Curling pros will square off at Continental Cup in Las Vegas (that’s right, not in Canada)

It’s called the Ryder’s Cup of curling, and it’s returning to Las Vegas in January.

The 2016 Continental Cup of Curling pits men and women’s Canadian and U.S. teams together to form Team North America, which will take on Team World from Jan. 14 to 17.

While curling is played far more in Canada than in America, our northern neighbors have decided — for the second year in a row — to bring the cup competition to Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. (Who can blame Canadians for wanting to escape winter’s grip?)

During the four-day period, there will be traditional team games, mixed doubles and singles as well as skins and mixed-skins game formats.

Tickets start at $20.

Unless you’ve watched curling during the Winter Olympics or are a weekend curler yourself, you might not know much about the sport.

According to the Curling Canada website, “Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice towards a target area which is segmented into concentric rings.”

What does that mean? Two teams of four players each take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones across the ice in an attempt to reach the target. The stones that end up closest to the center of the target earn the highest number of points.

Last year’s Vegas championship — the first time it was held outside Canada — attracted more than 50,000 fans.

Info: Tickets are available online or by calling (702) 284-7777.