The World Series of Poker Europe kicks off in exactly two weeks from the London Clubs International in jolly old England. The first event, a £1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament, begins promptly at 1:00pm local time on Friday, September 19th. Several major online poker rooms are hastily qualifying players to head to London, don their gear, and then compete in the one of the largest tournaments ever held in Europe. Among them is Bodog, which will be holding a Euro Main Event Semifinal this Sunday, September 7th, at 3:15 p.m. ET.
As part of the Euro Main Event Semifinal, two VIP packages to the WSOP Europe Main Event are guaranteed to be up for grabs. Each package is valued at $24,000 and includes a £10,000 seat into the Main Event, roundtrip airfare to London, luxury car service to and from the airport, hotel accommodations, spending money, and Team Bodog apparel. The WSOP Europe Main Event begins on Saturday, September 27th and is a six-day tournament. Players in the London tournament will start with 20,000 chips and blinds will be 50-100. Each blind level lasts two hours. September 27th will mark Day 1A; Day 1B will occur on September 28th and a tournament winner will be crowned on October 2nd.
Last year’s Main Event was won by internet poker phenomenon Annette Obrestad, who is known as “Annette_15” online. She defeated a field of 362 of poker’s best, battling against John Tabatabai heads-up. Obrestad pocketed over $2 million for her win. She’s won the PokerStars $100 rebuy online multiple times and in July won the Sunday Mulligan on Full Tilt Poker. Tabatabai took home £570,150 as a consolation prize in 2007.
Others at the final table last year included Mathew McCullough, who finished third and won £381,910. Oyvind Riisem landed in fourth place, pocketing £257,020. Johannes Korsar was the fifth place finisher, winning £191,860. The top recognizable name to cash in the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event was Danish poker pro Gus Hansen, who finished in 10th place. Hansen finished 61st in the 2007 WSOP Main Event as well, cashing in that tournament for $154,194. Hansen has three World Poker Tour titles, taking down the Five Diamond World Poker Classic and L.A. Poker Classic during Season I for a combined $1,063,650. He also won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure during Season II for $455,780. His runner up finish in the WPT Championship during Season VI was worth $1.7 million.
The WSOP Europe Main Event will air on ESPN in the United States, according to Bodog. The direct buy-in to the online poker room’s Euro Main Event Semifinal is $540. Qualifiers will take place until the Semifinal begins on Sunday and start as low as $1.
Here is the full schedule for the 2008 WSOP Europe:
Event 1: Friday, September 19th at 1:00 PM
No-Limit Hold’em
No rebuys or add-ons
£1,500 + £75 buy-in
Event 2: Monday, September 22nd at 2:00 PM
H.O.R.S.E.
No rebuys or add-ons
£2,500 + £150 buy-in
Event 3: Wednesday, September 24th at 3:00 PM
Pot Limit Omaha
No rebuys or add-ons
£5,000 + £250 buy-in
Main Event: Saturday, September 27th at 1:00 PM
No rebuys or add-ons
£10,000 + £350 buy-in
In the United States, the “November Nine” of the World Series of Poker Main Event still await play of the final table, which is set to begin on Sunday, November 9th. The tournament will air on ESPN on Tuesday, November 11th, one week after general elections in the U.S.
