![Daniel Negreanu 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Daniel_Negreanu_2007.jpg)
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 ...
(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 p ...
-branded
poker 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, 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 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 int ...
, 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](_blank)
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 third WSOPE took place between September 17 and October 1, 2009. It consisted of four events held at the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square, London. The first event saw
J.P. Kelly emerge as the winner of a less-than-an-hour long
heads up battle, overcoming a 3-to-1 chip deficit against Fabien Dunlop and earning his second World Series of Poker bracelet of the year. Kelly won most of his final chip stack in a
flush
Flush may refer to:
Places
* Flush, Kansas, a community in the United States
Architecture, construction and manufacturing
* Flush cut, a type of cut made with a French flush-cut saw or diagonal pliers
* Flush deck, in naval architecture
* Fl ...
-over-flush situation, leaving Dunlop with only 1% of chips in play.
In the second event, Erik Cajelais easily defeated runner-up Mats Gavatin after entering the heads up phase with an almost 6-to-1 chip lead.
The third event saw Finnish
Full Tilt Poker
Full Tilt Poker is an Irish online poker card room and online casino that opened in June 2004. Formerly privately owned by Tiltware, LLC and later by the Rational Entertainment Group, the site was acquired by The Stars Group (then known as Amaya ...
pro Jani Vilmunen defeat
Howard Lederer
Howard Henry Lederer (born October 30, 1964) is an American professional poker player. He has won two World Series of Poker bracelets and holds two World Poker Tour titles. Lederer has also contributed to several books on poker strategy and has ...
, the owner of Full Tilt brand, over the course of a 90-minute-long match with nearly even stacks.
The Main Event featured a heated battle between
Barry Shulman and
Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu (; born July 26, 1974) is a Canadian professional poker player who has won six World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and two World Poker Tour (WPT) championship titles. In 2014, independent poker ranking service Global Poker ...
that lasted over five hours before Shulman eventually eliminated Negreanu by hitting a
three-of-a-kind on the
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
. However, even in second place, Negreanu still topped the All Time Money List, the list of WSOP players ranked by total winnings.
Key
Results
Event 1: £1,000 No Limit Hold'em
![JP Kelly](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/JP_Kelly.jpg)
*4-Day Event: September 17, 2009 to September 21, 2009
*Number of buy-ins: 608
*Total Prize Pool: £608,000
*Number of Payouts: 63
*Winning Hand:
*Reference:
Event 2: £2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha
*3-Day Event: September 21, 2009 to September 23, 2009
*Number of buy-ins: 158
*Total Prize Pool: £395,000
*Number of Payouts: 18
*Winning Hand:
*Reference:
Event 3: £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha
*3-Day Event: September 23, 2009 to September 25, 2009
*Number of buy-ins: 154
*Total Prize Pool: £770,000
*Number of Payouts: 18
*Winning Hand:
*Reference:
Event 4: £10,000 No Limit Hold'em
![Barry Shulman](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Barry_Shulman.jpg)
*6-Day Event: September 26, 2009 to October 1, 2009
*Number of buy-ins: 334
*Total Prize Pool: £3,340,000
*Number of Payouts: 36
*Winning Hand:
*Reference:
References
{{Major poker tournaments
World Series of Poker Europe