The schedule for the World Series of Poker Europe 2012 tournaments has been released, and it looks like this year’s WSOPE will be a repeat of 2011’s, only with a bigger turnout, which in turns means larger prize pools. Like last year’s event, the WSOPE 2012 will be held in Cannes, France, which saw a record-breaking turnout during its debut year last year.
Cannes was a popular destination for poker players the world over, as the WSOP Europe’s previous location, London, England, is a bit dreary in the autumn, and with the schedule moved up a couple weeks, the French Riviera is, as always, a great location, especially when one plans to stay for the entirety of the WSOPE’s two week stint. Alain Fabre, CEO of Barrière Croisette Casino, the official host casino of the WSOPE 2011 and 2012, commented, “We are pleased to welcome back this event to the Cannes Barrière resort. The first edition of the WSOPE in Cannes was a great success, an award winning event that we took great pride in. We look forward to hosting the players again and will strive to make this ‘festival of poker’ even more fabulous.”
While the WSOP lineup for this year offers some new bracelets, players in Cannes will be competing for more of the same, partially because French law only allows casinos to offer Hold’em and Omaha within the country. The lineup will keep the seven bracelets that it offered last year, and while there are an extra 48 side tournaments in the upcoming WSOPE, not much else has changed, apart from some miniscule changes to the buy-in costs. The vast majority of this year’s events are three days long, with two (the 10k Championship No-Limit Hold’em and the 1k No-Limit Hold’em) stretching to five days, with two separate starting days given to each of these events, the most popular WSOPE events by far.
Ty Stewart, WSOP vice president, offered a press release indicating that the large volume made Cannes a shoe-in for the selection, as it has more to offer the large numbers of players that are expected. He said of the decision to stay in the south of France: “We can’t wait to return to the Cote D’Azur in 2012. We have moved up the schedule a couple of weeks to take better advantage of the great weather and all Cannes has to offer. Ask anyone who attended last year. This tournament is now a certified major championship and the experience is second to none. The media is already speculating on 1,000 players for the Main Event and we will be ready for them.”
- WSOPE 2012 Event#1: Friday, September 21 to 23,
- WSOPE 2012 Event#2: Saturday, September 22 to 25,
- WSOPE 2012 Event#3: Monday, September 24 to 26,
- WSOPE 2012 Event#4: Tuesday, September 25 to 27,
- WSOPE 2012 Event#5: Wednesday, September 26 to 28,
- WSOPE 2012 Event#6: Thursday, September 27 to 29,
- WSOPE 2012 Event#7: Saturday, September 29 to October 4,
€2,700 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em (three-day event)
€1100 No-Limit Hold’em (two starting days)
€5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha (three-day event)
€3,250 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout (three-day event)
€10,450 Mixed-Max Championship (three-day event)
€1,650 Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha (three-day event)
€10,450 Championship No-Limit Hold’em (two starting days)