The World Series of Poker has released the International stops for the 2019 portion of the World Series of Poker Circuit with Mexico, Russia and Aruba on the calendar.
As ‘Chernobyl’ explodes to the top of the IMDB TV Charts with the same intensity as the RBMK-1000 reactor that nearly sent the Ukraine and Belarus to the moon, the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) advises us of a return to Mother Russia to play a spot of poker.
WSOPC Sochi is one of nine events held this side of Christmas internationally, and although you’re guaranteed to see a plethora of meltdowns at the tables, you can be sure the organisation of the event will run smoother than the Chernobyl investigation.
The trip to Sochi is the first of 2019’s International events, taking place July 19-28. Back in May 2018, the WSOP and Sochi partnered to create an 11-event schedule with Vadim Shlez winning the 1,699-entrant, $1,000 buy-in Main Event for $289,958, Justas Vaiciulionis took down the 207-entrant, $2,000 buy-in High Roller for $71,716, and Michael Semenov conquered a 39-entrant field in the $5,000 Super High Roller for $76,945.
Once Russia is in the bag, the WSOPC team hop like a rabbit to Montreal and the Playground Poker Club, where in September, the most magnificent card room in Canada hosted a seven-event series with Danny Freitas topping a CAD 1,100 buy-in Main Event for $226,836, and Raymond Latinsky securing the CAD 2,200 High Roller title for $90,522. WSOPC Canada takes place August 22 – September 2.
Then a Michael Jackson moonwalk from North to South America for the Sep 11-17 return to the Belmond Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio De Janeiro. In Sep 2018 the duo held a nine event series. Jordan Piva won the 1,637-entrant $1,000 buy-in Main Event for $246,425, Marco Alves topped the 224-entrant field in the $2,000 High Roller for $96,269, and Alisson Pereira earned the $92,546 top prize in the 86-entrant $5,000 Super High Roller.
For its next stop, the WSOPC decided to stick a jar of pickles in the middle of the rows of tomato sauce, with a visit to Mexico with the Cintermex Convention Centre in Monterrey acting as hosts Oct 11-21, and then we have a busy November.
The WSOP team splits into three as from Nov 14-22 the Holland Casino in Rotterdam hoists the iconic poker sigil into the air, suntans are in order Nov 14-24 for a trip to Aruba, and Nov 14-Dec 9 sees a WSOPC event setting up camp in Sydney, Australia.
In September, Tobias Peters defeated a field of 181-entrants to win the €1,650 Main Event in Rotterdam for $78,467, and Alexander Lynskey outlasted 1,191-entrants to win the $303,477 first prize in the AUD 2,200 Main Event in The Star Casino Sydney. It’s the first time that the WSOP will venture into the plush surroundings of the Hilton Aruba Resort & Casino the home of the now-defunct PPC Aruba World Championships.
The series ends Dec 6-14, with an event in Punta del Este, Uruguay where last year, Gabriel Muzzio won the $1,100 buy-in Main Event, beating 583-entrants to capture the $107,545 first prize, Pablo Cabrera defeated 581-entrants to win the $505,606 first prize in the $2,500 Final Millonaria, and Roland Soria topped a 95-entrant field in the $3,000 buy-in High Roller for $78,660.
The usual suspects missing from this lineup are the King’s Resort in Rozvadov, Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham, and the Casino Marrakesh in Marrakesh, so expect to see them make an appearance in 2020.
There were 12 international events in the 2018/19 season, and you can expect the same or more by the time the WSOP announce the 2020 stops. As is bog-standard in these things both the Main Event winner and the Casino Champion from each stop win a seat into the Global Casino Championship and the chance to win a bracelet due to be held sometime in 2020 at the Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina, which is incidentally, the home of four nuclear power plants.
