Andy Tillman's Journey from Deadwood Dealer to WSOP Tournament Director
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After nearly two decades in the poker industry, working hundreds of tournament stops from Las Vegas to Rozvadov, Andy Tillman was just tapped as the new World Series of Poker (WSOP) International Circuit Tournament Director.
Tillman, a longtime WSOP tournament director who had already overseen international WSOP stops, was given the official title as the WSOP and GGPoker announced the remaining 2025 WSOP Circuit schedule, which includes 17 U.S. stops and 12 international stops.
Tillman spoke to PokerNews about the new role, the introduction of the WSOP+ app, and what poker players around the world can expect at future Circuit stops.
Bookmark this page! All you need to know about the 2025 WSOP is here.
Big Changes Announced for WSOP Circuit; Remaining 2025 Schedule Released
"There Will Be New Stops All Over"
Tillman, who is from Nebraska, got his start in the poker industry when he took a dealing job at Old Style Saloon No. 10 in Deadwood — the location where poker legend Wild Bill Hickock was infamously assassinated at the poker table — while studying politics and international relations at Black Hills State University in South Dakota.
In 2008, at the height of the Poker Boom, Tillman moved to Las Vegas to start dealing. "And I haven't really looked back."
For the past ten years, Tillman has overseen WSOP tournament operations at international stops around the globe, as well as serving as a tournament director during the summer festival in Las Vegas.
As the new and official top head of international stops, Tillman said there are exciting things to expect on the horizon for the WSOP Circuit, both domestically and internationally.
"There will be new stops all over," he said. "There will be new stops with international, with the US market, basically the global market. GG wants to grow poker, and it's a big push from GG to expand and build more poker."
"There's going to be a lot more going on the next year."
Rollout of WSOP+
One of the biggest changes to the WSOP this year has been the official launch of the new WSOP+ app, allowing players to pre-register for events and therefore skip registration lines.
"It makes everything so much smoother," Tillman said. "The days of the long lines of registration, the lines for getting your seat and your chips, are gone now. It's just a better experience on the player side and a better experience for the staff side."
The WSOP+ app was first introduced at 2023 WSOP Paradise and has now smoothly been implemented at the much bigger summer festival. The game-changing app will be further implemented at WSOP Circuit stops down the road.
Such a widespread rollout hasn't come without challenges, but the new International Circuit Tournament Director is up for the task.
"It's the one thing I've been really focused on trying to get to since a few years into traveling and working," Tillman said. "It's something that has become my entire focus to get there. And now that it's here, I'm not really letting up. We're actually picking up and doing more."
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