ARTICLES
World Series of Poker Tournament Circuit
On October 25, 2004 Harrah's announced the creation of the
World Series of Poker Tournament Circuit that marked the
beginning of the 36th annual World Series of Poker season.
And with it began their efforts to evolve the World Series
of Poker from a month long frenzied rush into a year long
sport. The Tournament Circuit is a set of poker tournament
stops at different casinos that will host all-comer events
for players seeking high-level top quality poker action. It
also allows players based on their performance at the
tournament circuit events and the World Series of Poker, to
qualify them for entry into the Tournament of Champions
event. The Tournament of Champions is a freeroll event
meaning that no player who will participate has to put up
any of his or her own funds to play. Harrah’s determines the
number of players from each of the tournament circuit events
who will qualify.
With the popularity of poker on the rise, Harrah's sought to
capitalize on this movement by having 5 legs of the circuit
that would be open to anyone who wanted to play regardless
of skill level. In 2005 events were held in Atlantic City,
NJ during January,...
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Why all the excitement over Poker?
Poker's new upsurge in popularity is due to televised
showings of championship poker tournaments, such as The World
Poker Tour and The World Series of Poker. This has resulted in
millions of people all over the world playing either online or
at land based casinos. Even movie stars and professional
athletes are getting into tournament action. This really became
evident when actor Ben Affleck won $356,400 and a tournament
title at Commerce Casino's California State Poker Championship
in June 2004.
And big business likes poker too. Bear Stearns estimated that
annual revenue from poker was $4.5 billion in 2003. Another
analyst group feels 2005 revenue will exceed $10 billion.
PokerPulse.com stated that $200,463,154 .00 was wagered at online
poker rooms in a 24 hour period on March 13, 2005.
People see the excitement and money that is involved in poker
tournaments by watching poker on TV, which is one reason the
perception of poker gambling went from being played in dark
rooms to a preferred status. The seasoned professional players
are excited about this as well. They are not winning as many
tournaments as they have in the past due to the influx of
many new players, but they are winning more than ever because
of their...
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