World Series of Poker Circuit

The World Series of Poker Circuit is a series of poker tournaments held annually at a variety of casinos since 2005 as a build-up to the World Series of Poker (WSOP).[1]

All Championship events are competed in no limit Texas hold 'em; preliminary events may be different poker variants.

In 2015, the WSOP International Circuit was launched, with rounds in Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa.[2] The International Circuit has expanded to 13 tournaments for the 2017/18 season.[3]

WSOP Circuit bracelets

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WSOP Circuit National Championship

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Starting in 2010–11, the WSOP Circuit National Championship was held as a closed event for participants of various circuit events. The winner of the WSOP Circuit National Championship won a World Series of Poker bracelet.[4]

Starting in 2011–12, qualification for the WSOP Circuit National Championship was significantly changed. A total of 100 players now receive automatic seats in the WSOP Circuit National Championship. The winners of each Circuit main event and the highest point earner at each circuit stop receive seats, with the remaining automatic seats filled by the top points earners throughout the Circuit season who are not already qualified. Additionally, the top 100 players in the "WSOP World Rankings", a points race determined on results in open events of the previous two WSOPs, are eligible to enter. The Circuit qualifiers play the National Championship on a freeroll, while the WSOP World Rankings qualifiers must pay a $10,000 buy-in.[5][6]

Season Series Name Winner Prize Runner-up
2005 event not held
2005–06
2006–07
2007–08
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11 WSOP Circuit National Championship   Sam Barnhart $300,000   James Anderson
2011–12 WSOP Circuit National Championship   Ryan Eriquezzo $416,051   Nikolas Stone
2012–13 WSOP Circuit National Championship   Jonathan Hilton $355,599   Max Steinberg
2013–14 WSOP Circuit National Championship   Dominik Nitsche $352,800   Athanasios Polychronopoulos
2014–15 WSOP Circuit National Championship   Loni Harwood $341,599   Alexandru Masek

WSOP Global Casino Championship

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In 2015–16, the WSOP National Championship was renamed to the WSOP Global Casino Championship, featuring the winners from both WSOP Circuit and WSOP International Circuit.[7] The winner of the WSOP Global Casino Championship won a World Series of Poker bracelet.

Season Series Name Winner Prize Runner-up
2015–16 WSOP Global Casino Championship   Said El-Yousfi $343,256   Yasin Ahmady
2016–17 WSOP Global Casino Championship   Sean Yu $296,941   Alexander Lakhov
2017–18 WSOP Global Casino Championship   Warren Sheaves $282,113   Jeremy Meacham
2018–19 WSOP Global Casino Championship   Ryan Eriquezzo (2) $279,431   Eric Salazar
2019–20 WSOP Global Casino Championship (Online)   Andrew "AJ" Kelsall $275,632   Michael Trivett
2020–21 season not held

WSOP Tournament of Champions

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Season Series Name Winner Prize Runner-up
2021–22 WSOP Tournament of Champions   Benjamin Kaupp $250,000   Raul Garza
2022–23 WSOP Tournament of Champions   Ronnie Day $200,000   Brent Gregory

WSOP Circuit rings

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WSOP Circuit ring

Like the World Series of Poker and its prestigious bracelet, all circuit stops have preliminary events that award rings as well.

In March 2018, WSOP.com in New Jersey hosted the first online poker tournament to award a Circuit ring.[8]

WSOP Circuit ring winners

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Below is a list of all poker players who have won at least five World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit rings.[9]

Information correct as of 21 November 2021.

Rings Player Bracelets
14   Maurice Hawkins 0
13   Daniel Lowery 0
12   Joshua Reichard 0
12   Valentin Vornicu 0
10   Ari Engel 2
9   Robert Hankins 0
9   Alexandru Masek 0
9   Martin Ryan 0
9   Jeffrey Trudeau 0
8   Daniel Buzgon 0
8   Kyle Cartwright 1
8   Roland Israelashvili 0
8   Michael Lech 1
8   Chris Reslock 1
8   Sean Yu 1
7   David Larson 0
7   Vincent Moscati 0
7   Andrew Robinson 0
7   Joshua Turner 0
7   Cory Waaland 0
6   Steve Foutty 0
6   John Holley 0
6   Mark Smith 0
6   Matt Stout 0
6   Arkadiy Tsinis 1
6   Nicholas Verderamo 0
6   Blake Whittington 0
6   Maxwell Young 0
6   Timothy Bishop 0
6   Michael Setera 0
5   Austin Apicella 0
5   Mark Fink 0
5   Brandon Fish 0
5   Loni Harwood 2
5   Raymond Henson 0
5   Blair Hinkle 1
5   Kurt Jewell 0
5   Martin Kabrhel 2
5   Jasthi Kumar 0
5   Mike Leah 1
5   Christopher Leong 0
5   Kevin McColgan 0
5   Cody Pack 0
5   Soheb Porbandarwala 1
5   Ian Steinman 1
5   Scott Stewart 0
5   Caufman Talley 0
5   Corey Paggeot 0

Most WSOP Circuit Rings in Shortest Period of Time

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In July 2022, Sergio Ramirez became the first player to win 4 WSOP Circuit rings in 12 days: $500 PLO WSOPC Online (July 15), $600 PLO WSOPC Choctaw (July 19), $400 NLHE WSOPC Choctaw (July 25), and $400 NLHE WSOPC Choctaw (July 26)[10]

WSOP Circuit Main Event Winners

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The World Series of Poker Circuit now has 22 stops along the national tour.[11] Each stop ends with a $1,675 buy-in Main Event. Originally they were $10,000. However, it changed rapidly with each succeeding WSOP Circuit season.

