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PANAMA CITY MAKES HIGHLY ANTICIPATED WSOP CIRCUIT DEBUT

Making their highly anticipated debut hosting the WSOP Circuit, the Panama City Hilton and StarBay Casino are set to run 12 WSOP Circuit ring events from Thursday, November 5, through Saturday, November 15, 2025.

Las Vegas, Nevada (November 5, 2025) - As Part Two of the 2025 WSOP Circuit season thunders on, it returns to the familiar confines of popular destinations like Choctaw Casino & Resort and Harrah’s Cherokee. While long-time favorites continue to highlight the WSOP Circuit schedule, new properties around the world open their doors to the WSOP Circuit and bring WSOP tournament action to more players. Making their highly anticipated debut hosting the WSOP Circuit, the Panama City Hilton and StarBay Casino are set to run 12 WSOP Circuit ring events from Thursday, November 6, through Saturday, November 15, 2025. As the WSOP Circuit continues to expand its reach, the upcoming series brings the WSOP brand to players in Panama City, Latin America, and South America, regions not often visited by the tournament operator. On the eve of one of the most anticipated WSOP Circuit series to take place this year, we had the privilege of chatting with the Director of the Panama City WSOP Circuit series, Jose Severino, to discuss what players can expect from what is set to be an exciting series. Poker player brings the WSOP Circuit to Panama City A long-time poker player who previously played professionally, Jose Severino brings his perspective as a poker player to the planning behind the Panama City WSOP Circuit series. By being a player himself, Severino knows what players look for when it comes to a successful poker event, and has harnessed that experience when coordinating the upcoming series. “Since I’m a player, I know what players want. I started in 2005, and have travelled the world playing poker. It’s my passion! It’s something I love and have put half of my life into.” Severino said. “Two years ago, there was a series in Panama City, and I brought some guys from GGPoker to see everything and talk about the idea of hosting the WSOP. They were very excited about the idea.” After GGPoker’s parent company, NSUS Group Inc., completed its acquisition of the WSOP in 2024, Severino began planning one of the most anticipated poker events to take place in Panama City. While the WSOP Circuit will be making its debut in Panama City, the host property has already proven its ability to host marquee events. “(StarBay Casino) has a lot of experience,” Severino said. “There had been a lot of tournaments in Panama before; poker is not new in Panama. For the last 20 years, there have been big cash games in Panama.” An exciting schedule of WSOP Circuit tournaments The featured event of every WSOP Circuit series, the WSOP Circuit Main Event at Panama City, offers five flights taking place at 11 AM on Monday, November 10, Tuesday, November 11, Wednesday, November 12, Thursday, November 13, and a turbo flight scheduled for 6 PM on November 13. Not to be outshone by the Circuit Main Event, the Panama City WSOP Circuit series will also run a $500 No-Limit Hold’em Mini Main (taking place November 6-9) and a variety of high rollers, including the $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller starting on Friday, November 14.Click here to see the full tournament schedule for the Panama City WSOP Circuit series. Use WSOP+ for everything related to the Panama City WSOP Circuit series Just like at the 2025 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, the WSOP+ app is continuing to revolutionize how poker players experience WSOP events.Players attending the Panama City WSOP Circuit series are encouraged to download WSOP+ before the action begins, as it will be a one-stop shop to buy into tournaments, see tournament results, and post updates through the Stories feature. Panama City WSOP Circuit series: A star-studded affair While grinders based in Panama City and the surrounding area will make up much of the field for the upcoming WSOP Circuit tournaments, a number of familiar faces are expected to compete at StarBay Casino. If you tuned in to watch the 2025 WSOP Main Event, chances are you’ll recognize one of the big names set to make the trip to Panama City. “We will be hosting a sit-and-go with the best players from the (Global Poker Index) rankings from eight countries, including Michael Mizrachi and another world champion, Damian Salas,” Severino said excitedly.The highly anticipated sit-and-go will also feature 20-time WSOP Circuit champion Ari Engel and WSOP Circuit Main Event winner Fabricio Gonzales. Live Coverage of Final Tables Throughout the Panama City WSOP Circuit series, eight final tables and featured events will be live-streamed on PokerGO Español YouTube channel. With WSOP Circuit events usually not being live-streamed, the robust live stream schedule for WSOP Circuit Panama City represents the significance of the series and provides players with the opportunity to display their skills for viewers around the world.Along with streamed coverage from PokerGO, Cable Onda Sports, the biggest sports television channel in Panama City, will be airing the same eight final tables to local audiences, bringing exciting action to new viewers who may be unfamiliar with poker.Throughout the series, updates and coverage can also be found on CodigoPoker, Bluff Central, and Poker Noticias. Panama City WSOP Circuit Leaderboard All cashes in WSOP Circuit ring events during the Panama City series will count towards the series leaderboard. With the prerequisite of cashing in three WSOP Circuit ring events, players can compete for the following leaderboard prizes:1st place: $10,000 + trophy2nd place: $3,0003rd place: $2,000 Excitement builds on the eve of the Panama City WSOP Circuit series While the WSOP Circuit hosts series around the globe, since its inception, it has primarily held events in the United States and Europe. Making the trip to Panama City, the WSOP Circuit is not only expanding its reach, but is also tapping into a passionate base of Latin American poker players. “The players are super excited,” Severino said. “The World Series of Poker is the best poker company in the world, but the Circuit is mainly in the United States. Most poker players in Latin America can’t get a visa to go play poker in the United States; it’s either too expensive or too complicated. We are giving a market that the US usually doesn’t get.”  WSOP Paradise 2025 packages Like every WSOP Circuit series until the beginning of December, every WSOP Circuit ring winner at Panama City will receive a special package to attend WSOP Paradise 2025 and compete in the WSOP Circuit Championship Mystery Bounty, taking place December 4th and boasting a $5 million guaranteed prize pool. While players in Panama City were already excited for the upcoming series, the potential opportunity to compete at WSOP Paradise is making their excitement even more palpable. “People are coming up to me and thanking me, saying ‘thank you for bringing the World Series of Poker to Panama!’, and a lot of them are asking about the Paradise package,” Severino said. “Most of them haven’t traveled to other countries to play poker. I even want to win a ring so I can go!”  What to expect away from the felt in Panama City When poker players aren’t grinding events and chasing WSOP Circuit rings, they not only have the whole city of Panama to explore, but a variety of activities coordinated by Severino. “We have one of the best Old Towns in all of Latin America, it’s amazing. There are a lot of restaurants and bars, it’s beautiful.” “You’re also only one hour between both oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic, you can see both in one hour! They can go to the Caribbean beach in just 50 minutes of driving. “We have the best beaches for surfing, a lot of other aquatic activities, and players have to visit the Panama Canal, which is a must-visit.” “We will also be having a party for players at the hotel. This is a tourist city, and players will have at least one activity each day for them to do. We also have a tour agency that will be providing players with a lot of different tours.” For players looking to make the most of their trip to Panama City for the WSOP Circuit, be sure to visit the tour agency stand that will be available during the series. A special thank you to Jose Severino and the staff at both the Panama City Hilton and StarBay Casino for their hard work in hosting their upcoming WSOP Circuit series. We look forward to following the action from what we anticipate to be an incredibly successful series!