual circuit events, including event schedules and structure sheets, can be found at each property website or by visiting www.WSOP.com 

*The WSOP Circuit Events and culminating championship are subject to tournament rules and restrictions. The timing, number and location of events are subject to change and all applicable gaming regulations.  Eligibility for the Global Casino Championship is not guaranteed. Requirements and rules must be adhered to and Caesars has final and sole authority to determine eligibility.

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 August each year, and culminating the following May.  The Global Casino Championship, a qualifying tournament with a $1,000,000 prize pool provided by WSOP and televised on ESPN awards the victor a WSOP gold bracelet. 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 $1,700 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Main Event. Official WSOP Circuit events range in buy-in from $250-$5,300 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 2018-19, the WSOP Circuit season consists of 27 stops in the United States, two online-only series, plus 11 International stops. The U.S. stops are all tied together by a cumulative points system that awards points based on finish in individual events. The winner of each stop’s Main Event (the only three-day structured event) gains automatic entry into the season-ending WSOP Global Casino 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 U.S. 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 championship qualification. For International Circuit Events, those are closed-loop events, awarding two automatic entries at each stop, one for the Main Event champion and one for the Casino Champion. The WSOP Circuit Events are an offshoot of the longest-running, largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world, dating back 49 years to 1970 – the famous World Series of Poker. This marks the 15th 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 Harrah’s-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 40 stops, the WSOP Circuit visits 13 U.S. states and 10 international cities.  Cumulatively, these events feature more players participating in it than the Las Vegas version of the WSOP.  Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc., (CIE) owns the WSOP and the WSOP Circuit Events.  For more information, visit http://www.wsop.com/2018/circuit/ or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wsop.

ABOUT HARRAH’S CHEROKEE CASINO RESORT

An enterprise of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort is located in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina. The Casino has 150,000 square feet of gaming space with over 3,600 slot games and 150 traditional table games such as black jack, roulette and craps. The property also features over 1,100 hotel rooms, the Le Fu Men gaming area, 10 restaurants, the ESSENCE Lounge, the luxurious 18,000 square foot Mandara Spa, nine retail shops and the 3,000 plus seat Event Center. In addition to the 56-acre property, guests have privileged access to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian-owned Sequoyah National Golf Club. Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort is also home to the UltraStar Multi-tainment center which features 24 bowling lanes, an arcade, 3 bars and 200 seat restaurant with event stage. For complete details please visit www.HarrahsCherokee.com