WSOPE Set for September 17th to October 1st in London
LAS VEGAS – April 10, 2009 – The third annual World Series of Poker Europesm presented by Betfair has solidified its tournament schedule, Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., owner and operator of the world’s most prestigious poker tournaments announced today.
The 2009 World Series of Poker Europe Presented by Betfair (the WSOPE) will feature four bracelet tournaments, including a new addition, the £2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha mixed event that begins on September 21st.
“The World Series of Poker Europe has quickly established itself as the most prestigious tournament outside the United States,” said World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. “Winning a gold bracelet is recognized globally as the top prize in the sport and we look forward to awarding four more bracelets in 2009 at the Casino at the Empire in London.”
The WSOPE will be held from
September 17th to October 1st, 2009 in the heart of Leicester Square at the Casino at the Empire in London, England. The Casino at the Empire has been a hotbed of poker activity since hosting the WSOPE, with regular cash games and tournaments running around the clock. The casino now stays open 24-hours a day and has begun offering satellite tournaments for the WSOPE. Visit
http://www.thecasinolsq.com/pages/casino-events.php for more details.
"The Casino at the Empire has quickly become the destination for poker in the UK, “said Michael Silberling, COO, London Clubs International. ““We look forward to hosting the best players in the game for the WSOPE this fall and will continue to offer the finest poker action daily for those in Leicester Square.”
Players can pre-register for the WSOPE at any London Clubs International (LCI) venue in the UK or at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Alternatively they can try and qualify online exclusively at Betfair Poker via
www.betfairpoker.com.
“We are delighted to be working alongside Harrah’s again for a successful third year of our sponsorship of the World Series of Poker Europe,” said Betfair.com CEO David Yu. “As the only place to qualify online for the tournament, we are certain that the WSOPE this year will be bigger and better than ever. We are very excited about our promotional aspects which will this year give the WSOPE a wider appeal by adding more value than ever before.”
The complete bracelet event schedule is as follows:
Friday, Sept. 18, 2009
Event #1 - £1,000 + £60 – No-Limit Hold’em Day 1A (3-day event/2 start days)
Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009
Event #1 - £1,000 + £60 – No-Limit Hold’em Day 1B
Monday, Sept. 21, 2009
Event #2 - £2,500 + £150 – Pot Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha (3-day event)
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009
Event #3 - £5,000 + £250 – Pot Limit Omaha (3-day event)
Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009
Event #4 - £10,000 + £350 – World Championship No-Limit Hold’em Day 1A (5-day event/2 start days) “Main Event”
Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009
Event #4 - £10,000 + £350 – World Championship No-Limit Hold’em Day 1B “Main Event”
All the above tournaments will be sanctioned gold bracelet events. Non-stop cash games will also be scheduled during the tournament, as well as a bevy of satellite tournaments in the weeks leading up to each event. The Casino at the Empire does not require membership for admission.
Betfair Poker is also proud to present a brand new WSOPE event exclusively free for Betfair poker players to enter. The FREE MILLION DOLLAR GAME is only available at
www.betfairpoker.com. Qualification begins in mid-April with the top 18 players traveling to London to play live at WSOPE for a first place prize of U.S. $1 million. The event will kick off the WSOPE on
Thursday, September 17.
ESPN, the exclusive World Series of Poker telecaster, is scheduled to air ten original hours of coverage of the World Series of Poker Europe in the United States and distribute the tournament globally. ESPN360.com, ESPN’s signature broadband sports network, is scheduled to provide live coverage in the U.S., Europe, Mexico and Brazil.
Harrah’s Entertainment will distribute World Series of Poker Europe programming in non-ESPN markets, which totaled 170 million households in 2008 including U.K. host broadcaster Channel 4.
During the WSOP in Las Vegas (May 26-July 15), players can pre-register for WSOP Europe at the tournament cage as well as lock in poker player hotel rates via
www.worldseriesofpoker.com. In addition, $1,570 Mega Satellites for the WSOP Europe Main Event will be held July 9th, 10th and 11th at 5:00 PM at the Rio® All-Suite Hotel and Casino.
WSOPE in London complements the WSOP held annually in Las Vegas. During the first two years of the WSOPE, seven gold bracelets have been awarded along with £9,997,500 in prize money.
The biggest names in poker have participated in WSOPE including: Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Gus Hansen, Eric Seidel, Mike Matusow, Joe Hachem, Vanessa Rousso, Andy Bloch, David Benefield, Ivan Demidov, Sorel Mizzi, Jennifer Tilly, Layne Flack, Andrew Black, Barry Greenstein, Tom Dwan, Chris Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, Max Pescatori, Chris Bjorin, Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Patrik Antonius, John Phan and Annette Obrestad.
Obrestad won the largest amount ever for a female, £1 million – or U.S. $2,013,102 when she won the inaugural WSOPE Main Event in 2007. John Juanda, the winner of the 2008 event, won in an epic battle. The final table lasted 21 hours and Juanda took home a cool £868,800 in prize money and a coveted WSOP bracelet for his remarkable efforts.
The host country is still looking to win its first bracelet on home soil, while six different nations have captured a WSOPE bracelet: Denmark (2), Afghanistan, Germany, Italy, Norway and USA.
ABOUT WSOPE
Launched in 2007 by Harrah’s Entertainment, owner of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the WSOPE is the first tournament extension of the world’s richest and most prestigious gaming event. WSOPE is held in London, England annually at London Clubs International’s (LCI) Casino at the Empire and awards the same coveted gold bracelets that the WSOP awards annually in Las Vegas. In its first two years, WSOPE has awarded seven gold bracelets, the first bracelets ever awarded outside the United States, of which six different nations have claimed. A total of 1,740 entrants have competed for £9,997,500 in prize money. Please visit www.wsop.com for more information.
ABOUT BETFAIR.COM
Betfair is the world’s leading online betting exchange, a concept it pioneered in June, 2000. The Exchange enables customers to choose their own odds and bet against each other. Betfair.com is a registered bookmaker in the UK and also licensed in Australia, Austria and Malta. Betfair.com has since established a significant gaming portfolio based in Malta and is the proud sponsor of the World Series of Poker Europe. For more information, visit www.betfairpoker.com.
ABOUT THE WSOP
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world awarding millions of dollars in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970. In 2008, the event attracted 58,720 entrants from 124 different countries to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and awarded over $180 million in prize money. The creation of the new delayed Main Event final table more than doubled ratings on ESPN year over year. Harrah’s License Company, LLC., an affiliate of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., has owned and operated the WSOP since 2004 and over the last five years, fostered an increase in player participation by more than 300-percent. The WSOP in December, 2008 was named the 7th most admired sports brand in North America by the Turnkey Sports Survey, trailing only the older and more established NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR and PGA Tour among sports properties. In addition, the WSOP has experienced groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent in 2007 of the World Series of Poker EuropeSM. For more information on the World Series of Poker, please visit our website at www.worldseriesofpoker.com.
ABOUT HARRAH’S ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. is the world's largest provider of branded casino entertainment. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, more than 70 years ago, Harrah's has grown through development of new properties, expansions and acquisitions, and now owns or manages casinos on four continents. The Company's properties operate primarily under the Harrah's®, Caesars® and Horseshoe® brand names; Harrah's also owns the London Clubs International family of casinos and the World Series of Poker®. Harrah's Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its customers through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership. For more information, please visit www.harrahs.com.