After four years of enjoying its small but comfortable home in London’s Empire Casino, the WSOPE is moving to France for the 2011 competition. The new location will be the Casino Barierre de Cannes Croisette in the beautiful Southern France region.
While previous WSOPE events experienced great success, Caesars Entertainment felt that the competition could expand if moved to a larger location. The Casino Barierre has double the capacity of the Empire Casino, so Caesar’s hopes to see a much larger, more competitive player pool at this year’s competition. There will be 75 tables at the 2011 WSOPE tournament, making it one of the biggest poker competitions the industry will see this year.
Organizers of the event also felt that London was too expensive of a city for young poker players. Many players fund their own trips and may not be able to afford $200/night hotel rooms in the city. The French Riveria offers a much more affordable alternative, and the WSOPE feels that players will enjoy going someplace a little different.
The WSOPE will be held at Casino Barierre for the next three years, but organizers are considering holding the event in a different location every year to make things more interesting for regular entrants.
