2009-2010 WSOP Circuit Event Schedule Announced

Eleven stops will take place as part of the 2009-2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit, announced by Harrah’s officials on Friday. The festivities will head to Harrah’s St. Louis for the first time.

Not every poker player can make the trek to Las Vegas for the world’s richest tournament series. Consequently, a WSOP Circuit Event brings the excitement of big buy-in events to Harrah’s-owned casinos around the United States. David Norton, Chief Marketing Officer of Harrah’s Entertainment, commented in a press release, “WSOP Circuit Events are a great way to welcome new guests to Harrah’s properties around the country. Whether you are a new player or a casino regular, you will find a great playing experience.”

While WSOP events in Las Vegas dish out gold bracelets to winners, Circuit Events award a prestigious gold ring to each champion. Preliminary tournaments are held along with a $5,000 buy-in Main Event, half of what the championship contest in Las Vegas costs to enter each year. While the schedule for each stop has not yet been formally released, look for the WSOP Circuit to traverse the United States as follows over the next year:

October 16th through October 25th, 2009
Horseshoe Hammond (Chicago)
Reigning Champion: Steve “MrSmokey1” Billirakis

October 23rd through November 2nd, 2009
Horseshoe Southern Indiana (Louisville)
Reigning Champion: Samuel Oberlin

November 5th through November 15th, 2009
Harvey’s Lake Tahoe
Reigning Champion: Michael Binger

December 4th through December 20th, 2009
Harrah’s Atlantic City
Reigning Champion: Brent Roberts

January 20th through February 11th, 2010
Harrah’s Tunica (Memphis)
Reigning Champion: Kai Landry

February 18th through March 2nd, 2010
Horseshoe Council Bluffs
Reigning Champion: Jesse Hale

March 3rd through March 14th, 2010
Caesars Atlantic City
Reigning Champion: Samuel Chartier

March 18th through March 31st, 2010
Harrah’s Rincon (San Diego)
Reigning Champion: Dwyte Pilgrim

April 1st through April 14th, 2010
Harrah’s St. Louis
Reigning Champion: New Event

April 14th through April 30th, 2010
Caesars Palace Las Vegas
Reigning Champion: Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo

May 7th through May 19th, 2010
Harrah’s New Orleans
Reigning Champion: Jean “Prince” Gaspard

The 2008-2009 schedule featured 10 stops in largely the same order as they appear on the new slate of events. The brand new St. Louis tournament series fills a gap in time that previously existed between Harrah’s Rincon and Caesars Palace. In addition, the Circuit stops in Hammond and Southern Indiana will overlap. The venues are separated by more than 250 miles of Interstate 65, which traverses Indiana from Louisville to Chicago.

The addition of a stop in St. Louis for the WSOP Circuit mirrors a similar move by the World Poker Tour (WPT), which dropped its North American Poker Championship and Foxwoods Poker Classic for Season 8 in favor of an event at Hollywood Casino outside of Cincinnati in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. The venue will be the first riverboat property to host a WPT event and provides a convenient destination for poker players from around the Midwest. The Hollywood Poker Open will take place from March 20th to 24th.

Buy-ins for preliminary tournaments held during Circuit Events typically begin around $250, allowing the area’s poker pros and amateurs alike ample options to try their hand at the Great American Pastime. WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack commented in a press release, “World Series of Poker Circuit Events are a great way to gain live tournament experience, get a feel for what the World Series of Poker is all about, and have a lot of fun. Every stop on the WSOP Circuit has a local flair and provides a best in class poker-playing experience.”

The 2009 WSOP Main Event enters Day 4 on Saturday. A total of 810 players remain, with Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier dominating the field. The two-time WPT event winner holds 1.4 million chips, well ahead of Ludovic Lacay’s second place stack of 896,000.