Six weeks of Poker. Six weeks filled with more than 100 tournaments. The World Series Of Poker (WSOP) has arrived in Europe for good and King’s Casino has put a historical leg in the books. Some key figures: more than 30.000 tournament entries, almost €32.000.000 of prize money, 14 WSOP Circuit Rings and 11 WSOP Europe Bracelets awarded.

​King’s had been aiming high for this WSOP Festival announcing prize pools with more than €20.000.000 guaranteed but the 2.085-entry strong Oktoberfest of the WSOP Circuit set the tone from the beginning and the high expectations were met in the end. Every single guarantee has been reached and exceeded. Even the Colossus, for which an overlay seemed inevitable until the last flights, made it to 4.115 entries to top the €2.000.000 guarantee mark for a buy-in of €550 after a memorable 31st of October with more than 2.000 entries in the two flights of the day.

There has also been new records. First, the 523-entry €550 Pot Limit Omaha (WSOPE Bracelet Event #2) scooped the title of the largest ever PLO field in the WSOPE History. What is more, the €111.111 High Roller for One Drop made King’s shine throughout the Poker world. The 88 registrations alone would have been enough to make it the biggest European 100k event but the 44 re-entries almost equalled the biggest Las Vegas edition (130 entries for the $111k One Drop High Roller 2017). As a result, a pretty cool €12.980.000 were up for grabs in the prize pool and Dominik Nitsche ended up being the big winner of this competition of high prestige.

The €10.350 ESOPE Main Event ranked second in size in its 10-year existence. With 529 entries, the Cannes score of 2011 (593 entries) could not be beaten but the €5.000.000 guarantee was easily reached and surpassed. Marti Roca de Torres was the one to walk away with the bracelet of the European bracelets after qualifying online on 888poker and he can now enjoy the end of the year with his €1.115.207 in winnings.

​History has been written again by King’s with this phenomenal Poker festival and it is just the beginning. One thing is for sure: next year, the WSOP will be back in Rozvadov and all our players can already look forward to additional festivals, highlights and records.

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Six semaines de Poker. Six semaines comptabilisant plus de 100 tournois. Les World Series Of Poker (WSOP) sont bel et bien arrivés en Europe et le King’s referme les livres d’éditions de festivals WSOP historiques. En quelques chiffres clé, les WSOP Rozvadov 2017, ce sont plus de 30.000 entrées de tournoi, presque €32.000.000 de prize pool distribués, 14 Bagues WSOP Circuit et 11 Bracelets WSOP Europe décernés.

​King’s avait visé haut pour ces festivals annonçant des prize pools garantis cumulés de plus de €20.000.000, mais l’Okoberfest du Circuit avec ses 2.085 entrées a tout de suite mis tout le monde dans l’ambiance dès le début des parties et les espérances auront au final été dépassées, certaines de loin. Un indicateur essentiel de la bonne santé de l’événement est le fait que toutes les garanties ont été atteintes, même celle du Colossus pour lequel les choses s’annonçaient tendues avant deux derniers flights ahurissants réunissant plus de 2.000 entrées le 31 octobre pour finalement passer le cap des €2.000.000 garantis pour ce tournoi à €550.

Des records ont également été battus. D’abord, le field de 523 entrées du €550 Pot Limit Omaha (WSOPE Bracelet Event #2) constitue le plus gros field d’un tournoi PLO dans l’Histoire des WSOPE. De plus, le €111.111 High Roller for One Drop a fait briller le King’s dans le monde du Poker. Les 88 inscriptions, à elles-seules, auraient suffi pour en faire le plus grand tournoi Européen à 100k, mais les 44 re-entries l’ont même presque fait rattraper l’édition de Las Vegas qui a culminé en 2017 avec 130 entrées dans le $111.111 One Drop High Roller. Bilan: un prize pool de €12.980.000 et l’Allemand, Dominik Nitsche, qui s’empare de la victoire dans cet événement des plus prestigieux.

Le €10.350 Main Event s’est placé deuxième dans la liste des plus gros Main Events WSOPE avec 529 entrées pour 593 entrées en 2011 à Cannes. Le record n’a pas été battu ici, mais les €5.000.000 garantis ont été facilement atteints et dépassés. Marti Roca de Torres, qualifié en ligne sur 888poker a pu s’y adjuger le bracelets des bracelets Européens et les €1.115.207 qui vont avec pour profiter de la fin de l’année.

