The World Series of Poker’s Circuit series is heading off on a round-the-world trip over the next 10 months, with stops in Argentina, France, Brazil, and the Eastern European country of Georgia among the new destinations.
As part of an ever-expanding series of global tournaments, the WSOP released its schedule on Friday for the 2017/18 International Circuit tour, with 13 confirmed stops in 11 countries on five continents, and a hint that more could be added in early 2018.
Kicking off on August 2 with a five-day festival in Casino Iguazu, Argentina, the tour will traverse the four corners of the globe with events that run every few weeks before concluding in Tbilisi, the capital city of Georgia.
Worlds Collide
Like its North American circuit counterpart, the WSOP International Circuit will send two players from each stop to the WSOP’s invitation-only Global Casino Championship in May. This tournament features winners from various qualifiers now across the world as the two circuit tours converge, with a $1 million guaranteed prize pool up for grabs.
Entry to the Global Casino Championship goes to all winners WSOP Circuit main events, as well as the “casino champion” from each. Casino champions are determined by a point system that runs throughout a WSOP Circuit stop, with players accruing points by cashing in ring events.
Each of these players will receive a freeroll seat into the culminating event and be combined with the North American circuit qualifiers, which includes 50 at large point qualifiers, plus up to 52 qualifiers that garner a seat via automatic qualification methods.
Evolution of a Championship
The Global Casino Championship is the latest incarnation of an evolving circuit championship, which awards a gold bracelet (as opposed to a gold ring) to the winner.
In 2015, Loni Harwood won the event, then called the WSOP National Championship, and more than $340,000.
Last year, in 2016, Said El Yousfi won the season finale, held at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in North Carolina, and became the first non-American to claim the award.
That tournament saw 126 qualified players enter, some of whom were by automatic freeroll, and others from those who earned the right to buy-in for $10,000.
The added players helped bump the $1 million guaranteed prize pool up to $1.26 million, from which Yousfi took home $343,256 with his extra-prestigious gold ring.
2017/18 WSOP International Circuit Stops Aug. 2 – 8, 2017 Aug. 25 – Sep. 2, 2017
Sep. 1 – 11, 2017
Sep. 27 – Oct. 4, 2017
Sep. 28 – Oct. 18, 2017
Nov.1 – 15, 2017
Nov. 17 – Dec. 4, 2017
Nov. 28 – Dec. 18, 2017
Dec. 7 – 17, 2017
January 2018
March 2018
Spring 2018
TBA 2018
Casino Iguaza, Argentina Holland Casino Rotterdam, Netherlands
Casino Campione, Italy
Bienal Pavilion, Sao Paolo, Brazil
King’s Casino Rozvadov, Czech Republic
Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, St. Marteen
Cercle Clichy Montmartre, Paris, France
Star Casino, Sydney, Australia
Enjoy Conrad Punta del Este, Uruguay
Casino de Marrakech, Morocco
Casino Campione, Italy
King’s Casino Rozvadov, Czech Republic
Casino Adjarbet, Tbilisi, Georgia
The finale for the 2016/17 WSOP Circuit season will take place again at Harrah’s Cherokee this year, August 8-10, in a televised event that overlaps with the opening stop for the 2017/18 season.
Final details for the 2018 Global Casino Championship are still being formalized before any official announcement about what players across the world will be fighting for.
