RushPoker

World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE)

General Information

The popular poker-brand World Series of Poker (WSOP) has made a breakthrough expansion of its tournaments outside of the United States via the WSOP Europe (WSOPE) last year and the move was proven effective as hundreds of players from the European continent and other parts of the world converged in three venues in London to compete for the multimillion cash prize.

The establishment of WSOPE also marked the first time in WSOP’s history to award the prestigious trophy gold bracelets outside the United States. The winners in last year’s competition can proudly say that they made history for taking the very first victories in a tournament that will last a long time.

There were three casinos in London that hosted the WSOPE last year. These are The Fifty casino in St. James, The Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square and The Sportsman at Marble Arch. The three casinos are currently operated by London Clubs International (LCI). LCI in turn is owned by Harrah’s Entertainment, the largest casino operator and the world and the owner of the WSOP and WSOPE brand.

Public reception

The inaugural WSOPE took place from September 6 to 16, 2007 at the aforementioned casinos. There were three events namely the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E., £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha and the £10,000 No Limit Hold’em Championships.

At the WSOPE H.O.R.S.E. event, there were 105 players who took part in the competition which generated a cash prize pool of £262,500. The recipient of the first place paycheck worth £70,875 was German player Thomas Bihl. This win became his first-ever WSOP bracelet win. He faced tough competition against two-time WSOP bracelet winner Jennifer Harman during the heads-up match.

In the second event, the WSOPE £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha, Italian poker pro Dario Alioto defeated the other 184 players who took part and won £234,290 for his efforts.

The third event, the WSOPE £10,000 No Limit Hold’em Championships was attended by 362 players which created a prize pool of £3,671,496. The winner of the hefty paycheck of £1 million was 18-year Norwegian online poker player Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad. The win was considered impressive and historic for the young player because Obrestad became the youngest player to have won a WSOP-organized poker tournament. The win was also the biggest among women poker players as well.

Obrestad won’t be able to join the WSOP tournament in Las Vegas this year and for another two years because U.S. laws allow a minimum age requirement of 21. She was able to join the WSOPE tournament because the age limit was 18. The win propelled Obrestad in poker superstardom and the Norwegian phenom currently has numerous sponsorship deals with a number of companies due to her success in WSOPE.

She’s expected to be back this year to defend the title but this won’t be an easy task since WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack has challenged players from all over the world to take part in the European leg of the WSOP and probably change the winning streak by European players who ruled the 2007 event.

United Kingdom-based gambling company Betfair acted as the major sponsor of the event. The company contributed additional funding to make the £1 million grand prize possible in the main event. The co-sponsorship agreement is reported to last for the next five years.

Harrah’s announced in the past that WSOPE will have its own unique identity but it will still maintain the tradition being done in the WSOP. This can be seen especially on the gold bracelets being bestowed to event winners.

Tournament Schedules

The WSOPE tournament organizers have announced early this year that the three casinos that hosted the event last year will still serve as the same venues for this year. The 2008 WSOPE will take place from September 19 to October 1 and the events that will be included have not been announced. There’s no indication for now if the events will be increased compared to last year which had three.

Television Coverage

Last year’s drama and excitement can be seen once again by poker fans from all over the world since the 2007 WSOPE event will be broadcast on television. According to the WSOPE press release, the broadcast can reach more than 134 million households worldwide. British sports network Sky Sports finished broadcasting the event for eight straight days within the last two weeks of April. Networks from other countries have started advertising the broadcast and local listings for actual broadcast times are being announced.

WSOPE Online Satellite Tournaments

Several casinos in London had conducted live satellite events leading to the WSOPE. Only a few accredited online poker sites such as Betfair.com (the major sponsor) and Paddy Power Poker had conducted satellite tournaments leading to the inaugural event. However, this year the story has become different as more and more online poker sites have taken notice of the successful staging of the inaugural WSOPE.