L’Histoire est donc à nouveau en marche au King’s après ce festival Poker phénoménal et ce n’est que le début. Une chose est d’hors-et-déjà certaine: les WSOP reviendront à Rozvadov l’année prochaine et tous nos joueurs peuvent se réjouir de revenir pour de nouveaux festivals, temps forts et records.

Pour ces qui sont passés à côté et que cela intéresse, il existe un archive de mes photos prises lors de mes deux séjours de 10 jours aux WSOPC et E dans un article précédent.

Pour en savoir plus sur le King's Rozvadov, rendez vous sur pokerroomkings.com.

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La semaine passée, je passais le weekend avec le crew Poker Belgique (220 photos en bas de page) pour la première fois depuis le début de l'été et ils ne m'ont pas fait revenir pour rien. En effet, je me suis retrouvé à prendre des photos pour les jours finaux du Monster Tournament en rentrant des WSOP Europe à Rozvadov, mais mis à part les buy-ins, l'effervescence était la même avec un record de Belgique une nouvelle fois battu avec un field de 1.210 entrées dans le Main Event et un High Roller à quelques 300 entrées!!

Le coverage officiel se trouve sous pokerbelgique.be et vous trouverez une sélection de mes photos dans mes archives Flickr:

Pour la suite, j'ai d'abord décidé de skip le WPT Bruxelles pour des raisons de santé de bankroll après un automne aussi dégueulasse aux tables que la météo Tchèque et d'Europe de l'Ouest en cette période de l'année :)

Fin Novembre, je prendrai de nouveau la direction de Namur pour le PokerStars Belgian Poker Challenge et son Main Event garantissant €600.000. J'y ferai des photos pendant toute la durée du festival avant de me rendre à Prague sans transition pour des relances hivernales lors du PokerStars Festival ... et on va grind le marché de Noël aussi :D

Possible que je repasse ensuite par la Belgique une dernière fois en 2017 pour une session photo au Poker Belgique -The Killer de fin décembre ... 

Après, c'est fin/début d'année en roues libres avec un séjour éclaire à Rozvadov (pour changer), une halte au Portugal (ça ne faisait que 7 fois cette année) et Londres en janvier pour un nouveau PokerStars Festival avant Namur fin janvier pour le Winter Festival et le Dublin Poker Festival fin janvier/début février histoire de ne pas perdre le rythme quand-même :p

Des mises à jour régulières sont disponibles dans mon agenda Poker.

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Cinq des onze bracelets des World Series of Poker Europe 2017 ont désormais été décernés avec un record à la clé. En effet, avec ses 523 entrées, l’event Pot Limit Omaha 8-max à €550 est entré dans l’histoire des WSOPE comme le plus grand field d’un tournoi PLO depuis la création du festival il y a une décennie.
Cette belle histoire n’est cependant que la fameuse pointe de l’iceberg avec une édition WSOPE 2017 bien peuplée. Il y a évidemment le très prometteur Colossus qui a finalement atteint sa garantie après deux derniers heats de folie. Plus de 2.000 entrées ont été cumulées pendant les flights I et J du 31 octobre portant le Nouveau King’s à la limite de ses capacités et le prize pool du tournoi au-delà des €2.000.000 garantis soit un total de 4.115 entrées pour ce tournoi en No Limit Hold’em à €550. Jusqu’ici, il n’y a pas que les événements à bracelet qui ont fait rêver. Les nombreux side events dépassent également les espérances générant de beaux price pools - quotidiennement.

Toute cette effervescence a évidemment un impact majeur sur les zones de cash game qui ont dû être étendues aux zones de tournoi pendant quelques heures le jour des derniers flights du Colossus afin de pouvoir maintenir un nombre suffisant de tables actives pour faire face à la demande. Résultat des course: 52 tables de cash game en simultané au zénith de cette nuit. Avec des limites allant de €1/3 à €500/500 sur la table télévisée et des parties en Omaha et Mixed Game (12-Game) montant jusqu’à €100/200, il avait de quoi faire pour tout le monde au King’s. Même les amateurs d’Open Face Chinese ont pu se régaler à plusieurs occasion avec des parties €25/point durant la première moitié de festival.

