2017 WSOP Europe Heading to King’s Casino Rozvadov (CZ)

The 2017 WSOP Europe will be heading to King’s Casino Rozvadov, which is located in rural Czech Republic. King’s Casino will also host the 2019 WSOP Europe along with several WSOP Circuit events from 2017-21.

This is exciting news for those who love playing in one of Europe’s largest poker events. That said, let’s continue discussing the details and look back at previous WSOP Europe events.

King’s Casino Will Expand for 2017 WSOPE

This marks the first time that the WSOPE will be held west of Germany. And it might seem strange that the event is being staged in a rural area.

But King’s Casino is centrally located, being a two-hour drive from both Berlin and Prague. It also has all the facilities to host a major poker event – plus the casino will be expanding.

King’s Casino Rozvadov has 150 poker tables, and they expect to have more by the middle of next year, when their expansion will be complete.

Already one of Europe’s top poker destinations, King’s Casino will offer an even larger poker room that’s capable of staging huge tournaments.

This is a big reason why the WSOP Europe will now be held at King’s Casino in 2017 and ’19. The site will also host WSOP Circuit stops in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

King’s Casino Has a History of Making Poker Headlines

Again, it seems unlikely that King’s Casino Rozvadov would become a poker haven when considering its location, which partially relies on German and Prague-based poker players making the trip.

But King’s Casino owner Leon Tsoukernik has somehow managed to make his establishment a thriving poker spot. And this impresses WSOP Director Ty Stewart, who likes Tsoukernik’s vision.

“I have really bought into Leon’s vision for creating a poker-first destination in Central Europe,” Stewart says. “The existing setup already reminds me of the Amazon Room at the Rio and it’s only going to get bigger. When the new hotel and the renovations are complete, and considering the way Leon and staff cater to poker players, this is going to be a very comfortable environment for a large festival such as ours.”

Tsoukernik, a businessman and art collector from Moscow, opened King’s Casino in 2002. Since then, the casino has grown to attract over 200,000 poker players each year and host tournaments with a combined €20 million in annual prize money.

Among the hundreds of countless players who visit King’s Casino are famous pros like Fedor Holz and Dan ‘Jungleman12’ Cates.

Former poker pro and current Lithuanian politician Tony G also frequented the casino to play high stakes cash games with Tsoukernik. And one time, the pair played such a large game that Tony G ended up winning a €1.85 million pot.

With stories like these, it’s no wonder why King’s Casino has quickly become a prime spot for poker players.

Previous WSOP Europe Events

If there’s one thing that the WSOP Europe has taught us, it’s that the event doesn’t stay in the same spot for very long.

The longest tenure was in London from 2007-10, with the ‘07 edition being split between three casinos. Due to how inefficient this was, organizers would exclusively hold the event at Empire in Leicester Square over the last three years.

In 2011 and 2012, the WSOP was held in Cannes, France at both the Majestic Barrière Cannes and Le Croisette Casino Barrière casinos.

In 2013, the WSOPE traveled further north to Casino Barriere in Enghien-les-Bains, France (suburban Paris).

At this point, WSOP organizers decided to split international events between the WSOP APAC (Australia) and Europe. This meant that there was no WSOP Europe in 2014, but it returned in 2015 in Berlin.

The event has still failed to find a consistent home, but that may change with the multi-year deal that King’s Casino and the WSOP have signed.