2017 World Series of Poker Europe Schedule Released
On Wednesday, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) released the schedule for the 2017 WSOP Europe, set to be hosted by the King’s Casino Rozvadov in the Czech Republic from October 19th through November 10th. The poker festival will consist of eleven bracelet events and feature €17,000,000 in prize pool guarantees, a figure that is quite high for the World Series of Poker. The WSOP does not typically use many guaranteed prize pools – perhaps this is an effort to drum up interest in the events.
Rozvadov is not a location that is familiar to most casual poker fans, but it has been increasing in popularity in recent years. In fact, King’s Casino has the largest poker room in Europe with 160 tables. Rozvadov is a small town in western Czech Republic, on the German border, with a population of just 821. King’s Casino, which was built by Leon Tsoukernik and opened in 2003, is essentially the draw to the village. Heck, there will be more people attending WSOP Europe than there are residents of Rozvadov.
In a press release, Tsoukernik expressed his joy that WSOP Europe is being hosted by his casino, saying “I’m so proud that that the WSOP Europe is coming to King’s. I started off with a dream and my dream has come true and I hope poker players have their dreams come true too when they see the sheer size and facilities of King’s. With the awarding of WSOP gold bracelets, we have brought a huge piece of Las Vegas to Europe and we aim to deliver Vegas standards with this event too.”
WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart is hopeful that King’s Casino could be an anchor for the WSOP in Europe for years to come:
WSOP Europe has struggled to find a permanent home since debuting in 2007 because we could never really find the venue or partner to replicate what we have in Las Vegas. But I truly believe in Leon’s vision, his passion and King’s Casino to execute the best WSOP Europe to date. We are bullish in this becoming the European equivalent of the WSOP in Las Vegas, something we have always dreamed of doing when we first began our foray into Europe a decade ago.
In October 2016, the World Series of Poker inked a multi-year deal with King’s Casino to host a number of events there. WSOP Europe will have its home in Rozvadov this year and in 2019 (there is no WSOP Europe in even numbered years – in those years, the WSOP festival outside the United States is WSOP Asia Pacific). Additionally, there will be two WSOP Circuit events – one in the spring, one in the fall – in Rozvadov in 2018 and 2020, as well as one WSOP Circuit event in the spring in odd numbered years through 2021.
Sounds like a complicated home-and-home agreement between a power conference college football team and a mid-major.
As Ty Stewart mentioned, the WSOP Europe has been uprooted a number of times. The first WSOP Europe was spread across three London casinos operated by London Clubs International (which Harrah’s bought): Fifty, Leicester Square, and The Sportsman.
From 2008 through 2010, WSOP Europe was held solely at Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square, London.
In 2011, the poker festival moved across the English Channel to two French casinos: Majestic Barrière Cannes and the Le Croisette Casino Barrière, also in Cannes, and stayed there in 2012.
The WSOP Europe remained in France in 2013, but moved to Casino Barriere in Enghien-les-Bains.
At the end of 2013, the decision was made to alternate WSOP Europe and WSOP Asia Pacific every other year, so there was no WSOP Europe in 2014 or 2016. In 2015, it was hosted by Spielbank Berlin in Berlin, Germany.
What follows is the schedule for the 2017 World Series of Poker Europe. Dates listed are the starting dates; more than one starting date means more than one starting flight. One notable outlier is Event #5 which has five starting dates, but ten starting flights (two per day).
Event #1: €1,100 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold’em – €500,000 Guarantee – re-entry next flight – October 19-21
Event #2: €550 Pot Limit Omaha 8-Max – re-entry – October 23-24
Event #3: €1,100 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em – re-entry – €500 bounty on every player’s head – October 25
Event #4: €1,650 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed – single re-entry – October 26
Event #5: €550 Colossus No-Limit Hold’em – €2,000,000 Guarantee – two starting flights per day – one re-entry per flight – October 27-31
Event #6: €2,200 Pot Limit Omaha 8-Handed – unlimited re-entry – October 28
Event #7: €1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better – re-entry – October 31
Event #8: €1,100 Little One for One Drop No-Limit Hold’em – €500,000 Guarantee – re-entry – November 1-2
Event #9: €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller – re-entry – November 1
Event #10: €111,111 High Roller for One Drop – €10,000,000 Guarantee – re-entry (111 player cap) – November 3
Event #11: €10,300 WSOP Europe Main Event – €4,000,000 Guarantee – single re-entry – November 4-5
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