2008 WSOPE winner, John Juanda
London will take centre stage in the poker world over the next few weeks, with the WSOP Europe and PokerStars EPT just some of the events set to grace England’s historic capital.
The World Series of Poker Europe runs from September 17th to October 1st, with events split between the Empire Casino and Grosvenor Victoria Casino. Phil Hellmuth is set for another ostentatious entrance, as he burst into the casino floor flanked by eleven glamorous police girls last year (one for each bracelet). The ‘Pokerbrat’ will be looking to top his extravagant ‘Roman Emperor’ entrance to the Main Event in Vegas earlier this year, when he was carried in by members of the Roman legion.
Last year, American Full Tilt pro John Juanda triumphed in the Main Event. The year before, Scandinavian female rookie Annette Obrestad bulldozed her way through the field with an aggressive, ‘any two’ approach.
The inaugural Caesars Cup – a Ryder Cup-esque, tag team based tournament kicks off on September 26th. The event will pit America, captained by Daniel Negreanu and represented by the likes of Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson against Europe – captained by Obrestad and featuring Patrik Antonius, Ziigmund and Peter Eastgate.
The PokerStars EPT London follows the WSOPE, running from October 2nd through to the 7th. The 5-day festival will include a £25,000 highroller event, with Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier looking to keep up his good form in the biggest buy-in tournaments.
Finally, the PKR heads up Championship gets under-way on October 8th at 3 Mills Studio, with Luke ‘FullFlush’ Schwartz no doubt looking to ‘get the jakeys on’ at the prospect of a semi-final clash with rival Tom Dwan.