The 2018 World Series of Poker Europe is just around the corner. For the second straight year, the series will run at the King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. This year’s series will run from October 9 through October 28 and features 10 bracelet events with combined guarantees of €13.4 million.
In addition to the 10 bracelets on tap, select players are still in the hunt for WSOP Player of the Year honors. Shaun Deeb leads all players and is the man to beat. However, there are a few others that have a realistic shot of overtaking him for the title.
It’s widely known that there’s not much to do in Rozvadov outside of playing poker in the casino and perhaps also getting in some gambling online at sites and casino portals such as Casinoshark, so for those of you planning an upcoming poker trip to the Czech/German border town, here’s a preview of what you can expect.
€1 Million COLOSSUS to Kick Off Series
The WSOP Europe kicks off on October 9 with the €550 COLOSSUS, which features a massive €1 million guarantee. The first five days of the series will consist of starting flights, with eight of them in total.
Last year’s event drew a massive field of 4,115 entries with Matous Skorepa eventually taking down the bracelet and €270,015 in prize money.
After the COLOSSUS, we get into the meat of the schedule. This year’s series includes two PLO events and a €1,650 six-handed event. Unfortunately, however, this series lacks any non-Hold’em or PLO events and does not include a Ladies or Seniors event.
The final three events of the series all have seven-figure guarantees. Event #8, the €25,500 Super High Roller, has a €1 million guarantee and players can fire up to three bullets.
Event #9 is the €100,000 King’s Super High Roller featuring unlimited re-entry and a €5 million guarantee. Finally, we have the €10,350 Main Event with two starting flights and a €5 million guarantee, in which players can re-enter once should they bust their first bullet.
Last year’s WSOP Europe Main Event drew 490 entries in total and was ultimately won by 888poker.es qualifier Marti Roca De Torres. He won his entry on a €220 satellite and turned the opportunity into a bracelet win worth €1.11 million.
Shaun Deeb Looking to Take Down WSOP Player of the Year
Shaun Deeb is currently the overall leader in the 2018 WSOP Player of the Year race, having notched the top collection of performances at the WSOP over this past summer. He presently has a 588.02 point lead over Ben Yu and leads 2009 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Cada by 802.2 points.
Here’s a quick rundown of the POY top five heading into the WSOP Europe:
- Shaun Deeb – 4,334.06
- Ben Yu – 3,746.04
- Joe Cada – 3,531.86
- John Hennigan – 3,499.91
- Scott Bohlman – 3,155.88
To the delight of many, Chris Ferguson is 19th place on the leaderboard with 1,852.95 points and has little chance of repeating as POY. His victory in the POY race last year resulted in changes being made to the points formula that puts less emphasis on merely cashing in an event and more on making the final table and winning.
Over the summer, Deeb cashed in 15 WSOP events, making the final table in three and winning two bracelets in the process, his third and fourth, respectively.
Despite his impressive run, there are some who are miffed that Joe Cada is not the current overall leader in the POY standings. Cada not only won two bracelets this summer (like Deeb), but also finished fifth in the WSOP Main Event. Thus, some feel that his run is more worthy of a POY title than Deeb’s.
Of course, Cada and the others on the list will have multiple opportunities to catch Deeb in Rozvadov, assuming that Deeb doesn’t continue crushing and put the race out of reach.
Can Shaun Deeb close out the WSOP Player of the Year race on top? Will anyone join Deeb, Joe Cada, or Justin Bonomo as multiple bracelet winners? Can Phil Hellmuth perhaps win bracelet #16 during this series? (I have $25 riding on you Phil, so you better perform!) We will find out the answers to these questions and more at the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe. Stay tuned!