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WSOPE 2007
 The biggest brand in the poker world, finally took center stage in Europe. In September the World Series of Poker Europe tournament took the lime light at 3 London Poker Rooms. The draw for the event was certainly international in nature, proving that poker is everyone’s game.
Of the three events, not one American Poker Professional won a bracelet. The tournament brought some of the most competitive players in the game, but had a ceiling of 362 players. The difficult obstacles brought otherwise unknown players to the top of the stack.
The first event started on September 6th, 2007, and the opening event was a H.O.R.S.E. event. This game is said to bring out the best players in poker, while weeding out the ‘specialists’. Of the 105 players, only one could take home the first WSOP bracelet awarded outside of the United States. Although Jennifer Harman came very close, finishing second, she was busted out by Thomas Bhil, a European player who has already had 2 previous cashes in World Series Events. This cash put him in the record books, as the first bracelet winner of the first World Series of Poker Europe. This was a hard fought battle as the field narrowed to the top 16, all of who cashed in the event. In the end, the final table held 3 previous bracelet holders, but it was a non-bracelet winner who showed the world how to play poker in Europe.
Event 2 of the World Series of Poker Europe was an amazing draw. The Pot Limit Omaha event drew in 156 big names in the poker industry. Some of the names that made this cash in this WSOPE event were Roland De Wolfe, Andrew Bloch, and Italian online poker champion Dario Alito, aka Ryu. After competing in Las Vegas, the young man was coming into the European Tournament after cashing 2ce this year already. He subsequently too the world by storm, when he brought the second WSOPE bracelet and a prize pot of more than 200 thousand dollars home to Italy.
When the 3rd and final event at the first annual World Series of Poker Europe came to an end, the world was stunned. After tearing through a field of 362 players, some of whom are recognized as the strongest most skillful poker players in the world, a lone woman stood on top of the pack. Only the third woman to win an open event, and the youngest player to win a bracelet, Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad won the more than 1 million pound prize, and the first main event bracelet. It is unlikely this amazing and dominating woman will have her records broken very quickly. She had been player for a few years on Full Tilt poker, honing her skills and proving herself a tough competitor, but few knew what to think about her possible achievements across the felt from some of the biggest names in the industry. AT one point Annette busted out the first lady of poker, Annie Duke, to narrow the field to herself and a hand full of men to compete. At the final table, the 18-year-old young woman, held her own, defining what European Poker was about. She gave some and took some, until she finally busted out John (Kunkuwap) Tabatabai, taking the title, the bracelet and the prize pool from the first WSOPE.
AS you can see this is the first WSOP European event, and it is unlikely to be the last. With European players showing up the American core of the World Series of Poker brand, they will be back to reclaim their status in the world of poker. Until then, European poker has a new queen, of tender age, and impressive skill, and unquestionable focus, Annette Obrestad will now lead the fight in the 2008 World Series of Poker Event.
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