Event 1 - £1,500 No Limit Hold'em Day 1a | 2008 World Series of Poker Europe

09-19-2008 14:25 UTC+2

Early Sunshine for Tann

[user46392]

UK pro Willie Tann is in a very good mood, having enjoyed an early chip boost courtesy of fellow Brit Guy Bowles. Tann check-called all the way down a {5-Spades}

board, with admittedly some misgivings on the turn, with Bowles announcing on the river, "You win," and turning over {K-Hearts}

. "Why do I win?" said Tann, but win he did, turning over {Q-Spades}

to take down the pot. Tann is now up to over 8,000 while Bowles takes a knock down to 4,800.

Tags: Guy Bowles Willie Tann

09-19-2008 14:19 UTC+2

Shuffle Up and Deal

[user38449]

Last year's Main Event winner Annette Obrestad has just delivered the magic words and the cards are in the air.

Level: 1

Blinds: 25/50

Ante: 0

09-19-2008 13:41 UTC+2

Good afternoon, chaps and chapettes, and welcome to England, a country famed for its tea, posh accents and Benny Hill skits. Not since my first date has there been this much excitement as the World Series makes its welcome return to the nation's capital for its highly anticipated second outing.

Today's event is, of course, the opening £1,500 no limit hold'em freezeout, and already the players are gushing through the doors in their droves. I'm no Mystic Meg, but I would imagine that this one will be a sell-out with alternates biting at the bit to get their piece of the action.

There is a real eclecticism of players surfacing, ranging from superstar Daniel Negreanu, to local boys Peter Wigglesworth and Graham Pound, to a young Scandinavian who was sharing his tale of woe outside in struggling to wire across €50,000. Tough times!

Everything looks superbly organized here with a spacious playing area, multiple plasma screens, and dealers already seated at tables, braced and raring to go. As such, I would predict a relatively prompt start. As my dear mother would say, hold onto your hollyhox. (I still have no idea what she was waffling on about.)

09-19-2008 01:33 UTC+2

2008 World Series of Poker Europe Kicks Off with £1,500 No Limit Hold'em Event

[user38449]

The World Series of Poker Europe is back in London for Season 2 and looks to best last year's impressive inaugural showing. This time around, the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square will play solo host to the Series' four-event slate, which kicks off with a four-day, £1,500 no limit hold'em tournament, set to begin at 1:00 p.m. local time on Friday, September 18th.

The only new event on the WSOPE schedule, the opening affair is expected to sell out at 500 entrants, filling the Empire's poker tables to capacity on both Day 1a and b. We can confirm that Barry Greenstein, Robert Williamson III and Michael 'Timex' McDonald are all already in town, though the list of big names expected to turn out is endless. We've also been told that a few of the faces you'll see on ESPN in November might make an appearance.

For the second straight year, PokerNews is the exclusive digital media partner of the WSOPE, and our crack team of reporters will be there from the time the first card is dealt until this year's Main Event winner collects his . . . or her . . . championship bracelet.

Tune in starting at 1:00 p.m. local time (8:00 a.m. EST) for all the live updates, chip counts, photos and videos you've come to know and love from PokerNews.com. We'll see you then!