2005 season

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Date Location Winner Prize Runner-up
January 18, 2005 Harrah's Atlantic City Nghi Tran $780,615 Erick Lindgren
March 2, 2005 Harrah's Rincon Chris Ferguson $655,220 Prahlad Friedman
March 23, 2005 Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino Las Vegas Doug Lee $695,970 Jennifer Harman
May 8, 2005 Harrah's Lake Tahoe Jeff Lisandro $542,360 Phil Ivey
May 28, 2005 Harrah's New Orleans Walter Chambers[12] $787,340 Corey Bierria

2005–06 season

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Date Location Winner Prize Runner-up
August 25, 2005 Grand Casino Tunica Gregg Merkow $561,175 Robert Law
September 16, 2005 Harrah's Las Vegas Chris Ferguson $362,088 Chade Layne
November 2, 2005 Caesars Indiana Vinny Vinh $437,760 Men Nguyen
November 22, 2005 Paris Las Vegas Thang Pham $453,456 J. C. Tran
December 9, 2005 Showboat Casino, Atlantic City Chris Reslock $335,235 John Juanda
January 26, 2006 Grand Casino Tunica Daniel Negreanu $755,525 Bryant King
February 17, 2006 Harrah's Atlantic City Abraham Korotki $433,008 Brian Jensen
March 7, 2006 Harrah's Rincon Darrell Dicken $372,780 Weikai Chang
March 31, 2006 Caesars Atlantic City Jeffrey King $345,708 Rep Porter
May 11, 2006 Caesars Palace John Spadavecchia $648,320 Sean McCabe
May 28, 2006 Harrah's New Orleans Peter Feldman $532,950 Gavin Smith
June 19, 2006 Harrah's Lake Tahoe Clint Baskin $372,240 Brian Fidler

2006–07 season

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Date Location Winner Prize Runner-up
September 17, 2006 Harrah's Lake Tahoe Michael Arents $196,005 Jerrt Renfroe
October 4, 2006 Grand Casino Tunica Mark Smith $306,003 Manelic Minaya
November 3, 2006 Caesars Indiana Chad Batista $262,002 Hoyt Lance
December 19, 2006 Harrah's Atlantic City Rick Rossetti $368,096 Alex Gomez
January 17, 2007 Grand Tunica Dennis Perry $563,402 Gioi Luong
February 7, 2007 Horseshoe Council Bluffs Kosta Sengos $219,576 Paul Kraus
February 22, 2007 Harrah's Rincon Peter Feldman $372,780 Davidson Matthew
March 14, 2007 Caesars Atlantic City Mehrdad Yousefzadeh $488,828 John McMahon
April 6, 2007 Caesars Indiana Men Nguyen $238,756 Young Phan
May 2, 2007 Caesars Las Vegas Cory Carroll $505,176 Justin Pechie
May 23, 2007 Harrah's New Orleans Louie Esposito $516,801 Clint Schafer

2007–08 season

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Date Location Winner Prize Runner-up
September 13, 2007 Grand Casino Tunica Jordan Morgan $216,852 Terry Hawkins
November 2, 2007 Caesars Indiana Carlos Uz $175,034 Marc Fratter
November 18, 2007 Harrah's Lake Tahoe Chris Ferguson $203,649 Dustin Fox
December 5, 2007 Harrah's New Orleans Andy Philachack $247,860 Josh Arieh
December 18, 2007 Harrah's Atlantic City John Racener $379,392 Eric Buchman
January 22, 2008 Grand Casino Tunica Bart Tichelman $428,210 Donald Nicholson
February 7, 2008 Harrah's Rincon San Diego North Mike Pickett $229,002 David Peters
February 27, 2008 Horseshoe Council Bluffs Ben Hock $169,327 Michael Martin
March 15, 2008 Caesars Atlantic City Eric Haber $431,136 Dan Hicks
April 14, 2008 Caesars Indiana Wilbur Futhey $180,289 Steve Merrifield
May 1, 2008 Caesars Las Vegas Allen Cunningham $499,162 Ben Fineman
May 21, 2008 Harrah's New Orleans Nick Ceci $382,928 Timothy Miles

