Caesars Entertainment sold the World Series of Poker brand to NSUS Group Inc. for $500 million on Aug. 1.
Thankfully, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort and its sister casino in Murphy, Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River, will continue to operate WSOP-branded poker rooms.
The two North Carolina casinos will also continue to host some of the largest WSOP Circuit stops in the country.
Change of ownership, not of operations
Although Caesars no longer owns the WSOP, it will remain associated with the brand. Caesars had purchased the rights to WSOP (and Binion’s Horseshoe) in 2004.
The Cherokee properties house the only legal poker rooms in the state. The Tar Heel State’s third casino, Catawba Two Kings, does not offer poker, and North Carolina online poker remains prohibited.
Kelci Coker, regional communications manager of Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos, confirmed the news with NCSharp via email.
“Change in ownership will not affect our WSOP circuit plans nor the WSOP Poker Room branding at our properties.”
The Harrah’s Cherokee poker room has 32 tables and offers year-round regional action. It hosts at least two WSOP Circuit stops each year inside its Events Center, which attracts players from around the world and awards millions in prize money.
Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River opened its 10-table WSOP room in May. The room is open seven days a week for cash games and runs 7 p.m. tournaments on Mondays and Thursdays.
GGPoker has prior experience with WSOP
Caesars sold the WSOP brand for $250 million in cash and a $250 million promissory note due in five years.
With the sale, WSOP’s new owner, NSUS Group, expands its already massive footprint in the poker world. NSUS is the group that owns GGPoker, the largest online poker room in the world.
WSOP and GGPoker first partnered together in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. GGPoker hosted a successful online Circuit series in April 2020 and followed it up with a full schedule of bracelet events that summer.
Since then, GGPoker and Caesars have maintained and built their relationship. GGPoker continues to host online WSOP-branded events and has remained an official WSOP partner in Las Vegas every year.
That relationship will continue post-sale, too. Caesars maintains the right to host any WSOP-branded events it hosted before the sale for 20 years. This includes its flagship festival, held each summer in Las Vegas, and its year-round WSOP Circuit stops, said Eric Hession, president of Caesars Digital.
“We’ve enjoyed a longstanding and successful partnership with GGPoker that has helped spur the growth of the WSOP brand. This transaction is an exciting step for Caesars as a company and the WSOP brand as it continues to evolve. We can’t wait to see what NSUS has in store for growing the WSOP’s legacy in poker, and we look forward to continuing to deliver an unmatched and familiar experience to poker players going forward.”
Harrah’s Cherokee circuit concludes, will return on Thanksgiving
The 2024-25 WSOP Circuit season began in July with its premier WSOP festival in Las Vegas. Harrah’s Cherokee hosted the second domestic circuit on the schedule, which consisted of 20 gold ring events from Aug. 1-12.
The $1,700 Main Event headlined the schedule, drawing 1,451 entries for a nearly $2.2 million prize pool.
If you missed the action from the last series, you won’t have to wait long for its return. The circuit comes back to Cherokee on Thanksgiving.
The WSOP will publish the schedule’s full details closer to the event, Nov. 28 to Dec. 9. The event lineup should be similar to the series that just finished.
For now, the WSOP has announced only its 2024 Circuit dates. The season runs until mid-May 2025; next year’s dates will be announced in the coming months.
Harrah’s Cherokee hosted three stops last season, and a third stop in the spring of 2025 is undoubtedly in the cards.
Image Credit: John Locher / AP Images
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