After announcing the postponement of the World Series of Poker in April, series officials made more news recently. The Global Casino Championship will now be played completely online at WSOP.com.
The move comes with live tournament poker still in a quagmire because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Players have shifted to playing online and operators have moved to meet demand.
As part of the announcement, the site also announced the new WSOP Circuit Online Season Finale will be held June 3-14.
Global Championship becomes an online event
Originally, the Global Casino Championship was set to be played in August at Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina. The annual $1 million event wraps up the WSOP Circuit season and allows players to qualify at individual tournament stops.
The event will now be held online in New Jersey and Nevada on Sept. 13 due to social distancing limitations.
“We want to do right by our players and see the promised prize money put up for grabs” WSOP executive director Ty Stewart said in a news release. “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”
The move comes after WSOP.com has ramped up online offerings in recent months to meet added demand. The WSOP has also partnered with GGPoker to run the WSOP Super Circuit Online Series internationally.
More WSOP Circuit ring action heads online
The Global Championship is just the latest tournament to see schedule changes. The annual WSOP in Las Vegas has also been postponed to the fall. Series officials haven’t announced a date or any schedule changes yet.
In the meantime, poker players looking for action can collect some hardware in the Online Circuit Season Finale series. The festival becomes the last opportunity for players to win a championship ring this season.
The series runs June 3-14 with 12 ring events. The Season Finale will also award 13 spots into the Global Casino Championship to winners and the online “Casino Champion.”
Players will find a schedule full of No Limit Hold’em events with six-figure guarantees. Buy-ins range from $215 to $1,000 and the $525 Main Event is set for June 14 with a $300,000 guarantee. Here’s a look at the complete schedule:
2020 WSOP.com Online Circuit Season Finale
| Date | Event | Buy-in | Guarantee | Re-entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 3 | Kick-Off | $215 | $100,000 | 2x |
| June 4 | No Limit Hold’em | $320 | $100,000 | 2x |
| June 5 | No Limit Hold’em Turbo Deepstack | $250 | $100,000 | 2x |
| June 6 | BIG 500 | $500 | $150,000 | 3x |
| June 7 | Monster Stack | $525 | $200,000 | 3x |
| June 8 | Freezeout | $320 | $100,000 | NA |
| June 9 | High Roller 6-Max | $1,000 | $150,000 | 2x |
| June 10 | No Limit Hold’em | $215 | $100,000 | 2x |
| June 11 | No Limit Hold’em | $320 | $100,000 | 2x |
| June 12 | No Limit Hold’em Monster Stack | $320 | $100,000 | 3x |
| June 13 | Double Stack | $320 | $150,000 | 2x |
| June 14 | Main Event | $525 | $300,000 | 3x |
How does a player qualify for the WSOP Global Casino Championship?
Along with those 13 qualifiers from the Season Finale, all 2019-20 circuit event qualifiers will receive an invitation to the Global Casino Championship. Here’s how players qualify to participate:
- Winning a WSOP Circuit Main Event
- Accumulating points to become a Casino Champion
- Being among the top 50 cumulative point earners across domestic WSOPC events
- Winning a WSOPC ring and not otherwise qualifying
Players in the top 100 in the WSOP Player of the Year rankings can also buy in for $10,000.
WSOP.com is currently available to players in New Jersey and Nevada. The platform also shares a liquidity pool with 888poker in Delaware. The arrangement makes for some of the country’s biggest player and prize pools in the country.
WSOP.com may be getting closer to Pennsylvania launch
Since Pennsylvania began offering online gaming in 2019, only PokerStars has offered poker in the state. Many expected WSOP.com to become a player through its Harrah’s Philadelphia casino.
WSOP officials remain tight-lipped about its possible entry into the market. While Stewart didn’t offer a broad update, he confirmed to USPoker that the platform is currently going through the regulatory and licensing process with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
Could a launch in 2021 be possible? That seems likely considering the state of live casinos in the state, which are still shut down.
Pennsylvania currently remains a fenced-in market – meaning it couldn’t join an interstate compact without further legislative action. However, a move into the Keystone State offers players another online option.
Many in the state would be pleased to have an opportunity to qualify online for the WSOP in Las Vegas and other events.
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