Tea, Crumpets and Bracelets

Heathrow Airport has been busy the past few days with some of the biggest names in poker making their way to London for WSOP Europe. Of course, it’s not just superstars travelling to Jolly Ol’ England as numerous amateur players hoping to make their mark have also made the trip.

Daniel Negreanu, Phil HellmuthGus Hansen and Kenny Tran will be in London and hope to take home a bracelet from one of the four events on the docket. The first event is new to this year’s schedule. A £1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event is expected to produce the largest field in WSOP Europe history. That tournament gets underway Friday afternoon London time.

"We have enhanced this year's schedule in order to meet the growing demand of poker in Europe," says World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. "If this year's World Series of Poker in Las Vegas is any indication, the level of tournament play is increasing worldwide and we expect WSOPE to be hotly contested."

Another player who will undoubtedly be returning to London will be 20-year-old Annette Obrestad, the defending Main Event champion will be looking to prove to any of her remaining doubters that she’s a legitimate threat. Obrestad, who turned 20 on Thursday, shocked the world by becoming the youngest WSOP bracelet winner ever and the only woman to ever win a major poker event when she outlasted 361 other players to take home the £1,000,000 first place prize.

Other events on the schedule include the £2,500 H.O.R.S.E. event, which begins on Monday, the £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event, which begins on Wednesday. The Main Event has two opening days, Saturday and Sunday. Another improvement on the schedule this year is the single casino location. Last year the events were spread over three venues but in an effort to provide players with a premium experience Harrah’s Entertainment, working with London Clubs International, decided to host all events at the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square.

Follow all the live updates at WorldSeriesofPoker.com.