The Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in North Carolina has once again become the home of a major World Series of Poker (WSOP) contest as it hosts 18 WSOP Circuit ring events.
“This isn’t just a tournament…It’s 12 days, $5 MILLION in guarantees, and your shot at the gold ring,” the Caesars-operated casino resort exclaimed on social media.
The event kicked off on Thursday (August 7) and will run through to August 18, with a $1,700 WSOP Circuit Main Event. There is also a $1.5 million prize pool guarantee, with every WSOP Circuit ring winner at this tournament to receive a special package to attend WSOP Paradise 2025 in the Bahamas later this year.
Making the solo trip to Cherokee, North Carolina next week to grind some WSOP circuit tournaments, cash games, and to get in some quality fishing time in the mountains.
Just gotta let the poker gods do their work and hopefully I return home with a WSOP ring and some bands
— Tate Ikeda (@tate_or_tot) August 8, 2025
According to WSOP: “Along with entry to the $2,500 WSOP Circuit Championship Mystery Bounty, WSOP Circuit ring winners also receive an Atlantis Bahamas hotel package to fund their stay.”
At the previous event at Harrah’s Cherokee this past May, Tuyen Dieu won the Circuit Main Event and gained a $287,230 payday.
First day of Harrah’s Cherokee WSOP tournament has commenced
The first day got underway on Thursday, with the event beginning at 11AM ET, with the remaining days still looming over the players.
It started with a $400 Double Stack Opener, with the series-opening Cherokee event containing 25-minute levels, 40,000 starting chips, and players to receive a 15-minute break every four levels, with a 45-minute dinner break after Level 16.
As for the Double Stack Opener, there were a total of 687 entries which built a prize pool of $226,710 with the final 104 players able to earn at least a min-cash of $800.
While some big players made it to the final table, James Wieks was crowned the first champion of the series at Cherokee. He secured $38,765 and his first ring at the event.
While Harrah’s Cherokee has become a staple on the WSOP calendar, live table games wasn’t always a possibility here. It was only in 2011 when the tribe reached an agreement with the state to allow live cards at the casino resort.
A year later, in 2012, the casino began introducing live table games and two years later they had over 100.
Featured Image: AI-generated via Ideogram