2008–09 season

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Date Location Winner Prize Runner-up
October 14, 2008 Horseshoe Southern Indiana Samuel Oberlin $143,064 Jerry Martin
November 2, 2008 Harrahs Horseshoe Casino Hammond Steve Billirakis $208,885 Thomas Koral
November 16, 2008 Harveys Resort & Casino, Lake Tahoe Michael Binger $181,379 Ty Stewart
December 16, 2008 Harrah's Atlantic City Brent Roberts $280,940 Phillip Reed
February 2, 2009 Harrah's Casino Tunica Kai Landry $183,974 David Dao
February 25, 2009 Horseshoe Council Bluffs Jesse Hale $113,020 Dennis Meierotto
March 14, 2009 Caesars Atlantic City Samuel Chartier $322,944 John Nixon
April 1, 2009 Harrah's Rincon San Diego Dwyte Pilgrim $125,775 Esther Taylor
April 30, 2009 Caesars Palace Justin Bonomo $227,692 Michael Mizrachi
May 20, 2009 Harrah's New Orleans Jean Gaspard $211,722 Billy Kopp

2009–10 season

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Date Location Winner Prize Runner-up
October 25, 2009 Harrah's Horseshoe Casino Hammond Daniel Livingston $291,749 Thanasi Floros
November 2, 2009 Horseshoe Southern Indiana Gabriel Cook $92,430 Christopher Tryba
November 17, 2009 Harveys Resort & Casino, Lake Tahoe Matt Keikoan $106,435 Justin Hallstrom
December 15, 2009 Harrah's Atlantic City Chris Klodnicki $215,915 Kyle Bowker
February 10, 2010 Harrah's Casino Tunica Paul Wasicka $139,422 Larry Gurney
March 2, 2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs Jovan Sudar $95,455 Gerald Walter
March 14, 2010 Caesars Atlantic City Roland Isra $264,715 Chris Mitchell
March 31, 2010 Harrah's Rincon San Diego Bryan Devoshire $114,975 Dan Schreiber
April 15, 2010 Harrah's St.Louis Jeffrey Roper $170,814 Jason Mo
April 30, 2010 Caesars Palace Andrew Lichtenberger $190,137 Dan Casetta
May 19, 2010 Harrah's New Orleans Fred Berger $197,584 Mike Beasley

2010–11 season

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Date Location Winner Prize Runner-up
August 31, 2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs Blair Hinkle[13] $88,555 Shiva Dudani
October 12, 2010 Horseshoe Council Bluffs Charles Moore $98,878 Kevin Calenzo
October 31, 2010 Emerald Casino Warren Zackey $231,956 Melanie Banfield
November 9, 2010 IP Casino Resort & Spa Travis Lutes $95,253 Farid Nasserazad
November 10, 2010 Harveys Lake Tahoe Stanley Quinn $86,789 John Mcneilly
December 22, 2010 WSOP Regional Championship - Harrah's Atlantic City Chris Bell $358,295 Chris Klodnicki
January 24, 2011 Choctaw Casino Resort Huy Nguyen $232,706 Traci Brown
February 15, 2011 Harrah's Tunica Sam Barnhart $148,612 Jesse White
March 1, 2011 Palm Beach Kennel Club John Riordan $210,180 Mike Morton
March 13, 2011 Caesars Atlantic City Brian Ali $139,284 John Andress

2011–12 season

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2012–13 season

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2013–14 season

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2014–15 season

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2015–16 season

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2016–17 season

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2017–18 season

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2018–19 season

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2019–20 season

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2020–21 season

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This season was not held due to the ongoing situation surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021–22 season

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Spencer Smith won back-to-back Monster Stack rings in Cherokee, NC both in 2200+ entry fields, for a total of $205,000.

References

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  1. ^ Holloway, Chad (2020-09-10). "History of the WSOP Circuit – Global Casino Championship". PokerNews. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  2. ^ Holloway, Chad (2015-02-26). "WSOP Announces Launch of Global Circuit Events in Italy, Mexico and Morocco". PokerNews. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  3. ^ Collson, Brett (2017-07-16). "WSOP International Circuit Schedule Announced for 2017-18". PokerNews. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  4. ^ Feldman, Andrew (2011-05-31). "Sam Barnhart crowned National Champion". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  5. ^ Feldman, Andrew (July 29, 2011). "'11-'12 WSOP Circuit to feature 16 stops". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  6. ^ Feldman, Andrew (July 23, 2012). "WSOP Circuit expands for 2012–13". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  7. ^ WSOP Finalizes Details for 2016 Global Casino Championship - Pocket Fives, 5 April 2016
  8. ^ "WSOP Circuit Will Finally Put A Ring On NJ Online Poker Players". Online Poker Report. 2018-03-12. Retrieved 2018-03-13.
  9. ^ "WSOP Players". WSOP. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  10. ^ "NJ's Sergio Thorne Ramirez Scores 4 WSOP Circuit Rings in Single Month". www.uspoker.com. 2022-08-16. Retrieved 2022-10-04.
  11. ^ Palansky, Seth (July 14, 2014). "WSOP ANNOUNCES 2014-15 WSOP CIRCUIT TOUR SCHEDULE". wsop.com. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  12. ^ Meehan, Jim (2005-08-19). "Spencer acquired ethic early". Spokesman.com. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
  13. ^ Harwood, Elissa (2010-09-01). "WSOP-C Horseshoe Council Bluffs: Blair Hinkle Earns Ring and First Circuit Championship Seat for Main Event Victory". PokerNews. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
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