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By John Reger
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer
Just because you didn’t win a satellite tournament or failed to scrape up $10,000 doesn’t mean you can’t play in a World Series of Poker event.
The third year of the World Series of Poker Circuit got underway last week and gives more players a chance to compete.
The WSOP Circuit events were conceived to capitalize on the popularity of the WSOP, but with the emphasis on smaller buy-ins.
“The 2006 World Series of Poker was the largest poker tournament ever in history,” said Jack Effel, director of poker operations for Harrah's Entertainment. “Now, the World Series has evolved into a year-around attraction. The tremendous appeal of all the WSOPC events is that poker players everywhere can now experience the same excitement that they see in Las Vegas and on television – but much closer to home.”
The tournament definitely tries to hit as many gambling hot spots in the country as possible. There are 11 events in cities like Atlantic City, Tunica, Miss., New Orleans and Council Bluffs, Iowa. The circuit runs a month after the WSOP and has events running up to June.
The first tournament was at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe and attracted players from all over the west. There were eight events, including the championship.
The entry fees were reasonable, with buy-ins ranging from $300 up to $5,150 for the main event. The Harvey's poker room also offered second-chance tournaments nightly. Live action games and satellites ran around the clock.
“These events really do cater to the average poker player,” Effel said. “We attract some of the top professionals, but most of the time you will see regular, everyday poker players making final tables and winning prize money. The Circuit events are much more regional in nature.”
The professionals aren’t likely to go to most of the events because they can make more money playing in a cash game in Las Vegas than traveling to Mississippi or New Orleans.
If you want to play against some of the best professionals in the world, that is possible as well. At the Las Vegas stop last year, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Men “The Master” Nguyen and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi played in the event.
The other events outside of Las Vegas give the good poker player a chance to win some serious money for not a lot of financial commitment. Spend $500 and have a realistic chance to win $30,000 to $40,000. I like those odds as opposed to spending $10,000 for virtually no chance to win $12 million.
Plus if you win a main circuit event, you automatically win a seat to the main event at the 2007 World Series of Poker
All event winners on this year's WSOP Circuit will receive a fashionable gold and diamond ring, which has become one of the highest standards of achievement for tournament players.
The WSOPC is also popular because of generous amounts of chips given to players at the start of each tournament and sufficient time to allow play, which is always a concern to poker players. Structures are similar to what is used at the WSOP in Las Vegas.
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