Poker Tournament - WSOP Europe

The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is a spin off of the popular and famous World Series of Poker (WSOP).

History of the World Series of Poker Europe

The WSOPE is a way for top poker giants to play in a huge tournament without having to travel to the US which is where most of the WSOP tournaments are held, even though it is an international event. While Americans had easy access to the international WSOP, it was harder for those in Europe for over 25 years. So finally in 2007 the WSOPE was born and now potential poker giants no longer have to make it to Vegas if they want to make it big at the poker table. For the first time, bracelets could be awarded to poker winners outside of poker’s home Vegas.

Basically what happened was that when the rights to the WSOP label were bought by Harrah’s Casinos in 2004, this led to the beginning of the WSOPE. They thereafter bought London Clubs International which runs 3 casinos in the London area. With these casinos, Harrah’s then expanded the WSOP to Europe.

Bracelets at the WSOPE

So far bracelets have been one by poker players from all around Europe: Italy, Germany, Norway, Denmark and Afghanistan. But the tournament is not closed to the USA and a native American has also won a bracelet. Unfortunately England – where the WSOPE has been hosted – has yet to bring out a player who has earned the bracelet. There is still plenty of time and more WSOPE events to come.

How the WSOPE Compares to the WSOP

Obviously in Europe everything is on a much smaller scale than that of America. Especially Vegas’s America. So the WSOPE can host a much fewer number of poker players than its WSOP counterpart. This is also for practical reasons since the casinos there just don’t have the same capacity as those in Vegas. But the advantage of this is that the players who do participate will be of a much higher caliber and you won’t see many newbie players at the events. They just simply won’t make the cut. Sometimes you will find a lot of players that have already won a bracelet. This level of poker playing quality generally makes the tournaments more tense and exciting, but does not have the bonus of the possibility of someone coming from nowhere – without experience – and slaughtering the big poker giants. The other difference of the two tournaments is a visual one. Europeans will always be British in their mannerisms if you like. You won’t see a player show up in jeans and a t-shirt there but at the WSOP, pretty much anything goes. When it comes to culture, WSOP or WSOPE, there really is a difference, and that sticks, no matter how good you are at poker!