Les plus gros évènements restent encore cependant à venir. Le roi des tournois High Roller, le One Drop à €111.111 sera bientôt de retour avec une garantie de €10.000.000 et le prize pool du Main Event à €10.350 ne contiendra en aucun cas moins de €5.000.000. A côté de ces énormes tournois, il y a également de Little One Drop à €1.111 qui ne laissera pas indifférent avec ses €500.000 garantis.
Comme toujours, le programme continuera à être garni d’un florilège de side events quotidiens pour toutes les bankrolls durant le reste de cette grande fête du Poker.
Toutes les informations sont disponibles sous www.pokerroomkings.com ainsi que sous www.wsop.com.

Une sélection de mes photos du festival est disponible dans mon archive Flickr.

Five out of a total of eleven World Series of Poker Europe 2017 bracelets have been awarded with one tournament field record broken. As a matter of fact, with a juicy field of 523 entries, the €550 Pot Limit Omaha 8-max event now officially ranks first in the list of the biggest WSOPE PLO fields over the competition’s ten-year history.

This success story, though, is only the famous tip of the iceberg with a WSOPE 2017 festival featuring an already very promising Colossus event in which the guarantee was reached after two amazing last heats. More than 2.000 entries only for the Colossus flights I and J on the 31st of October pushed the New King’s hosting capacity to the limit and the tournament field reached 4.115 entries cracking the €2.000.000 guarantee in this €500 No Limit Hold’em event. So far, not only the bracelet events have been drawing massive fields. The numerous side events are also exceeding the expectations and are generating very interesting prize pools on a daily basis.

All this rumble in the jungle obviously had a boosting effect on the cash game areas that were extended to some tournament areas to fit a total of 52 simultaniously running tables during the last Colossus flights. With limits ranging from €1/3 to €500/500 on the No Limit Hold’em Live Stream Cash Game and Omaha or Mixed Games (12-Game) up to €100/200 running over the last days, everybody finds his game at King’s. Even Open Face Chinese lovers were able to repeatedly enjoy €25/point action over the first half of the festival.

The biggest events are yet to come though. The king of the High Roller events, the €111.111 One Drop is coming with its guarantee of €10.000.000 and there will be at least €5.000.000 in the €10.350 Main Event. The more affordable €1.111 Little One Drop also looks pretty good with its €500.000 guarantee.
In grand King’s Casino tradition, the schedule will keep featuring loads of side event action for all kinds of bankrolls.
All information is available under www.pokerroomkings.com and www.wsop.com.

My photo selection of the festival is available in my Flickr archive.

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Dealers, floors, TDs, waiters, cooks, cleaning & technical staff, media team, hotel management ... there's loads of individuals spending more than 12 hours a day at work with almost no day off in order to make this kind of festival possible. Big up to the WSOP Europe & King's staff members going through long weeks of hard work for (y)our raising pleasure!

All my WSOP Europe photos are online HERE. Below, you will find a first selection of staff superheroes.

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Quasiment un quart des bracelets WSOP Europe ont déjà été distribués au King's Casino de Rozvadov alors que je passe la semaine sur place à essayer de bink un des fields Omaha et le Colossus. Le Monster Stack du WSOP Circuit ainsi que celui des WSOP Europe sont déjà passés, mais il reste un dernier monstre dont il va falloir s'occuper cet automne, le MONSTER TOURNAMENT de Poker Belgique. Un millier d'entrées depuis 3 ans dans ce tournoi et cela ne devrait pas changer cette année avec des organisateurs qui affichent clairement la volonté de dépasser le field à plus de 1.200 entrées de 2016.

Retrouvez toutes les infos sous pokerbelgique.be. Je passerai y faire un tour pour un reportage photo des jours de finale durant le premier weekend du mois de novembre.

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375 entrées sur 3 Days 1 la semaine dernière pour le Main Event de l'Oktoberfest 2017 au Grand Casino de Namur et c'est Jan George qui s'est imposé en heads-up face à Vincent Verdickt pour plus de €15k à l'issu d'un Day 3 pour lequel 36 joueurs étaient revenus dimanche à 14:00.

Tous les résultats sont disponibles sous pokernamurevent.be avec mon coverage.

​Les photos THE-ROUNDERdotnet du festival sont en ligne ci-dessous.

Pas trop le temps de sortir un appareil photo pendant mon weekend à Paris durant lequel j'ai de nouveau participé à la régie d'une table télé Winamax, à la Villette à Paris cette fois-ci après le WPO de Dublin en Septembre.

