World Series of Poker Tournament Circuit By Tom Howze
On October 25, 2004 Harrah's announced the creation of the World Series of Poker Tournament Circuit that marked the beginning of the 36th annual World Series of Poker season. And with it began their efforts to evolve the World Series of Poker from a month long frenzied rush into a year long sport. The Tournament Circuit is a set of poker tournament stops at different casinos that will host all-comer events for players seeking high-level top quality poker action. It also allows players based on their performance at the tournament circuit events and the World Series of Poker, to qualify them for entry into the Tournament of Champions event. The Tournament of Champions is a freeroll event meaning that no player who will participate has to put up any of his or her own funds to play. Harrah?s determines the number of players from each of the tournament circuit events who will qualify.
With the popularity of poker on the rise, Harrah's sought to capitalize on this movement by having 5 legs of the circuit that would be open to anyone who wanted to play regardless of skill level. In 2005 events were held in Atlantic City, NJ during January, San Diego, CA in February, Las Vegas, NV in March, Lake Tahoe, NV in April and New Orleans, LA in May. Each of the events were taped and will be aired on ESPN. All champions who won their events received a WSOP championship gold ring and a sizable amount of cash, which easily reached the six-figure level in the Main Events. The buy-ins for the tournaments ranged from a few hundred dollars to $10,000 per person for participation in the Championship Main Event held at each circuit leg. The game for each of the Main Events was Texas No-Limit Hold'Em poker.
The response from the poker playing public was well received drawing noted professionals like Erick Lindgren, Mimi Tran, Chris Ferguson, Chad Brown, Dewey Tomko, Robert Williamson III, Andy Bloch, J.C. Tran, Jennifer Harman Traniello, Tony Ma, Phil Ivey, John Cernuto, David Pham, Joe Awada, Antonio Esfandiari and others to the tables. It also brought out many superior regional poker players who are well known and respected in their areas of the country.
Since the acquisition of the World Series of Poker name and brand in 2004, Harrah's has been on a mission to expand the name into their properties and new areas of which the tournament circuit is one, so you can trust that this will be around for a number of years. Now the amount of "rake" the company earns from event prize pools is 6%, and this money is used to pay dealers and other expenses. Given the magnitude of tournament operations, that can't leave that much for profit. So why do they do it? A company spokesperson stated that the international exposure, newspaper and media coverage they are receiving on these events is priceless to them. It is helping to lay the groundwork for the corporation to expand greater than what they already are. So you can count on Harrah's to continue the effort to make the World Series of Poker bigger and better than it presently is.
Tom Howze is a webmaster for 9 sites that relate to 2005 World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour events, updates and information.
?expert=Tom_Howze
New Slots With Familiar Themes -
This year as I walked around the floor of the G2E I noticed that many of the new slots had older themes. As I walked past the booth of slot...
Exploring the G2E - I have been attending the G2E for the last several years and the show just keeps getting bigger each year. Even this year with the economic slowdown the show is...
Global Gaming Expo Starts Tuesday -
The Global Gaming Expo (G2E) is the annual trade show for the gaming industry held in Las Vegas. Each year many new slot and table games are introduced at the...
WSOP Crowns Youngest Champion - Peter Eastgate, a 22 year old from Denmark became the youngest player to win the World Series of Poker main event on Tuesday. He will collect $9.15 million for his...
Would You Publicize a Jackpot Win - I think everyone who has played a progressive slot machine has fantasized about what they would do if they won the jackpot. If you do win the jackpot there are...
World Series of Poker Final Table Underway - Finally we will get a conclusion to the 2008 World Series of Poker Action got underway Sunday. The players will play down to the final two who will play heads...
Learning the Language of Craps -
"Winner, winner, front line winner, pay the line take the don'ts. Coming out. World bets, horn bets C and E!"
A novice walking by the Craps table may get the feeling...
Casino Visit Cut Back Poll - Between the economic slowdown and the higher prices of fuel this year, the number of people visiting the casinos has decreased dramatically. Many players said they were making fewer trips...
Vote For Those Who Support Online Poker - I urge everyone to get out and vote on Tuesday. Remember if you don't vote, then you don't have the right to complain. Throughout the last year I have been...
Poker Cruncher - Apple IPhone and IPod Touch Poker Calculator - Poker Cruncher is a Texas Holdem calculator for the Apple IPhone and IPod Touch. I really like this application. When I first got my IPhone in July I had planned...
Submit your comments
Back to the main page