WSOP ANNOUNCES 2014-15 WSOP CIRCUIT TOUR SCHEDULE
LAS VEGAS – June 24, 2014 – The eleventh season of the WSOP Circuit has been formalized with 21 stops on tap for this year’s series with buy-ins ranging from $365 to $1675.

We kick off America’s largest poker tournament series earlier than ever before, with the first stop, Palm Beach Kennel Club in Palm Beach, Florida slated to begin July 31 and run through August 11.

For the first time ever, Maryland gets added to the mix, with a stop coming to the soon-to-open Horseshoe Baltimore (Feb. 26 - March 9, 2015).  Other new stops this season include: Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas (Nov. 13-24, 2014) and Harrah’s Ak-Chin, near Phoenix, Arizona (Feb. 12-23, 2015); Two of the WSOP’s most popular stops, Palm Beach Kennel Club and Harrah’s Cherokee “Double Up” with events in 2014 + 2015. Lumière Place, in St. Louis, a late addition to the schedule last season, returns again Feb. 19 - March 2, 2015.

The tour continues almost non-stop from August through the National Championship in May.  (Dates and venue to be announced at a later date.)

A WSOP gold bracelet and a minimum $1,000,000 prize pool will again be on the line in the season-culminating National 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 and reward those players who participate in multiple events – with the Top 100 players qualifying for the WSOP Circuit National Championship (May, 2015).  There will be 42 automatic qualifiers with 58 additional players expected to qualify based on points earned throughout their play on the circuit. (An additional six seats may be added in via online qualification mechanisms.)

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.

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).

The Main Event’s will be played as re-entry, with a morning and evening flight available to players at most of the stops.   

Each WSOP Circuit stop Main Event winner will receive an automatic berth into the WSOP Circuit National Championship.  Automatic bids will also go to the “Casino Champions” 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.  

 “With big fields, good value, and exciting stops, the action doesn’t stop all year long,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart.  “We’re proud that many of the games brightest stars are being developed on the WSOP Circuit, and that by number of entrants, it has become the clear #1 mid-stakes tour in the world.”

The WSOP Circuit in 2013-14 featured 22 stops and attracted 81,440 entries in official “Ring Events” a new WSOP Circuit record.

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).

This year’s tour includes 16 returning venues from the 2013-14 season.

The entire 2014-15 schedule is as follows:

WORLD SERIES OF POKER 2014-2015 CIRCUIT TOUR SCHEDULE

 

TOURNAMENT DATES

TOURNAMENT LOCATION

MAIN EVENT

1.

July 31 – August 11, 2014

Palm Beach Kennel Club (Florida)

August 9-11

2.

August 14-25, 2014

Foxwoods Resorts (Connecticut)

August 23-25

3.

September 4-15, 2014

IP Biloxi (Mississippi)

Sept. 13-15

4.

October 2-13, 2014

Horseshoe Southern Indiana

October 11-13

5.

October 17-28, 2014

Horseshoe Hammond (Chicago)

October 26-28

6.

Oct. 30 – Nov. 10, 2014

Harveys Lake Tahoe (Nevada)

November 8-10

7.

Nov. 13 - 24, 2014

Planet Hollywood (Las Vegas Strip)

November 22-24

8.

Nov. 28 - December 9, 2014

Harrah’s Cherokee (North Carolina)

December 7-9

9.

December 4-15, 2014

Harrah’s California (San Diego area)

December 13-15

10.

December 11-22, 2014

Harrah’s Atlantic City (New Jersey)

December 20-22

11.

January 8-19, 2015

Choctaw Durant (Dallas/Oklahoma)

January 17-19

12.

January 22-February 2, 2015

Horseshoe/Tunica Roadhouse (MS)

Jan. 31-Feb. 2

13.

February 5-16, 2015

Palm Beach Kennel Club (Florida)

February 14-16

14.

February 12-23, 2015

Harrah’s Ak-Chin (Arizona)

February 21-23

15.

February 19 – March 2, 2015

Lumière Place (St. Louis)

Feb. 28 - March 2

16.

February 26 – March 9, 2015

Horseshoe Baltimore (Maryland)

March 7-9

17.

March 7-18, 2015

The Bicycle Casino (Los Angeles)

March 16-18

18.

March 19-30, 2015

Horseshoe Cincinnati (Ohio)

March 27-30

19.

April 9 – 20, 2015

Horseshoe Council Bluffs (Omaha/Iowa)

April 18-20

20.

April 16 – 27, 2015

Harrah’s Cherokee (North Carolina)

April 25-27

21.

April 30 – May 11, 2015

Harrah’s New Orleans (Louisiana)

May 9-11

 

TBD, May, 2015

WSOP National Championship

TBD

 
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 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 late July/early August each year, and culminating the following May 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 2014-15, the WSOP Circuit season consists of 21 stops all tied together by a cumulative points system that awards points based on finish in individual events.  A season-ending National Championship is held each May 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 44 years to 1970 – the famous World Series of Poker. This marks the eleventh 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 21 stops, the WSOP Circuit visits 15 U.S. states and cumulatively features more entrants than the Las Vegas version of the WSOP.  In 2013, 81,440 entered WSOP Circuit events, the most in WSOP Circuit history. Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc., (CIE) owns the WSOP and the WSOP Circuit Events.  Visit us at www.WSOP.com/2014/Circuit/ or www.blog.wsop.com or www.twitter.com/wsop