The 8th season of the WSOP Circuit Tour will feature 17 different stops across the United States from September, 2011 through May, 2012, offering 12 official WSOP Circuit Ring events at each stop and once again concluding with a $1 million freeroll National Championship in Las Vegas and a WSOP gold bracelet to the winner.

The tour begins September 8 with a brand new-stop in Bossier City, Louisiana and continues through May, 2012 in New Orleans. A revised points-ranking system for all tournament participants will be used throughout and will reward those players who participate in multiple events.

The unofficial motto of this year's WSOP Circuit Tour is "12 Rings in 12 Days." Each WSOP Circuit stop has been retooled to begin on a Thursday, and open the three-day Main Event on the second Saturday, thereby encompassing a total of 12 official WSOP gold ring events over 12 consecutive days, and offering players non-stop poker action at the regional level.

Each stop will conclude with a $1,600 buy-in Main Event Championship slated to always start on a Saturday. For the first time ever, this tournament will be played as re-entry, with a morning and an evening flight available to players. Anyone who busts out before the evening flight, will be eligible to re-buy and re-enter the tournament.

Each WSOP Circuit stop Main Event winner will receive an automatic berth into the National Championship. Automatic bids will also go to the "Casino Champions" at each participating venue. A Casino Champion is defined as the player at each stop whom accumulates the most points throughout the 12-event gold ring schedule.

100 players from the WSOP Circuit will qualify for the $1 million National Championship. 34 players will receive an exempt seat to the National Championship, while 66 players would qualify based upon rankings points. All players who cash in sanctioned WSOP Circuit ring events receive points on a sliding scale. All ring events -- except for the Main Events -- award 50 points for first place. Then on a sliding scale downward the finishers gain points all the way to 2.5 points just for cashing.

As was first introduced last year, all WSOP Circuit Tour stops will feature standardized tournament structures and payouts. So players going from stop to stop will be treated in a consistent manner at each of the stops.