Titan Poker
Preview: The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) made its European debut in 2007 thanks to the determination of Harrah’s Casino. Harrah’s had originally purchased the rights to the WSOP back in 2004, and it subsequently added three London-based casinos under the Harrah’s umbrella. Harrah’s then decided to expand the World Series of Poker to include all of Europe.
WSOPE Has Plenty of Competition
The WSOP drifted into unchartered waters with the inception of the WSOPE in 2007. Harrah’s International Marketing and Development team, aware of the stiff competition their brand was receiving from popular online poker tournaments, knew the time was right for the establishment of a major European event. However, Jeffrey Pollack, the Commissioner of the WSOP, made it clear that the WSOPE must not simply be a duplication of the very successful WSOP.
The WSOPE, it was determined, must have style and substance unique unto itself. To achieve this, Harrah’s joined forces with the London-based online gaming giant, Betfair, in the summer of 2007. In return, Betfair uses its many resources to advertise the WSOPE and assign it a distinctly European flair.
The WSOPE emphasized the recruitment of younger players. Those as young as 18 years of age participate in the WSOPE. In fact, 18 year old online Poker wizard, Annette Obrestad of Norway, took home top honours in the first WSOPE by defeating John Tabatabai and 360 other entrants.
Juanda Captures 2008 WSOPE Title in Marathon
It took John Juanda 22 hours, but he persevered and outlasted Stanislav Alekhin in a marathon battle to win the 2nd WSOPE Championship. There were 362 competitors when the WSOPE Championship games began last summer in the magnificent London Empire Casino.
When the final contest was over, Juanda had nothing but praise for the runner-up. The final table was an up and down affair with both players having had several opportunities to win the game early on.
In a post game interview, Juanda said that the championship finale was the longest final table in which he had ever competed. Several times during the 22 hour marathon his chip total dipped below the one million dollar mark. It was ambition and sheer force of will that enabled him to outlast his opponent during a contest in which even Juanda admitted that Alekhin had outplayed him for a long period of time.
As for the future of the WSOPE, Pollack has announced plans to expand the venues of the WSOPE within the next few years. Two possible sites are Egypt and South Africa, locations in which Harrah’s has existing casinos.
