News

FIRST WSOP CIRCUIT OF 2017-18 SEASON ALSO ON TAP AUG. 2-16

Televised Finale to Award WSOP Gold Bracelet and $1,000,000 Million+ Prize Pool

Cherokee, NORTH CAROLINA – March 1, 2017 – The World Series of Poker Circuit concludes its 13th season at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee, North Carolina this August with the 2017 Global Casino Championship. The three-day tournament is scheduled for August 8-10, 2017. This will be the third 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.

Following last year’s model, the Global Casino Championship will be packed into the middle of the start of next season’s first Circuit series. The 2017/2018 WSOP Circuit season kicks-off at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort Wednesday, August 2 and will run through Wednesday, August 16. The series will feature 12 gold ring events, including a $1,675 Main Event, in addition to the 2017 Global Casino Championship.

This year’s Global Casino Championship (previously known as the National Championship) includes up to 122 automatic qualifiers. Of the potential 122 automatic qualifiers, up to 94 players will have qualified on the domestic tour and up to 28 on the International tour.  The WSOP International Circuit is as big as it has ever been, featuring 14 WSOP Circuit stops on international soil this season.

For both the domestic and International WSOP Circuit, the Main Event winner at each stop of the 2016-2017 season receives a free entry, as does the Casino Champion at each stop.  In addition, the top 50 season-long point earners on the domestic WSOP Circuit earn an automatic entry. Last season, the bubble for earning a season-long automatic entry was 125 points. It is expected to be higher this season since there are three more stops on the domestic Circuit than last season.

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

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 GPI/WSOP Player of the Year rankings from 2016 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 2016.  Those eligible can be found here.

For the second 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 2017 Global Casino Championship still have time to do so. The domestic WSOP Circuit still has seven stops remaining. The stops left include Los Angeles, Atlantic City, Tulsa, Omaha/Council Bluffs, Cherokee, Baltimore and New Orleans. The International Circuit stops remaining on this season’s schedule include Italy, Czech Republic, France, Portugal, and Belgium.

The three-day 2017 WSOP Global Casino Championship No-Limit Hold’em tournament will get underway at 12 noon on Tuesday, August 8 in the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort Event Center with all eligible players. Television cameras will be on hand to cover the action with the final table taking place on Thursday, August 10.

“The growth of the World Series of Poker Circuit over the last year has been astounding,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “We are reaching new players in the United States and around the world and it’s great to have them square off against one another in this one-of-a-kind event.  We’re thrilled to be back at the beautiful Harrah’s Cherokee once again, which has always been a great host for this prestigious event.”

The remaining 2016-17 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.

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 $1,675 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Main Event. Official WSOP Circuit events range in buy-in from $365-$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 2016-17, the WSOP Circuit season consists of 22 stops in the United States, plus 14 International stops. The 22 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 47 years to 1970 – the famous World Series of Poker. This marks the 13th 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 36 stops, the WSOP Circuit visits 13 U.S. states and a dozen 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/2016/circuit/ or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wsop.

ABOUT HARRAH’S CHEROKEE CASINO RESORT

An enterprise of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation, 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, and offers 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 feet Mandara Spa and seven retail shops. In addition to the 56-acre property, guests have privileged access to the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation-owned Sequoyah National Golf Club. For complete details please visit www.HarrahsCherokee.com.

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