Ending a successful season with more than $66.5 million given as prizes, the World Series of Poker is now prepping for the upcoming 2018/2019 season, which kicks off at Harrah’s Cherokee on August 2. On Tuesday, the new WSOP US Circuit schedule was announced with record 28 stops and several updates and offerings.
Most of the venues hosting the poker tournaments of the next season will be the same, with very few exceptions, one of which is the Horseshoe Baltimore, which drops off the schedule. The first stop of the 2018/2019 World Series of Poker US Circuit will be at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in North Carolina with tourneys being played from August 2 through August 18, 2018. Once again, the season ends at one of the traditional venues for the circuit, Harrah’s New Orleans, in May 2019. Of course, all 28 stops of the circuit will reward seats to the Global Casino Championship where champions and top players from each festival will compete for the prestigious gold bracelets.
The fifteenth season of the WSOP US Circuit will once again visit Florida twice, but both stops will be hosted by the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, while the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood is dropped. In March 2019, Bally’s Las Vegas will be home to the 10-day poker festival, while the schedule also features two stops at Horseshoe Hammond in Boston and another two in Mississippi’s Horseshoe Tunica. California-based poker pros will also enjoy the two stops at Thunder Valley Casino in the Sacramento area.
Along with the WSOP US Circuit, the International tour returns this season but the exact schedule will be announced at a later date. The stop currently confirmed will be at Playground Poker Club in Montreal, Canada, where the tournament will take place from August 23 to September 14, 2018.
New Offerings for 2018/2019 WSOP Circuit Tour
Every stop of the tour will offer players the opportunity to earn a gold ring in at least 12 events, which will feature buy-ins of at least $250. This means that during the upcoming season, a minimum of 336 gold ring-winners will be granted a place at the invitation-only Global Casino Championship in the summer of 2019. Of course, all those who earn the required amount of points will also qualify for the exclusive championship, which comes with a guaranteed prize pool of at least $1 million.
Apart from the slight changes in the venues, the fifteenth season of the WSOP US Circuit promises many exciting updates and offers. Official ring events will now allow players to start with many more chips – while the $400 buy-in events (that had entry fees of $365) increase the starting chips to 15,000, the Main Events will have buy-ins of $1,700 and starting stacks of 30,000. In fact, many of the events will feature different entry fees and those in lower range will cost $250, $400, and $600 to enter. Higher buy-ins, which are associated with higher prize pools as well, remain the same at $1,125, $2,200, $3,250 and $5,300.
In addition to these changes, the new season of WSOP will offer more games in the popular Big Blind Ante format, which, organizers say, was very successful in the 2017/2018 season. This structure is becoming increasingly popular, as it is more convenient for players and offers poker action at a faster pace
- Author
Harry Evans
