Welcome to Day 1a of the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event
The long wait is over as the flagship event of the 2019 World Series of Poker Europe finally kicks off at the King's Resort in Rozvadov. Once again coming with a guaranteed prize pool of €5,000,000, the €10,350 Main Event is certain to attract the biggest names in poker from near and far to try and win one of the most sought-after titles and the coveted gold bracelet that comes along with it.
Previous champions of the WSOPE Main Event include such big names as Annette Obrestad, John Juanda, Barry Shulman, Phil Hellmuth, and Adrian Mateos. It is the third time that the WSOPE Main Event is hosted at King's Resort and the first player to lift the gold bracelet for the winner shots near the border to Germany was 888poker qualifier Marti Roca de Torres in 2017.
Jack Sinclair followed into his footsteps one year later and recorded his second seven-figure score after his final table appearance in the 2017 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas. Sinclair defeated a field of 534 entries to claim the top prize of €1,122,239 after coming out on top of a heads-up battle with Pot-Limit Omaha specialist Laszlo Bujtas.
Both Bujtas and Sinclair have already been taking part in the ongoing 2019 WSOPE and will certainly give the Main Event another shot.
The WSOPE Main Event History at a Glance
| Year | Buy-In | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Country | First Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | £10,350 | 362 | £3,676,990 | Annette Obrestad | Norway | £1,000,000 |
| 2008 | £10,350 | 362 | £3,620,000 | John Juanda | United States | £868,800 |
| 2009 | £10,350 | 334 | £3,340,000 | Barry Shulman | United States | £801,603 |
| 2010 | £10,350 | 346 | £3,460,000 | James Bord | United Kingdom | £830,401 |
| 2011 | €10,400 | 593 | €5,692,800 | Elio Fox | United States | €1,400,000 |
| 2012 | €10,450 | 420 | €4,032,000 | Phil Hellmuth | United States | €1,058,403 |
| 2013 | €10,450 | 375 | €3,600,000 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | €1,000,000 |
| 2015 | €10,450 | 313 | €3,067,400 | Kevin MacPhee | United States | €883,000 |
| 2017 | €10,300 | 529 | €5,025,500 | Marti Roca de Torres | Spain | €1,115,207 |
| 2018 | €10,350 | 534 | €5,073,000 | Jack Sinclair | United Kingdom | €1,122,239 |
The Main Event in Rozvadov consists of two starting days and each of them will play a total of seven levels of 90 minutes each. The late registration remains open for another five levels and following break on Day 2 and during the entire registration period, all participants can take advantage of a single re-entry option in case they run out of chips.
Day 1 Level Structure
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Big Bling Ante |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100 | 300 | 300 |
| 2 | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 3 | 300 | 500 | 500 |
| 4 | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 5 | 400 | 800 | 800 |
| 6 | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 7 | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 |
The starting stack is 100,000 and the event will be played in the new popular big blind ante format. As of Day 2, the action will be also streamed live via PokerGO and the PokerNews team will be on the floor from start-to-finish until a champion is crowned.