Le résultat est en ligne sur Twitch et j'ai réalisé un reportage photo plutôt détendu de l'event Beer Pong. Easy game ...

Troisième jour à Namur pour l'Oktoberfest 2017 et déjà presque 200 entrées au compteur sur les deux premiers Days 1. Ce soir, nous attaquons le Day 1C à partir de 18:00 et je serai de nouveau sur place pour un reportage photo publié sous pokernamurevent.be.

Les résultats des derniers jours sont disponibles dans l'archive du site Poker du Grand Casino de Namur et voici les liens vers mes photos ci-dessous. Enjoy!

>> Day 1A
>> Day 1B

Everybody who knows me a bit, knows about my love/hate relationship with Poker tournaments :) As a matter of fact, I am not a big fan of the huge MTT swings and all my bankroll was built on my cash game skills over the last 10 years. I am doing pretty well by now essentially grinding Europe's PLO cash game tables and, to be honest, I would like it to stay that way.

That does not mean I never play tournaments. Actually, I have been playing a bit more of them since last year for a bunch of reasons. One of them, obviously, are the money jumps in case of serious binking. I still think it is difficult to find a decent edge in NLHE games as many players have become really good at the game in my opinion ... and those who haven't ... well, they suck out on you and it hurts so much when it happens in key hands :D On the other hand, I genuinely feel that people are far more exploitable in PLO games and I clearly can find edges at tables there. That is why, I am heading back to Rozvadov in late October/early November to play PLO cash games but also to take a shot at the PLO & Mixed Game tournaments of the week during the World Series Of Poker Europe at King's.

I will also be firing a bullet or two at the Colossus ( yes, I really want to bink :p ) but I am not going to make my bankroll suffer too much for the sake of the #onetime. I still need my bankroll a lot to keep grinding the cash games that are probably going to be huge and juicy ... and swingy.

Long story short, I am selling shares for a bunch of tourneys next week. Anyone interested is welcome to get in touch. Information is available below.

Back in Rozvadov [WSOP-E]
​
I will be back in Rozvadov from 23rd October to 2nd of November with the intention of playing a bunch of plo cash game sessions but also for some tournaments.

Selling action:

>> 24th October - 14:00 - PLO 8max 1B Bracelet Event €550 (one bullet)

>> 26th October - 16:00 - NLH/PLO mixed €550 Side Event (one bullet if enough players)*

>> Maximum two bullets for the Colossus Bracelet Event €550*

Total invest: 4x €550 > €2200
Selling up to 50%

Money upfront if interested.

* If I don’t play the NLH/PLO event or/and if I run good in the Colossus Event and pass with one bullet only, I’ll refund straight away.
​

After spending 10 days in Rozvadov for some epic PLO games and to play a bunch of WSOP Circuit Events, I briefly made my way to Paris last weekend to help directing the Winamax Poker Tour launch TV table at La Villette and I am now getting ready for some #pokernamur for the Oktoberfest before going back to Rozvadov next week for some more cash game sessions and to become a Poker wolrd champion at the King's WSOP Europe :)

Tonight, I will be playing Namur's Big Tuesday as a warm up for my Belgian week before turning into the house photographer again with updates and galleries under www.pokernamurevent.be.

After this my second stay of the month, I have decided to accept the Poker Belgique invitation in order to shoot weekend photos during their massive Monster Tournament with €40k GTD for a buy-in of only €50.

See you on the road, folks!

The World Series Of Poker is coming back soon for a forth stop at King’s. The tour is meant to bring a little bit of Las Vegas and of world championship feeling to the venue it is hosted by. No bracelets here but Championship Rings that are also highly coveted by the players.

After the successful prelude of the WSOPC at King’s in 2015, a record breaking edition took place in 2016 and the event in spring 2017 was only a little smaller but still very attractive with prize pools of almost € 2.500.000 .

Unlike for the WSOP Europe, it is the hosting casino that takes care of the design of the Circuit Event and the Poker manager, Tarkan Karadas, together with his team, have come up with the perfect mix to please the players making the Circuit a spectacular forerunner before the three-week long grandiose WSOP Europe.

From 28th September to 2nd October the Oktoberfest will be celebrated at King’s with a € 500.000 guarantee for a buy-in of € 299. This makes it the second biggest event of this forth WSOP Circuit leg in Rozvadov. Only the € 1.650 Main Event with € 1.000.000 will have a bigger prize pool.

