Paris’s Club Pierre Charron to Host WSOP International Circuit Stops
The World Series of Poker International Circuit will return to Paris, France, beginning in 2020, with the brand new Club Pierre Charron announcing that it will host three upcoming International Circuit stops beginning next May.
The joint announcement from the WSOP and Club Pierre Charron adds to the International Circuit schedule while returning the WSOP brand to Paris for the first time in several years. Though the International Circuit has held several recent events in Cannes, on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, the International Circuit hasn’t been in Paris since November of 2017, when the last Circuit event at Cercle Cliche Montmarte transpired.
Paris’s Cub Pierre Charron will host three WSOP International Circuit stops beginning in May 2020.
The new Club Pierre Charron is a 40-table venue that is well on its way to establishing itself as the new and central home for poker in and around Paris. The club, which is owned by Marval Group, had previously announced a deal with the World Poker Tour to bring a WPT stop to Paris as well.
The latest partnership bodes well for live tournament poker’s future in Paris and throughout all of France. Earlier this decade, several international tours suspended live-event operations in the face of a generalized anti-gambling crackdown by French authorities. International poker operators found it difficult to obtain proper licensing, prompting the hiatus. Meanwhile, several of France’s storied poker clubs were shuttered following raids by authorities targeting other gambling irregularities at Paris’s semi-private clubs, many of which had operated for decades.
With new regulatory oversight in place, poker is again finding France to be a more welcoming environment. “It is thrilling to think the World Series of Poker is coming back to Paris,” said Gregory Benac, the president of the Marval Group. “It is a dream come true to host a worldwide poker event such as this at Club Pierre Charron.”
Meanwhile, the WSOP gains another toehold in another important western European market.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Marval Group to bring the WSOP back to Paris,” said WSOP Director Gregory Chochon in a press release. “We know there are a lot of poker players in close proximity to Paris and their central location will serve as a terrific setting to host the WSOP Circuit.”
The first of the three WSOP Circuit stops scheduled for Club Pierre Charron will be held from May 18 to June 1, 2020. A specific event schedule has yet to be announced. The second and third stops to be scheduled at Club Pierre Charron are likely to be part of the WSOP International Circuit’s 2020-21 season, and will be specified at a later date.
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