Written by Thomas | Thursday, February 10th, 2011

The popular World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) will be moving from across the pond in London, England, to a new locale this year – Cannes, France.

The unexpected move will see one of the world’s biggest tournament series’ played under the bright lights of ESPN at the home of the annual Cannes Film Festival.  The new location will undoubtedly bring its fair share of critics, but for the most part the decision has been praised by operators and players everywhere, with most agreeing the change in scenery will be good for the exposure of the WSOPE and the game of poker in general.

The Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette and the Hôtel Majestic Barrière will serve as dual venues for the tournament, which will be played from October 7th to 21st and will most likely attract hundreds of the globe’s top online poker pros and live cash game legends.  The event will also feature a new sponsor in BarierePoker.fr – which means BetFair will have to find another suitor to bear its popular name elsewhere down the road.

The move by Caesars Entertainment to move the tournament from London for the first time in 4 years seems to be one that will be praised by the French poker community, which recently passed legislation last year allowing for online poker sites to operate in their country by granting licenses to certain applicants.  PokerStars was one of the marquee names to first apply for a license and has been a huge commercial hit to French poker players.

Satellites will be available to all local players in France when the WSOPE makes stops in 7 different cities in France leading up to the tourney itself.  Players can also find local information for the events by visiting WSOP.fr later this year (site is not live yet).

Sorry comments are closed on this article.