Fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continues in the poker world, as the World Series of Poker announced on Saturday that the WSOP Circuit-ending Global Casino Championship has been moved entirely online. It was originally scheduled to be held at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino in North Carolina August 11-13.
The Global Casino Championship will now take place on WSOP.com on September 13.
Season Finale series begins next week
With the rest of the live Circuit season cancelled, one last online WSOP Circuit stop has been created. The “Season Finale” Online Circuit Event begin next week, running June 3-14. It is the last chance for players to earn a spot in the Global Casino Championship.
There is one twist to this “Season Finale,” though. Normally, a WSOP Circuit stop qualifies two players for the Global Casino Championship: the Main Event winner and the “Casino Champion,” who is the player who earns the most points across all of the stop’s official ring events.
In the Season Finale, the winner of each of the 12 ring events will earn a spot in the Global Casino Championship, as will the Casino Champion.
“We want to do right by our players and see the promised prize money put up for grabs” said Ty Stewart, Executive Director of the World Series of Poker, of shifting the Global Casino Championship online. He added:
Hopefully the choice of an East Coast or West Coast destination makes it more viable for qualifying players. Our Online Circuit events have been huge successes to date and WSOP.com is a viable alternative for the last qualification spots and this year’s championship. We look forward to returning to Harrah’s Cherokee in 2021 but until then, the show must go on…online.
Delaware players partially out of luck
As the tournament is on WSOP.com, only players located in Nevada and New Jersey are eligible to compete. Though players in Delaware do play on the same tables, they do not actually use WSOP.com, so they cannot participate in the Global Casino Championship unless they travel to one of the other two states.
Delaware players are allowed to compete in the WSOP Circuit Season Finale and win prize money, but they cannot earn points toward the Casino Champion title or receive a bid to the Global Casino Championship. Any seat won by a Delaware player will go to the next highest finisher not from Delaware.
Additionally, none of the points earned by any player in the Season Finale will count toward season-long totals. As a result, all of the top 50 points earners for the season are locked in and will receive their invitations to the Global Casino Championship.
Those who qualified at a Circuit stop this season or are among the top 50 cumulative points earners are all freerolling the Global Casino Championship, which has a $1 million guaranteed prize pool. Those who won a Circuit ring but did not earn a free seat and the top 100 players in last year’s WSOP Player of the Year rankings can still play, but must pay the $10,000 buy-in. Those buy-ins will be added to the $1 million prize pool.
