World Series Of Poker Circuit
The World Series of Poker Circuit
The World Series of Poker circuit is a set of tournaments that have been designed to capitalize on the rising popularity of poker in the world in general, and the popularity of the WSOP in particular. The circuit is set up by the Harrah’s Entertainment Company, the same company which bought the rights to the World Series of Poker from Binion’s in 2004. It appears that the purchase and the subsequent marketing strategy of Harrah’s has been a major success, as participation in the WSOP has grown every year since then, with numbers jumping by figures as high as 8,000 per year.
The Casinos
All of the events on the WSOP circuit are held at Harrah’s owned casinos all over the United States of America. Here is a list of the casinos and the results of the 2006-2007 circuit so far.
Harrah’s Tahoe. This state of the art casino and poker room is right on the border of California and Nevada, a hotbed for gambling and other sports. This event took place in September of 2006, with Scott Arents making the progression to the championships via an original low rank and taking home $196,005.
Grand Tunica. This Mississippi casino is home to two different stops on the WSOP circuit, one in January and another spanning September and October. This year’s winner was Mark Smith, who took home a whopping $306,000. Dennis Parry won the January event with an even bigger pot of over $506,000 after his rank and progression.
Caesar’s Indiana. Poker circuit newcomer and relative youngster Chad Batista won the event and $262,000 to boot at this October and November circuit event. March saw the only time so far this year that one of poker’s Big Names made the progression to the top rank at a WSOP event, with Men Nguyen taking the top spot.
Harrah’s Atlantic City. A nice present for Richard Rossetti was winning this year’s circuit event in New Jersey. The $368,000 he won surely covered the Christmas bills!
Horseshoe Council Bluffs. Kosta Sengos took the prize at this event that took place in late January and early February, boasting a $219,000 prize.
Harrah’s Rincon. Peter Feldman won just over $280,000 to make this event rank as one of his most special Valentine’s Days ever. This casino is located in San Diego.
Caesar’s Atlantic City. The poker room of this famous casino saw Mehrdad Yousefzadeh win round after round to take home just under $500,000 grand back in mid-March.
Harrah’s New Orleans. Louie Esposito made it look easy in the Big Easy as he made it to the final round and got the top rank and prize with $516,000.
Caesar’s Las Vegas. The original Caesar’s was the place that saw Cory Carroll make his poker dreams come true in early May, as he defeated players of higher rank and took home the bit pot of $505,000.
A total of nine casinos and eleven events, with a new circuit event on each month, makes the WSOP circuit one of the most successful draws in terms of poker tournaments in the world. Buy in prices range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, but as you can see there is some serious money to be made if you can beat your rank and make the progression to the top of the circuit.
