Day 1A of the €3,200 + €300 WPT® Amnéville presented by WPTPoker gets underway next Tuesday, November 1st at the Seven Casino d’Amnéville, a sparkling casino complex located in the historic town in the northeast region of France.
Amnéville is only 90 minutes from Paris by train and due to its border position is also convenient for travel from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Located in the beautiful French countryside, Amnéville offers rich scenery and tons of entertainment including an IMAX theater, spas, bowling and even an indoor ski complex.
Day 1A of the Main Event on Tuesday, November 1st and Day 1B on Wednesday, November 2nd are expected to attract a large turnout of top poker professionals. Overseeing the action will be a WPT certified Tournament Director, hand-selected by WPT Executive Tour Director Matt Savage. Adding glamour and fun to the tournament will be the gorgeous European Royal Flush Girls, who will be in attendance throughout the event. Also newly featured this year is WPT Live Streaming of the final table. On Saturday, November 6th poker fans can watch the high-stakes finale live in English at www.WorldPokerTour.com with commentary from Jesse May.
In 2010, 542 players entered the inaugural WPT Amnéville, which at the time broke the record for most players at a WPT Main Event in Europe. During a lively final table, more than 200 people came to support the finalists and their local heroes. The final table was a predominantly French affair with five players from France taking part in the entertaining tournament climax. The most notable name to make the tournament’s finale was French whizz Jean-Paul Pasqualini but in the end Switzerland’s cigar chomping Sam El Sayed took home the first-place prize of €426,425. Included was a seat in the 2011 $25,500 WPT World Championship at the Bellagio, Las Vegas, where months later El Sayed made another deep run in this prestigious tournament, finishing 8th and narrowly missing out on capturing WPT Player of the Year honors.
“Last year’s event put Amnéville on the global poker map as word of the big field spread throughout the poker community,” said Christophe Schanne, Seven Casino Director. “For 2011 we’re providing some exciting improvements, including focusing more on the social aspect of our upcoming event. For instance, there will be a lounge bar open from 10pm until late every night with a DJ, and all players will receive a voucher for a free drink courtesy of the casino. We also aim to structure the event so that players can enjoy all our casino has to offer.”
The winner of WPT Amnéville will once again scoop a $25,500 seat in the 2012 WPT World Championship at Bellagio, join the WPT Champions Club, which offers all WPT champions exclusive benefits such as a WPT personal concierge and VIP treatment at WPT events, and cement their legacy in the poker world by having their name engraved on the towering WPT Champions Cup trophy. The winner will also receive a replica of the WPT Champions Cup as well as the coveted sterling silver Tiffany & Co.® WPT Champions Award.
With this highly-anticipated event fast approaching, poker’s top professionals continue to confirm their attendance. Amongst those expected to join defending champion El Sayed and take part in Amnéville in 2011 include Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, Tony G, Jake Cody, Arnaud Mattern, Nicholas Levi, Bruno Fitoussi, Isabelle Mercier, Guillaume Darcourt, Ludovic Lacay, Roger Hairabaidan, John Eames, Marvin Reittenmaier, Antony Lellouche, Hugo Lemaire, Benjamin Pollak, Nesrine Kourdourli, Ilan Boujenah and Tobias Reinkemeier.
