For the first time in its four-year history, the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) has announced that this year’s venue will be moved from the Empire Casino in London to France — specifically the Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette and the Hôtel Majestic Barrière.
“The new venue will feature 75 tables, which will offer double the capacity that the event had in 2010,” says ESPN.com.
“This is a unique agreement between two casino leaders with great brands,” said Mitch Garber of Caesars Interactive Entertainment. “Lucien Barrière Hôtels & Casinos is a well-run organization and we are excited to work with them to access the French market with high-quality and reputable poker events both in their hotels and casinos, and online with BarrierePoker.fr.”
Along with this announcement comes news of the creation of WSOP.fr, a new WSOP-branded, real-money Internet poker site for French residents. The site will be a skin of BarrierePoker.fr, per ESPN.
The 2011 WSOPE is scheduled for October 7th through 21st and offers seven events.
This is part of a new partnership between Lucien Barriere, a French hotel and casino operator leader, with Caesars Entertainment, the U.S. land-based casino group that owns the WSOP and WSOPE brands.