Just like during the last editions, the schedule will feature a lot of Poker action for pretty low buy-ins on the side and NO Limit Hold’em will not be the only game to be played. A mixture of Pot Limit Omaha and Seven Card Stud will also be available for the connaisseurs and many satellites will give chances for big pay days for low investments.

Every WSOP Circuit Event comes with its leaderboard as well and the Ring Events (except for the Ladies and Senior Events) will be awarding points. The winner of the ranking will get a $ 10.000 for the 2018 ASOP Casino Championship just like the winner of every Main Event. Last year, it was Alexander Lakhov who secured himself the ticket at King’s and he ended up finishing in second place this summer for more than $180.000 in winnings - not bad for a freeroll!

Get ready for several weeks of WSOP action at King’s from 28th September with the WSOP Circuit followed by the WSOP Europe and don’t miss the special package offers including hotel and buy-in for maximum value. (http://pokerroomkings.com/index.php/hotel-packages-en.html)

WSOP Circuit Ring Events:

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When Leon Tsoukernik sat together with his WSOP partners last year to elaborate a 5-year deal, one thing was for sure: whole new benchmarks were being set for the WSOP Europe. Eleven bracelets are up for grabs this year featuring a One Drop High Roller for the first time and a 5-million Euro guarantee for the Main Event.
​
When the WSOP hit Europe for the first time in 2007, the Poker scene was thrilled and with Annette Obrestad taking down the first WSOP Europe title, it looked like the WSOP had gained a solid foothold in Europe. Surprisingly, the number of participants kept dropping over the three following editions before moving the competition to Cannes for a new upswing. The Côte d’Azur drew a field of 593 with Elio Fox besting it and winning the biggest edition of the WSOP Europe by then but the enthusiasm did not last for long and the second edition in Cannes already showed weakening signs in 2012. In 2013, the WSOP Europe moved to one of Paris’ affluent suburbs, Enghien-Les-Bains, but the location did not suite the players too well either. After a break in 2014, one could have thought that moving to Berlin in 2015 was the big coup. As a matter of fact, a lot of improvements were made in Berlin but, compared to the EPT, the WSOP Europe was still looking a little bit like a side event of the Poker season.

A new break followed in 2016 for the WSOP Europe while the promoters were looking for a new venue. Following the announcements of its big transformations, King’s had suddenly become a viable option and after Ty Steward, Executive Director of the WSOP, had been standing on the stairs of the Pokerarena for the first time, it became clear that the WSOP Europe had found a new home.

The construction of the new casino area with the new TV set and very comfortable can game zones were equally important as the new luxury hotel that was being built with more than 200 rooms and suites. Just like the players are used to from Las Vegas, you can now eat, sleep and gamble under the same roof at King’s. 156 Poker tables are already set up and ready for the unfolding of the incredibly dense tournament schedule ahead.

​The bracelet events:

It is the very first time that eleven bracelets are awarded in a WSOP Europe competition. Six of the events are new and there will also be five defending champions. Every single one of the eleven tourneys is a highlight as such so that players will have to decide for themselves which one is their personal favourite. While many have already announced to be present for the Colossus (€ 550 for € 2.000.000 GTD), most of the Poker scene might consider the € 10.350 Main Event as a distant dream but 888poker and partypoker are offering qualifiers to bring the dream closer. Additionally, there will be live satellites at King’s too. The packed side event schedule will also offer diversity at more affordable games with a WSOP feeling on top of it.

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The World Series Of Poker (WSOP) announced 3 stops at King's in Rozvadov for 2017 and two of them are still to come after King’s had a seven-week guest performance in Las Vegas this summer. Not in any given venue, but right at the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino. The World Series Of Poker (WSOP) high stakes cash games were indeed hosted by King’s that was happy to welcome international stars and Poker pros. Even Neymar Jr. showed up to play cards with buddy Felipe Ramos. Max Silver, Juha Helppi, Sylvain Loosli and many many more regularly dropped by to enjoy a bit of King’s flair in the middle of desert and most of them will be travelling to King’s home base for the first time during the biggest WSOP Europe of all times preceded by the WSOP Circuit to get to know the benefits of King’s Rozvadov.

Find out about the WSOP stops in Rozvadov HERE.