Annual invite-only event awards final WSOP bracelet of 2020
The first-ever online version of the WSOP Global Casino Championship kicks off Sunday, Sept. 13, with a $1 million guaranteed prize pool and a WSOP bracelet on the line. The event will take place on WSOP.com, and offers one more opportunity for invited players to take home a WSOP bracelet in 2020.
The invitation-only event brings together players who qualify for the championship event through WSOP U.S. Circuit and WSOP International Circuit events throughout the circuit's 2019-2020 season. Automatic qualifiers include the Main Event champion from each circuit stop, as well as the Casino Champion from each WSOP Circuit event.
Each WSOP Circuit stop features 12 ring events and awards points for each of those events based on where players finish. The player who earns the most points at each stop is crowned the Casino Champion.
The top 50 players on the cumulative points leaderboard from 2019-2020, who haven't already clinched a spot in the Global Casino Championship, are also invited to the season-ending tournament. Outside of these automatic qualifiers, any player who won a WSOP Circuit Ring Event in the 2019-2020 season can buy-in directly for $10,000.
WSOP Circuit season-ending event goes online
The WSOP Global Casino Championship generally takes place at the final WSOP U.S. Circuit stop of the season. For the past four seasons, the invitational tournament has commenced from the Harrah's Cherokee circuit stop in North Carolina.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the 2020 Global Casino Championship had to move online. WSOP.com hosts this year's championship event, meaning players must be located in Nevada or New Jersey while playing if they want to participate in the event.
The 2019 edition of the event saw the prize pool go just over the $1 million guaranteed mark, with Ryan Eriquezzo taking down the championship for a $279,431 payout. The victory made Eriquezzo a two-time WSOP bracelet winner.
Eriquezzo's other bracelet win came in the predecessor to the Global Casino Championship. The season-ending WSOP Circuit championship event debuted in 2011, then known as the WSOPC National Championship. The event used that name from 2011-2015 before a rebranding changed the name to the currently-used Global Casino Championship.
Eriquezzo won the WSOPC National Championship in 2012 and stands as the only two-time winner of the event.
Tough field awaits in the 2020 Global Casino Championship
Automatic qualifiers for the 2020 Global Casino Championship include circuit Main Event winners like Ravi Raghavan, who comes into the tournament with more than $4 million in career live tournament earnings. Another Main Event winner, Anthony Spinella, comes in at just under $3.8 million in live earnings.
Casino Champion qualifiers include names like Jerod Smith, Ian Steinman, Matt Stout, and Massoud Eskandari. Maurice Hawkins, a 14-time WSOPC ring winner, is eligible due to his #2 ranking on the National Leaderboard.
These players aren't all guaranteed to register for the Global Casino Championship, however, as the New Jersey/Nevada location requirement puts a challenge on players residing outside of those states.
Featured image source: Twitter
