blonde poker

 

With Harrah’s commandeering the American market with their ever-popular and record-breaking World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, ripples have been shuddering across the Atlantic as our across-the-pond neighbours send their army over to conquer European shores.

As I popped my scraggy head into the brand spanking new Empire Casino in Leicester Square last night, I was met by the foreboding images of Messieurs Hellmuth, Brunson, Bloch and co and the immediate realisation that some of the world’s best poker players were in town.

The World Series of Europe, complete with those oh so desirable gold bracelets, will be just as eclectic as its American counterpart with H.O.R.S.E, Omaha and Hold’Em all on offer.

First up will be the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E Event which is rumoured to have attracted a near 100 entries with players still signing up for a piece of the action as we speak. Fresh off his WSOP multi-million second place finish in Vegas, Frenchman Bruno Fitoussi will be looking for a repeat performance, as will Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey who finalled the year prior. But perhaps the real dark horse to look out for is blondeite Matt Dale who has opted to take a surprising punt at the debut event without having too much knowledge on any game but Hold’Em. He obviously saw value in the event we’ve all failed to spot.

As the H.O.R.S.E reaches the stable, the £5,000 Omaha will be underway, the likes of Dave Colclough, Devilfish and Thor Hansen likely to be flying the European flag and reminding our American friends that this continent dominates the world of Omaha, whatever the recent 10k Event in WSOP 2007 says.

As the week nears its end, the highly anticipated and wallet-crunching £10,000 Freezeout Event will be the one to watch, everyone striving to become the first ever victor. With Todd Brunson, Erik Seidel, Johnny Chan, Robert Williamson III, Tony G, Roland de Wolfe and many many more showing their faces, the Main Event is sure to be a star-studded affair with bragging rights high on everyone’s agenda.

At the moment, there has been no confirmation on numbers, but the Event will be split over multiple casinos with the final venue being the Empire Casino. For those who haven’t visited this place, it truly is a sight for sore eyes and a distant cry from many of the generic casinos that you may have become accustomed to. It may not be perfectly suited to big fields, but the combination of lavish surroundings, beautiful waitresses and top notch service are destined to consulate even the worst of bad beats.

With the stunning venue, the big name players and the Harrah’s razzmatazz, the World Series of Europe appears to be well equipped for success in its initial outing and has a cracking chance of proving wrong all the critics who doomed it to failure. However, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so let’s see what happens. It’s going to be exciting finding out.