2011 WSOPE Debuts In France This Weekend

This weekend, the picturesque city of Cannes on the French Riviera plays host to the 2011 World Series of Poker Europe.
Entering its 5th anniversary, this year the prestigious tournament series changes location from the Empire Casino in Leicester Square, London to the Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette in southern France, with its organizers already predicting a bumper turnout at the event. As WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky commented:
“We’re anticipating the biggest World Series of Poker Europe we’ve ever had, without a doubt…With seven events there’s a distinct possibility that we will reach the prize pool numbers of the first four years in this one year alone.”
Although it came as a bit of a blow to UK poker at the time, most of the players actually competing will be looking forward to the change of locale. Basking in 25 degrees centigrade (77  Fahrenheit) temperatures at the weekend, the famous beach resort is celebrated for its luxury shops, restaurants, and hotels and has long been a popular vacation destination for the rich and famous.
In addition, the London venue was criticised as being too cramped, and as  Palansky explains:
“We’re committed to Cannes for the next couple of years. Capacity is an issue in London and we would either have to convince the regulators it’s OK to hold an event in a non-gaming establishment on a temporary basis or a location opens up that has more space.”
Turning our attention back to the upcoming 2011 WSOP Europe schedule, 7 bracelet tournaments will take place between October 7th to 20th in Cannes with 51 other events taking place on the sidelines of the series.
The WSOPE will finally culminate in its centre piece Main Event starting on the 15th, whose past winners include Annette Obrestad in 2007 (£1 million), John Juanda in 2008 (£868,800), Barry Shulman in 2009 (£801,603) and James Bord in 2010 (£830,401).
Here is the schedule for the seven braceleted events taking place at WSOPE 2011:
Oct 7:  Event 1: 6-Handed Hold’em €2680
Oct 8:  Event 2: No-Limit Hold’em €1090
Oct 10: Event 3: Pot-Limit Omaha €5300
Oct 11: Event 4: Shootout Hold’em €3200
Oct 12: Event 5: No-Limit Hold’em Split €10400
Oct 13: Event 6: 6-Handed PLO €1620
Oct 15: Event 7: WSOPE Main Event €10400
Oct 15: Ladies Event NLHE (non-bracelet)  €550