The

World Series of Poker Europe The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is the first expansion effort of World Series of Poker-branded poker tournaments outside the United States. Since 1970, participants had to travel to Las Vegas if they wanted to compete in the World Series o ...

(WSOPE) is the first expansion effort of

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...

-branded

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

tournaments A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

outside the United States. Since 1970, participants have had to travel to Las Vegas if they wanted to compete in the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Although the WSOP held circuit events in other locations, the main tournaments, which awarded bracelets to the winners, were exclusively held in Las Vegas. The inaugural WSOPE, held in 2007, marked the first time that a

WSOP bracelet The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 197 ...

was awarded outside Las Vegas. In 2004, Harrah's Casinos purchased the rights to the WSOP label. Harrah's later purchased

London Clubs International Metropolitan Gaming is a British gaming company that operates eleven casinos in the United Kingdom, Egypt, and South Africa. It is owned by Silver Point Capital. The casinos began as part of Grand Metropolitan, and later became an independent com ...

(LCI). LCI operates three

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

s in the London area—Fifty, Leicester Square, and The Sportsman. After the purchase of these casinos, Harrah's decided to expand its WSOP label into Europe. European casinos typically have a different environment than those in the U.S.

Jeffrey Pollack Jeffrey Pollack (born 1965) is an American sports executive and business consultant. After a brief career in politics, Pollack moved into the industry of sports business where he's held executive roles with the NBA, NASCAR, World Series of Pok ...

, the WSOP Commissioner, indicated that the WSOPE would have a "style and flair that is both unique and appropriate to the setting. So don't be surprised if we require participants to wear blazers at the tables. If

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

were hosting a poker tournament it may look like the World Series of Poker Europe." In marketing the WSOPE, Harrah's Casino did not rely upon the reputation of Harrah's or the WSOP alone. On July 5, 2007, Harrah's announced its alliance with England-based

Betfair Betfair is a British Gambling, gambling company which operates the world's largest online betting exchange. Its product offering also includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Founded in 2000, the business is split ...

, one of the largest online gaming companies in the world. The agreement, the largest-ever union of an online and offline gaming company, is intended to build on Betfair's European reputation in advertising the WSOPE. Due to changes in U.S. laws, effective in 2007, the WSOP could no longer accept money from online gambling companies. This prevented the WSOP from acknowledging WSOP qualifiers from online events. The WSOPE is not bound by this limitation. The United Kingdom Gambling Act of 2005 allows for legal regulated online poker sites.World Series of Poker (WSOP) Comes to Europe This Fall
February 27, 2007. Pokerpages.com. Accessed 2007-07-25 Furthermore, as the laws that govern the age of gambling differ in England than the U.S., the WSOPE admits younger players. In 2007, one of these younger players, 18-year-old Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad became the youngest player to win a WSOP bracelet event. The second WSOPE took place between September 19 and October 1, 2008. It consisted of four events held at the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square, London. The 2008 WSOPE was particularly notable, as Jesper Hougaard became the first person to win a bracelet at both the WSOP and WSOPE. Three-time bracelet winner

John Juanda Johnson "John" Juanda (born July 8, 1971) is an Indonesian professional poker player of Chinese descent based in Tokyo, Japan. He has won five World Series of Poker bracelets. Personal life Juanda was born into a Hoklo family in Medan, Nort ...

won his fourth bracelet in the WSOPE Main Event.

Ivan Demidov Ivan Demidov (russian: Ива́н Деми́дов, ; born 1981) is a professional poker player from Moscow, Russia. Demidov is one of the original "November Nine", having made the final table of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in 2 ...

, who was one of the

November Nine The November Nine was the name used to refer to the final nine contestants, or final table, at the Main Event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) from 2008 to 2016. The winner of the WSOP Main Event is considered to be the World Champion of Poker. ...

—players scheduled to play in November for the WSOP Main Event—advanced to the final table of the WSOPE, becoming the first player to make it to the final table at both the WSOP and WSOPE Main Events.

Key

Results

Event 1: £1,500 No-Limit Hold'em

* 4-Day Event: Friday, September 19, 2008 to Monday, September 22, 2008 * Number of buy-ins: 410 * Total Prize Pool: £ * Number of Payouts: 45 * Winning Hand: * References:

Event 2: £2,500 H.O.R.S.E.

* 3-Day Event: Monday, September 22, 2008 to Wednesday, September 24, 2008 * Number of buy-ins: 110 * Total Prize Pool: £ * Number of Payouts: 16 * Winning Hand: (

Seven-card stud Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River is a variant of stud poker. Before the 2000s surge of popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was the most widely played poker variant in home games across the United States, a ...

) * References:

Event 3: £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha

* 3-Day Event: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 to Friday, September 26, 2008 * Number of buy-ins: 165 * Total Prize Pool: £ * Number of Payouts: 18 * Winning Hand: * References:

Event 4: £10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event

* 6-Day Event: Saturday, September 27, 2008 to Thursday, October 2, 2008 * Number of buy-ins: 362 * Total Prize Pool: £ * Number of Payouts: 36 * Winning Hand: * References: The final table took a WSOP record 22 hours to finish. Heads up between John Juanda and Stanislav Alekhin took more than seven hours of play, another WSOP record. It took 242 hands to eliminate the first seven players and it took another 242 hands heads up before Juanda secured the win.

finished third, becoming the first player to make the final table at both the WSOP and WSOPE Main Events.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008 World Series Of Poker Europe Results World Series of Poker Europe