2015 WSOP Europe Begins Today
We still have a month to wait before the November Nine meet up in Las Vegas and settled the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event, but that doesn’t mean we don’t get some good, old WSOP action. Today marks the first day of the 2015 WSOP Europe, taking place at the Spielbank Casino in Berlin, Germany. The Series will feature ten events spanning two-plus weeks.
This is the first time the WSOP Europe has been in Germany, the third country that has served as host. The first WSOP Europe was in 2007, hosted by three casinos in London: Fifty, Leicester Square, and the Sportsman. That year, there were only three events, but not only was it a huge deal that the WSOP had finally had an event outside of Las Vegas, but it was also historic in that Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad became the first woman to win an open WSOP “Main” Event as well as the youngest person to win a WSOP bracelet.
The next three years saw the WSOP Europe stay in London, though rather than three casinos, it was narrowed to just Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square. 2008 was particularly memorable, as Jesper Hougaard became the first player to win a WSOP bracelet and WSOPE bracelet in the same year and Ivan Demidov became the first player to make the final table of both the “regular” WSOP Main Event and the WSOP Europe Main Event.
In 2011, the Series moved to France, split between two casinos: the Majestic Barrière Cannes and the Le Croisette Casino Barrière in Cannes. By this time, there were seven events and the WSOP Europe finally counted towards WSOP Player of the Year standings.
In 2013, the WSOP Europe moved to Casino Barriere in Enghien-les-Bains.
The WSOP Europe was not held in 2014, as the World Series of Poker made a significant change to its schedule, deciding to alternate years between the WSOP Europe and the year-old WSOP Asia Pacific (WSOP APAC). Thus, odd years are for WSOP Europe and even years are for WSOP APAC.
WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart explained the alternating year decision:
Moving to a rotational approach, with one international event per year allows for better organization and more marketing in each region. We also want to do right by the players, and provide more value for their travel dollar. There is a glut of poker tournaments around the world, and our vision is to each year put on a single global showcase that can’t be missed.
One new event highlighting the 2015 WSOP Europe is Event #2: The Oktoberfest No-Limit Hold’em, which starts Friday, October 9th. With just a €550 buy-in, it is expected to draw a massive crowd, so there are four starting flights, two on Friday at 10:00am and 7:00pm and two on Saturday at the same times.
The WSOP Europe Main Event will start on Monday, October 19th and will cost €10,450.
Ten of the events will be live streamed over the internet at WSOP.com/live and on Twitch for the first time at Twitch.tv/wsop. Events 1-4 and 6-8 will have a 30-minute delay so that hole cards can be shown, while Events 5, 9, and 10 will not show hole cards, but will have a view from above the table on just a five-minute delay.
Below is the streaming schedule for WSOP Europe. All start times are for Berlin’s time zone.
October 10 – 12:00pm — €2,200 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em
October 12 — 4:00pm — €550 Oktoberfest No-Limit Hold’em
October 13 — 12:00pm — €3,250 8-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha
October 14 — 2:00pm — €1,650 Monster Stack No Limit Hold’em
October 15 — 12:00pm — €2,200 Mixed Event
October 16 — 2:00pm — €3,250 No-Limit Hold’em
October 17 — 12:00pm — €550 Pot-Limit Omaha
October 18 — 4:00pm — €1,100 Turbo No-Limit Hold’em
October 19 — 12:00pm — €10,450 Main Event No-Limit Hold’em
October 20 — 12:00pm — €10,450 Main Event No-Limit Hold’em
October 21 — 4:00pm — €25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em
October 22 — 2:00pm — €25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em
2015 World Series of Poker Europe Schedule
Event 1: €2,200 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em – Day 1 (3 Day Event) – October 8th, 2:00pm
Event 2: €550 The Oktoberfest No-Limit Hold’em – Day 1 Flight A (5 Day Event) – October 9th, 10:00am
Event 2: €550 The Oktoberfest No-Limit Hold’em – Day 1 Flight B (5 Day Event) – October 9th, 7:00pm
Event 2: €550 The Oktoberfest No-Limit Hold’em – Day 1 Flight C (4 Day Event) – October 10th, 10:00am
Event 2: €550 The Oktoberfest No-Limit Hold’em – Day 1 Flight D (4 Day Event) – October 10th, 7:00pm
Event 3: €3,250 Eight-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha (3 Day Event) – October 11th, 4:00pm
Event 4: €1,650 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold’em – Day 1 (3 Day Event) – October 12th, 4:00pm
Event 5: €2,200 Mixed Event – Day 1 (3 Day Event) – October 13th, 4:00pm
Event 6: €3,250 No-Limit Hold’em – Day 1 (3 Day Event) – October 14th, 4:00pm
Event 7: €550 Pot Limit Omaha – Day 1 (3 Day Event) – October 15th, 4:00pm
Event 8: €1,100 Turbo No-Limit Hold’em w/Re-Entry – Flight 1A (3 Day Event) – October 16th, 4:00pm
Event 8: €1,100 Turbo No-Limit Hold’em w/Re-Entry – Flight 1B (2 Day Event) – October 17th, 12:00pm
Event 9: €10,450 WSOP Europe Main Event – No-Limit Hold’em – Flight 1A (7 day event) – October 18th, 12:00pm
Event 9: €10,450 WSOP Europe Main Event – No-Limit Hold’em – Flight 1B (6 day event) – October 19th, 12:00pm
Event 10: €25,600 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em – Day 1 (3 Day Event) – October 21st, 4:00pm
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