Wsope

The first ever World Series of Poker Europe played last fall comes to Sky Sports television this week. This was the event that forever changed the poker insult: "You play like an eighteen year old!"

Several opportunities will be available to view all of the action:

April 21st 9 PM Sky Sports 3
April 22nd 9 PM Sky Sports 3
April 23rd 9 PM Sky Sports 3
April 24th 9 PM Sky Sports 2
April 25th 9 PM Sky Sports 3
April 26th 11 PM Sky Sports 2
April 22nd 9 PM Sky Sports Xtra
April 22nd 9:30 PM Sky Sports 2

The 2nd edition of the World Series of Poker Europe will take place this year, again in London, on Sept.

If you weren't in London last fall for the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe, Sky Sports is bringing you all the action in April on eight consecutive nights.

Even if you were there in London, the three events of the 2007 WSOPE were played across three different casinos and catching all the action was impossible. So here is a chance to view the highlights of the tournaments and have a ringside seat for all three final tables.

Each one hour episode will show twice each evening on the various Sky Sports Network channels. Here is the schedule of 2007 WSOPE:

Episode---Date ----Time -----Channel
# 1 ---21/04/08 ----21:00 ---Sky Sports 3 Digital
# 1 ---21/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 2 ---22/04/08 ----21:00 ---Sky Sports 3 Digital
# 2 ---22/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 3 ---23/04/08 ----21:00 ---Sky Sports 3 Digital
# 3 ---23/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 4 ---24/04/08 ----21:30 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 4 ---24/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 5 ---25/04/08 ----21:00 ---Sky Sports 3 Digital
# 5 ---25/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 6 ---26/04/08 ----21:00 ---Sky Sports 3 Digital
# 6 ---26/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 7 ---27/04/08 ----21:00 ---Sky Sports Xtra
# 7 ---27/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports Xtra
# 8 ---28/04/08 ----21:30 ---Sky Sports 2 Digital
# 8 ---28/04/08 ----24:00 ---Sky Sports 3 Digital

The second year of the World Series of Poker of Europe will not include an expansion beyond the size, scope or location of last year's inaugural tournament. London will again be the location for the WSOPE and the tournaments will again be shared between the same three casinos: St. James (Fifty), Leicester Square (The Casino at the Empire) and Marble Arch (Sportsman).

The 2008 World Series of Poker Europe will be held from September 19th to October 1st, 2008 in London, England. Last year the WSOPE consisted of three events in same number of days: a HORSE tournament, a Pot Limit Omaha event and the Championship No Limit Hold'em tournament. We should expect a similar schedule this year.

I just couldn't pass this one up! This is the best poker headline I have ever seen:

DO YOU PLAY POKER LIKE AN 18 YEAR OLD GIRL?

How great is that? In case you missed it:

Norwegian player Annette Obrestad became the youngest bracelet winner in World Series of Poker history early today by conquering the Main Event at the first annual WSOP Europe.

The 18-year-old online poker prodigy from Norway outlasted the strongest field in European poker history at the five-day £10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event in London.

Poker is a genuine phenomenon, which means that public relations people and casino promotions staff should not be saying things about poker events that are blatantly false. Take this bit from the World Series of Poker Europe.

The inaugural World Series of Poker Europe 2007 is breaking records even before the Main Event has begun. The organizers have confirmed that they will pay out the largest prize pools in European poker history for the opening two events of H.O.R.S.E. and Pot-Limit Omaha versions of poker.

So let's see about that. With 157 players paying 5,000 pounds for entry into the WSOP Pot Limit Omaha Event [105 played in the 5K HORSE) that would mean a total prizepool of 785,000 pounds.

Let's convert that to Euros at todays exchange rate of 1.48 and we get a total prize pool of 1.4 million Euros.

Last week at the European Poker Tour event in Barcelona, 543 players put up 8,000 Euros forming a total prize pool of 4.1 million Euros. So let me see 4.1 Million versus 1.4 Million....

Now how exactly does the WSOPE media machine figure they have:

"the largest prize pools in European poker history."