Circuit Tour set July 27, 2010 7:09 AM by David Stratton

The World Series of Poker may be history – except for the last chapter to be written in November – but world class tournament poker continues in August with the launch of the World Series of Poker Circuit tour.

Now entering its seventh season, the WSOP Circuit tour is a national tour with stops in 12 U.S. cities that begins Aug. 19 and continues through May 22, 2011.

Starting this year, the Circuit tour gives players the chance to compete for a shot at the WSOP National Championship, which will include a WSOP gold bracelet and a $1 million prize pool.

Here’s how it will work: The top 100 qualifiers from the WSOP Circuit season will be awarded seats in the National Championship, to be held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on May 11, just a awarded seats in the National Championship, to be held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on May 11, just a few weeks before the full-blown World Series of Poker.

In addition to the $1 million prize pool, which will be divided among the top 10 finishers, the national championship will award a WSOP gold bracelet, the first time an official WSOP bracelet will be awarded outside the annual WSOP in Las Vegas.

There will be no buy-in for the 100-player field, and No Limit Hold’em will be the game format.

"We recognized the WSOP Circuit events needed a shot in the arm, and we believe we’ve responded with steroids," said WSOP vice president Ty Stewart. "The new model is exactly what the WSOP is all about, giving poker players of all bankrolls the chance to compete for the kind of fame, fortune and respect that comes only with a WSOP gold bracelet and a national television audience."

Stewart noted other features of the improved Circuit tour:

_ A cumulative ranking system will award points throughout the season for each official WSOP Circuit "ring" open event, with four different ways to automatically qualify.

• There will be four regional WSOP Circuit championships with a $10,000 buy-in event plus two hours of national television coverage.

• Outside of the regional championships, the buy-in for the main events have been lowered to $1,500 to encourage larger fields and more players attending multiple stops on the tour.

The aforementioned points will be used to rank players in their quest to compete in the Circuit national championship. Simply, points are based on cashes in Circuit events.

Other ways to qualify for the national championship include:

• Winning a $1,500 main event at any of the 12 Circuit tour stops.

• Making the final table at any of the four $10,000 buy-in regional championships.

• Becoming the "Casino Champion" accumulating the most points at any of the individual Circuit stops’ 10 official ring events.