The 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event is in full swing, but not every poker player can afford the $10,000 buy-in and transportation costs to Las Vegas plus the time off of work, no matter how much they love to play. Enter the World Series of Poker Circuit. Last week, the WSOP released the schedule for the 2015-2016 WSOP Circuit season, which gives poker players around the country the opportunity to compete in WSOP-sanctioned tournaments at relatively affordable prices.
The new WSOP Circuit season will kick off August 6th at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut with the Main Event taking place August 15th through August 17th. All told, there will be 25 stops on the WSOP Circuit in the coming season, 19 in the United States and six in other countries.
Those six international tour stops are new – this will be the first season with Circuit events held outside of the United States. Currently, just three of the venues are official: Italy’s Casino de Campione in September, the Czech Republic’s King’s Casino in November, and Mexico’s Jubilee Casino Monterey in what looks like early 2016.
One new location is on the U.S. portion of the schedule: Bally’s Las Vegas. Four casinos will also host WSOP Circuit stops twice: Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in North Carolina, Horseshoe Baltimore, The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, and the Palm Beach Kennel Club.
Like last season, the WSOP Circuit season will end with the WSOP National Championship, but since there are now international events, that final tourney has had its name changed to the WSOP Global Casino Championship. A total of 100 players will qualify for a free seat into the $1 million guaranteed event. 25 of those will be the Main Event winners at each WSOP Circuit stop. At each stop, there will be a dozen “ring events” which award points based on order of finish. The player at each venue who earns the most points will be dubbed the “casino champion” and will earn a free seat in the WSOP Global Casino Championship – there’s another 25 players. The other 50 free seats will go to the 50 players who earned the most points during the entire WSOP Circuit season who did not win a Main Event or claim a casino championship. If more Circuit stops are added to the schedule, an additional $10,000 will be added to the WSOP Global Casino Championship prize pool for each additional free seat.
2015-2016 World Series of Poker Circuit Schedule
TOURNAMENT DATES | TOURNAMENT LOCATION | MAIN EVENT |
August 6-17, 2015 | Foxwoods Resort Casino | August 15-17 |
August 20-31, 2015 | Horseshoe Baltimore | August 28-30 |
September 17-28, 2015 | Palm Beach Kennel Club | September 26-28 |
October 1-12, 2015 | Horseshoe Southern Indiana | October 9-12 |
October 15-26, 2015 | Horseshoe Hammond | October 23-26 |
October 29 – Nov. 9, 2015 | Harveys Lake Tahoe | November 6-9 |
November 12-23, 2015 | Planet Hollywood | November 20-23 |
Nov. 26 – December 7, 2015 | Harrah’s Cherokee | December 4-7 |
December 3-14, 2015 | The Bicycle Casino | December 12-14 |
January 7-18, 2016 | Choctaw Durant | January 15-18 |
January 21 – Feb. 1, 2016 | Horseshoe Tunica | Jan. 29-Feb. 1 |
February 4-15, 2016 | Palm Beach Kennel Club | February 12-15 |
February 25 – March 7, 2016 | Bally’s | March 4-7 |
March 15-26, 2016 | Harrah’s Atlantic City | March 24-26 |
March 19-30, 2016 | The Bicycle Casino | March 27-30 |
March 24 – April 4, 2016 | Horseshoe Baltimore | April 2-4 |
March 31 – April 11, 2016 | Horseshoe Council Bluffs | April 8-11 |
April 14-25, 2016 | Harrah’s Cherokee | April 22-25 |
May 12-23, 2016 | Harrah’s New Orleans | May 20-23 |
TBD | WSOP Global Casino Championship | TBD |
