In breaking news from Las Vegas, the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe festivities will play out from Cannes, France in 2011. Gone are the days of the cramped quarters of the Casino at the Empire in London. Now, the Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette and the Hôtel Majestic Barrière will serve as the host venues for the event, which will play out from October 7th to 21st.
In addition to the change in location, WSOP Europe will have a new presenting sponsor this year, BarierePoker.fr, which replaces Betfair. Dominique Desseigne, Groupe Lucien Barrière’s Chief Executive Officer, commented in a press release sent out on Wednesday, “This alliance backs our powerful synergy strategy between offline and online gaming and it is an honor to associate ourselves with the most prestigious poker tournament in the world.”
Seven qualifying stops for the first ever Cannes WSOP Europe event will be held, one each in Toulouse, Nice, Lille, Dinard, Enghien, Trouville, and Bordeaux. Once the series finally gets around to Cannes, its participants will be spread across 75 tables, double last year’s capacity. The 2011 WSOP Europe schedule includes seven bracelet events, up two from last year.
Why the change this year? Why won’t we be seeing the WSOP Europe slate call London home for the fifth straight time? The same press release reveals, “[Caesars Interactive Entertainment] has been looking for a strategic opportunity to enter the French market after seeing for years the interest of French poker players at the WSOP event in Las Vegas increase. By signing an offline and online alliance with the same group, Caesars now has the ability to tap into this terrific market in a meaningful manner.”
French players have excelled in recent years in the WSOP Main Event across “The Pond” in Las Vegas. Antoine Saout finished third in the 2009 cycle for $3.4 million as a member of the November Nine. Poker News Daily was on-hand for the event, which saw Saout lead for a significant chunk of play. French media personnel admitted that a win by Saout would likely spawn a poker boom in France reminiscent of Chris Moneymaker’s eight years ago in the United States.
Other poker players who carry the French banner include high-stakes pro David Benyamine, Bruno Fitoussi, and PokerStars front man Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier. PokerStars’ French site is the seventh largest worldwide in terms of real money ring game players according to PokerScout.com.
French players can qualify for the 2011 WSOP Europe festivities in Cannes by heading to BarrierePoker.fr. In addition, a brand new WSOP.fr website will make its debut later this year. Jean-Etienne Bouedec, BarrierePoker.fr’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer, commented in the same Caesars Interactive Entertainment press release on Wednesday, “Backed by this alliance, we will be even better equipped to let online players access the most prestigious world poker events in casinos and to benefit from special, unique operations in conjunction with WSOP events.”
The Cannes WSOP Europe stop will feature the first gold bracelets dished out at a non-Caesars casino outside of Sin City. The annual WSOP in Las Vegas is held at the Rio, which is operated by Caesars and located off the famed Strip on Flamingo. It gets underway on the final day of May.
Visit WSOP.com for full details.
