For the first time in its history, World Series of Poker Europe will be played at the Spielbank Berlin Casino in Germany from October 8 to 24, meaning the series starts Thursday. Over the span of 16 days, 10 bracelet events will be contested that count toward official WSOP records. The fun begins on Thursday with a €2,200 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em event.

The start of the tournament on Thursday also marks the first time the event has been contested in two years. When Caesars and WSOP officials rolled out the WSOP Asia/Pacific (WSOP APAC) in 2013, there were concerns that there was too much travel on the books for players to participate in the WSOP in Las Vegas, Europe, and Australia. As a solution, “the powers that be” decided that WSOP APAC would be contested in even-numbered years and WSOPE would be contested in odd-numbered years.

The tournament that promises to bring in the largest numbers should be the WSOP’s latest innovation, The Okoberfest. This €550 No Limit Hold’em tournament will feature two starting flights on October 9 and two more on October 10. Once again, something like this hasn’t been attempted during the WSOPE schedule, so it is tough to estimate how well the event will be received. The €550 buy-in marks the lowest buy-in ever for a WSOPE tournament and will be duplicated with Event #7, a Pot Limit Omaha tournament scheduled for October 15.

There are two events on the 10-event schedule that will be taped for broadcast in the United States at a later date. The €10,450 WSOPE Main Event will begin on October 18 and there will be two Day 1s offered. The defending champion of the WSOPE Main Event, reigning European Poker Tour Grand Final champion Adrian Mateos, is expected to be on the grounds of the Spielbank to defend his championship. The defending champion of the 2014 WSOP APAC Main Event, Scott Davies, has not indicated if he will be in attendance.

For those who bust out of the Main Event, October 21 will mark the start of the €25,600 High Roller tournament. First contested in 2013, the WSOPE and WSOP APAC High Rollers have never seen a non-Canadian champion.

In 2013, Daniel Negreanu, who will not be in attendance at this year’s WSOPE, defeated an 80-player field to take home the High Roller bracelet. In 2014, it was Mike goleafsgoeh Leah (pictured) stepping up for the “Great White North” over a 68-player field to win his first WSOP bracelet.

For those who can’t make it to Berlin for the festivities, the WSOP is going to stream the European proceedings over the internet. Broadcasting via Twitch, the first seven events will feature broadcasts of the final table on a 30-minute delay. The other three tournaments, including the Main Event and High Roller, will be on a five-minute delay, but will not feature hole cards. However, the Main Event and High Roller final tables will not be streamed.

These will be the final bracelets awarded for 2015 (plus the Main Event in Las Vegas in November) and, as such, are the last chance for players to earn points towards the WSOP Player of the Year race. Currently, Mike Gorodinsky is at the helm of that battle with 2,157 points, but players such as Brian Stinger885Hastings (1,961), Anthony Zinno (1,942), Paul paulgees81Volpe (1,889), and Shaun shaundeeb Deeb (1,803) all have a shot at catching him.

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