Welcome to Day 1a of the 2021 WSOP Europe €10,350 Main Event
The highlight of the 2021 World Series of Poker Europe festival awaits as the highly anticipated €10,350 Main Event gets underway on Friday, December 3, 2021. As of 10 a.m. local time, poker enthusiasts from near and far will be heading to Europe's biggest poker arena at the King's Resort in Rozvadov, all with the dream of becoming the next WSOPE Main Event champion.
The flagship tournament of the series comes with a €5,000,000 guarantee and several hundred players have won their seats throughout the last few years, as international competitions at the King's Resort awarded Main Event seats as part of the prize pool in selected events. This makes for a strong indication that there will once more be a strong turnout for the €10,350 buy-in, which headlines the final week of the festival.
The WSOP Europe Main Event has been taking place since 2007 and was held in London during the first four editions with alternating locations thereafter. Since 2017, the King's Resort has been home to the series and will host it for the fourth time after a one year hiatus due to the ongoing pandemic. Previous winners include such big names as John Juanda, Barry Shulman, Phil Hellmuth, and Adrian Mateos. Then 18-year-old Annette Obrestad made history in the very first edition to become the only female winner of a WSOPE Main Event so far.
All three editions at the King's Resort have attracted more than 500 entries. Online qualifier Marti Roca de Torres was the first to triumph in 2017 followed by Jack Sinclair. The defending champion is Greek High Roller regular Alexandros Kolonias, who topped a field of 541 entries. Nrither Roca de Torres nor Kolonias have been spotted in WSOP gold bracelet events during the ongoing festival so far, however, Sinclair has already been in the mix and will certainly aim to win the title for a second time.
History of the WSOP Europe Main Event
| Year | Buy-In | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Country | Top Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | £10,350 | 362 | £3,676,990 | Annette Obrestad | Norway | £1,000,000 |
| 2008 | £10,350 | 363 | £3,620,000 | John Juanda | United States | £868,800 |
| 2009 | £10,000 | 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 | €1,022,376 |
| 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 |
| 2019 | €10,350 | 541 | €5,139,500 | Alexandros Kolonias | Greece | €1,133,678 |
| 2021 | €10,350 |
Due to the restrictions of the Czech government, the starting times for the 2021 WSOPE Main Event have been pushed to 10 a.m. in order to conclude the daily action ahead of the 10pm curfew. A total of seven levels of 90 minutes each are scheduled for Day 1a and two starting days are available. A single re-entry is available for each participant and the late registration remains open into Day 2 on Sunday, December 5, 2021.
All players receive 100,000 in chips and the action commences with blinds of 100-300 and a big blind ante of 300, giving all contenders more than 300 big blinds worth in the first level of the day. There will be a break after every level including an extended 30-minute dinner break after level four, during which players can head over to the buffet at the King's Resort.
| Level | Small Blind | Big Blind | Big Blind 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 PokerNews team will be on the floor throughout the entire tournament to provide exclusive updates from start to finish and the conclusion will also be broadcasted on the PokerGO streaming platform.