WSOP.com guarantees $700,000 and 13 rings during their first-ever Online Circuit series.

The World Series of Poker Circuit is going online. From September 18-30, WSOP.com is running one of the biggest series in the history of the online site with their first ever Online Circuit series.

The thirteen-event series features $700,000 in total guarantees and gives players in both Nevada and New Jersey the opportunity to win a coveted WSOP Circuit ring from the comfort of their couch.

The Prestige Of the WSOP

“We’ve always believed that it’s our mission to bring the excitement of poker and specifically the prestige of the WSOP to as many people as possible and the WSOP Online Circuit Event is simply the next step on that path,” said Bill Rini Head of Online Poker for WSOP.com. “We’ve held several highly successful online bracelet events and now with Nevada and New Jersey shared player pools, the demand and feedback we’ve seen, we’ve determined that an online circuit schedule makes sense of the market.”

This summer, during the 49th Annual World Series of Poker, WSOP.com offered four different bracelet events with buy-ins ranging from $365 up to the $3,200 High Roller. The winners of those events not only reaped the benefits from enhanced prize pools but they received an actual bracelet and Player of the Year points as if they’d won one in the halls of the Rio. Similarly, the Online Circuit holds the same status as their offline counterpart.

“Winners will receive official WSOP Circuit rings along with qualifying for the Global Casino Championship just like all WSOP Circuit event,” said Rini.

Marketplace Demands

The schedule features thirteen straight days of events. It starts with a $200 buy-in for Event #1: $12,500 GTD No Limit Hold’em (Knockout), the lowest buy-in of the series, on September 18. The buy-ins peak with Event #8: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller Six Max with a $75,000 guarantee. The Main Event is a $525 $200,000 GTD No Limit Hold’em contest.

While previous major online series for WSOP.com, like Coast to Coast Classic II, featured a wide variety of buy-ins, this one has entry fees that more closely resemble those seen on the Circuit. According to Rini, the demand for higher buy-in online events continues to grow.

“There’s definitely an appetite for higher buy-in online tournaments. We have seen that in our higher buy-in events like the $3,200 online bracelet event this summer with 480 entries and nearly $1.5 million in the prize pool.”

Not The First Time

This isn’t the first time that a WSOP Circuit ring has been up for grabs as Anthony ‘holdplz’ Spinella (playing under his WSOP.com screen name ‘casedismissed’) won the first-ever online Circuit ring back in February 2018.

One month later, WSOP.com offered New Jersey residents an opportunity to win an online Circuit ring during their Harrah’s Atlantic City stop in March 2018. That was won by longtime online grinder Paul ‘rimmer27’ Scaturro who won over $16,000 for his efforts.

This is, however, the first time an entire Online Circuit series has been offered and it will be the first time since Nevada and New Jersey residents began playing on the same site.

The #1’s Await

The schedule is good news for some of PocketFives’ top-ranked U.S. based players like New Jersey’s Michael ‘Gags30’ Gagliano, currently the #1-ranked player in his state. Gagliano’s scorching August had him earning more than $100,000 from New Jersey online sites alone and he finished the month with six straight four-figure scores.

His #1-ranked counterpart in Nevada, David ‘bewater’ Goodman, is another player to watch when the Online Circuit gets started. Goodman has a proven track record in showing up big in WSOP.com events, having taken second place in aforementioned $3,200 WSOP Online Bracelet event for over $212,000. His recent performances have made him the #1-ranked player in the United States, #48 in the world, a career-high ranking for the Las Vegas resident.

A New Tradition?

With high hopes for the Online Circuit series, this may be the start of a new tradition. However, Rini wouldn’t commit as to what comes next.

“At this point, a year ago the Nevada, New Jersey, Delaware compact hadn’t even been announced and Pennsylvania hadn’t passed a bill legalizing online gaming. A lot can happen in just a year, so I don’t really want to talk about how many events we might or might not do because we simply don’t know what the landscape will be like in six or 12 months,” Rini said. “It’s a fast-moving business and we have an overall strategy, but I don’t have a good enough crystal ball where I feel comfortable making definitive statements.”

The inaugural WSOP.com Online Circuit series begins on September 18.

WSOP.com Online Circuit Schedule of Events

Date Event Buy-In Time [ET]
Sept. 18 Event #1: $12,500 NLHE Knockout $200 7:00 PM
Sept. 19 Event #2: $25,000 NLHE $215 7:00 PM
Sept. 20 Event #3: $35,000 NLHE, Six Max $320 7:00 PM
Sept. 21 Event #4: $25,000 NLHE Turbo $250 7:00 PM
Sept. 22 Event #5: $50,000 NLHE Double Stack $320 7:00 PM
Sept. 23 Event #6:$100,000 NLHE Monster Stack $320 5:00 PM
Sept. 24 Event #7: $25,000 NLHE Deep Turbp $215 7:00 PM
Sept. 25 Event #8: $75,000 NLHE High Roller Six Max $1,000 7:00 PM
Sept. 26 Event #9: $30,000 NLHE $215 7:00 PM
Sept. 27 Event #10: $40,000 NLHE $320 7:00 PM
Sept. 28 Event #11: $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha Six Max $215 7:00 PM
Sept. 29 Event #12: $50,000 NLHE Double Stack $320 7:00 PM
Sept. 30 Event #13: $200,000 NLHE Main Event $525 5:00 PM