Last Updated on August 20, 2026 by Bala Kumar
Texas poker is having a genuine growth moment, and September 2026 is about to be the clearest proof of it yet. Texas Card House, the state’s biggest live poker brand, is running two major series back-to-back,ย its own Trailblazer Poker Tour and a second WSOP Circuit stop,ย inside a single month, across a network that now spans six clubs statewide.
For context on how fast this has moved: TCH Social in Austin hosted Texas’s first-ever WSOP Circuit series in November 2025. That series alone awarded over $7 million in prize money, the most in Texas poker history at the time. Less than a year later, the Circuit is already coming back,ย and this time it’s sandwiched right against the tour TCH built from scratch.
Trailblazer Poker Tour Season III: The Schedule
The Trailblazer Poker Tour kicks off August 25 with the first of five Season III stops, each hosted at a different TCH location across the state: Dallas, Las Colinas, Spring, Houston, and Austin. Every stop runs a full slate of tournaments and satellites building to a Main Event, and players accumulate Trailblazer of the Year points across every stop, competing for a share of a $125,000 season-long prize pool awarded to the year’s top point earners.
| Stop | Location | Dates | Guarantees |
| Stop 1 | Dallas & Las Colinas | Aug 28 โ Sept 8, 2026 | $1.2 million |
| Stop 2 | Dallas & Las Colinas | Oct 8 โ 19, 2026 | TBA |
| Stop 3 | Spring | Oct 27 โ Nov 9, 2026 | TBA |
| Stop 4 | Houston | Dec 26, 2026 โ Jan 11, 2027 | TBA |
| Stop 5 | Austin | Feb 10 โ 22, 2027 | TBA |
Stop 1 alone, running in Dallas and neighboring Las Colinas from August 28 through September 8, carries $1.2 million in guarantees, meaning the Trailblazer Tour is already in full swing before the WSOP Circuit even arrives.
WSOP Circuit Returns to TCH Social
Just two days after Trailblazer’s first stop wraps, the WSOP Circuit lands at TCH Social in Austin for a 12-day festival running September 10 through September 21. This is only the second time in Texas poker history that the WSOP Circuit has run in the state, following directly on the record-setting debut from November 2025.
The schedule features 18 ring events, opening with a $400 buy-in NLH “The Lone Star” event carrying a $100,000 guarantee. Other headline stops on the schedule include:
- A $750,000 guaranteed Mini Main Event ($600 buy-in), starting September 10
- The Main Event: $1,700 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em, carrying a $2 million guarantee, kicking off September 17
Given that the first Texas WSOP Circuit series blew past expectations and set the state’s all-time prize money record, there’s real reason to expect this second series pushes that number even higher, TCH Social’s 70-table membership-based club has the physical capacity to support it.
Why This Matters for Texas Poker
TCH CEO Ryan Crow framed the timing directly: “Texas Card House has spent more than a decade building one of the most reputable and electrifying poker communities in the world. Trailblazer started as a bet that Texas players deserved a real tour of their own, and three seasons in, they’ve proven it. Season III is the biggest one yet. And to open it and then host the WSOP Circuit again, only the second WSOP event in Texas history, tells you everything about where Texas poker is headed. This is no longer the future of the game. It’s the present.”
That’s not just marketing language. Running a self-built regional tour and a nationally branded WSOP Circuit series in the same month, across the same club network, is a genuinely unusual scheduling move; most markets don’t have the player base or the venue capacity to support both at once without cannibalizing either field. Texas Card House is betting its six-club footprint can absorb both, and September will be the real test of that bet.
Quick Facts for Players Planning September
- Two overlapping series, one state: Trailblazer Stop 1 (Dallas/Las Colinas) runs Aug 28โSept 8; WSOP Circuit (Austin) runs Sept 10โ21,ย back-to-back with almost no gap.
- Total known guarantees across the two openers: at least $3.2 million combined ($1.2M Trailblazer Stop 1 + $2M WSOP Circuit Main Event), before factoring in the additional 17 ring events and the $750K Mini Main.
- Buy-in range: as low as $400 for the WSOP Circuit’s Lone Star event, up to $1,700 for the Circuit Main Event,ย both accessible relative to national WSOP Circuit norms.
- Season-long incentive: Trailblazer of the Year points accumulate across all five 2026โ27 season stops, with $125,000 in season prizes on the line.
Final Thoughts
Texas poker has gone from having zero WSOP Circuit history before November 2025 to hosting its second Circuit series within a year, sandwiched directly against the opening of its own tour’s biggest season yet. For players in-state, September 2026 offers a genuinely rare stretch, a real shot at both a homegrown tour title and a WSOP Circuit ring without leaving Texas, in the same three-week window.
FAQs
When does the Trailblazer Poker Tour Season III start?
Season III kicks off August 25, 2026, with the first of five stops running through TCH’s Dallas and Las Colinas locations from August 28 to September 8, carrying $1.2 million in guarantees.
When is the WSOP Circuit at Texas Card House in 2026?
The WSOP Circuit runs at TCH Social in Austin from September 10 to September 21, 2026, featuring 18 ring events including a $2 million guaranteed Main Event starting September 17.
How much is the WSOP Circuit Main Event buy-in at TCH?
ย The Main Event is a $1,700 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament with a $2 million guarantee.
Is this the first time the WSOP Circuit has run in Texas?
No. This is the second WSOP Circuit series in Texas history. The first ran at TCH Social in November 2025 and awarded over $7 million in prize money, a state record at the time.
What is the Trailblazer of the Year prize pool?
Players accumulate points across all five Trailblazer Poker Tour Season III stops, competing for a share of a $125,000 season-long prize pool.
Where are the Trailblazer Poker Tour stops located?
Season III runs across five Texas Card House locations: Dallas and Las Colinas (two stops), Spring, Houston, and Austin, running from August 2026 through February 2027.

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