World Series of Poker Europe kicks off in three weeks

(PRESS RELEASE) -- The fifth annual World Series of Poker Europe Presented by Barriere Poker.fr makes its French debut in the famed seaside resort of Cannes, France from October 7 - October 20 and final preparations are in full swing.

With seven gold bracelet events, the Caesars Cup specialty event, plus an additional 51 side events, the competition is expected to be fierce, and the action non-stop with some of the biggest names in the game confirmed to participate in 14 days of poker nirvana that is WSOPE.

The schedule this year has some very interesting events planned including a first of its kind “split-format” where players will play Day 1 of the No-Limit Hold’em event 9-handed, Day 2 six-handed, and the remainder of the tournament as a Heads-Up format (Event #5; starts October 12). Thus, a player will have to prove their mettle in all variants of the game – full table, short-handed and heads-up play.

“We are hard at work putting the finishing touches on what we know will be an unbelievable event for all players,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “The locale is the best to ever host a WSOP event and with seven gold bracelets up for grabs and 70+ poker tables in play, we are confident this destination will become an annual stop for all the game’s greats.”

Two additional six-handed events are also on tap, with a €2,500 buy-in Six-handed No-Limit Hold’em event kicking off the schedule at 5 pm on Friday, October 7 and a €1,500 buy-in Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha event taking place on Thursday, October 13 at 5 pm. Seven bracelets are up for grabs with the complete schedule found here:

http://www.wsop.com/tourney/tourneydetails.asp?groupID=827

But before the cards are in the air, a few important reminders for players.

Hotel Rooms – Despite rumors to the contrary, there are still hotel rooms available for players. A room block has been saved at two beautiful locations. Players are encouraged to use the following link to book their reservation to ensure the favorable player rate and availability in our room block.

http://www.wsop.com/reservations/WSOPE/

Start Times – Five of the seven WSOPE gold bracelet events begin at 5 pm, with just the events slated to start on the weekend days (Saturday or Sunday) starting at 12 noon. In other words, all non-weekend bracelet events start at 5 pm. And all 5 pm starting events will only have a 30-minute dinner break after four levels on Day 1.

Main Event Seat Guarantee – Thanks to the good folks at Barrière Poker, 100 seats have already been awarded to players for the €10,000 buy-in Main Event that begins on Saturday, October 15. Thus, players planning on participating should know there is already €1,000,000 in the prize pool.

Registration – Although our Cannes venues offer double the capacity we had in London, players are still encouraged to register early to guarantee their seats because the tournament footprint is still limited. Registration for WSOPE events can be completed in-person now or via Barriere’s online registration process, which is the simplest it has ever been. To pre-register go here: