Why the WSOPE decision to move to Cannes was THE NUTS

It’s not every day in the poker world that you can look back at a specific decision made by a tournament and say “That was a really good idea!” But at this year’s World Series of Poker Europe was able to accomplish just that by moving the location of the WSOPE tournament series from its four-year home in London, England, to the French Riviera in Cannes; no small feat for a tournament series that usually comes under heavy fire for even the most modest of changes!

It’s almost inarguable that the move paid off for the WSOPE as well as the poker players participating in the tournaments, as attendance records fell in virtually every event, including an impressive 593 entrants in the Main Event –the previous record being 362 set in 2007 and 2008, while 2009 and 2010 saw a slight drop-off with attendance in the 330-340 range.

In the past the WSOPE was something of a professional poker players’ tournament series, but this time around there were plenty of unfamiliar faces and unknown players milling around the tournaments.

The move to Cannes, France was successful for a number of reasons, some of which I will list below:

1) Cannes in mid-October is a far superior destination than London, England. Nothing against London, but England in October is not exactly a desirable climate. Cannes on the other hand is still hopping at this time of year.

2) London is known as a “pricey” city, especially for visitors, and even though Cannes is not bargain basement, there are for more options for travelers working on a budget.

3) With the buy-ins reduced due to the use of Euros instead of British Pounds more casual players took part in the 2011 WSOPE.

3a) More casual players means more sharks!

While there was nothing wrong with having the World Series of Poker Europe in London, England, taking the tournament series to France seems to have paid off in big ways, not only for the WSOP but also for the players who took part in the tournament. Cheaper tournaments with larger prize-pools; less experienced fields; and a far more affordable, and enjoyable, trip when poker was over for the day.

One drawback for the players was the 4% “tax” that is taken out of each tournament’s prize-pool by the French Government. But even though poker players hate seeing any portion of the prize-pool chopped-up, the fact that there were so many additional players (many of whom were not professionals) should help make up for the slight loss in equity.