WSOP Europe 2021 Opener Far Exceeds Guarantee

Published on November 21st, 2021

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The 2021 World Series of Poker Europe was quickly getting into full swing at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. The players were piling in to participate in the initial tournaments, which offered relatively low buy-ins and big prize pool guarantees.

The first event already set its prize pool and far exceeded its guarantee by €235K. With big numbers in the first of two starting days for Event 2, it looks as if this surpassing of the guarantees will be a trend.

Without much ado, let’s get into the results, which we’ll provide each day of the WSOP Europe. A quick rundown of the events will get you up to speed and ready for the next day’s action.

Event 1: €300 NLHE Opener

After more than 1000 entries hit the registration numbers for the second of two starting days, the Opener showed more than 1700 entries in total and pushed the prize pool above €535K. Since the guarantee had only been €300K, it set a high bar for the series to exceed expectations. This event also far exceeded the field from 2019. That one attracted 1,011 entries in total at the same price point, which set a prize pool of €302,541. Clearly, poker players were anxious to play live poker again and flocked to King’s to do so.

Defending champion Renat Bohdanov is moving on to Day 2 with a solid stack of 170,500, though Mark Meden of Germany opened the largest bag of chips consisting of 723K.

The goal for today is to play down to a final table of nine.

Event 1: Day 1B of 3	€300 buy-in	NLHE Opener (2RE)
Total entries:	1,789
Registration still open?	no
Total prize pool:	€ 535,358	(€300K GTD)
Players paid:	269
Minimum payout:	€ 531
Winner payout:	€ 77,570
Chip leader:	Marc Meden
Players remaining:	373
Day 2 restart:	2pm Sunday

Event 2: €550 PLO

The first of two starting days of 8-handed PLO got underway on Saturday, and it settled in with 199 total entries. If the second flight attracts a bigger field, this tournament can also surpass its 2019 number. That one brought in 476 entries and a €226,100 prize pool.

This is one of those tournaments that plays down dramatically during each starting flight, enough so as to begin payouts without knowing the total prize pool. They did have enough to guarantee payouts for the top 30 players, and eleven of them were paid at least €917 for their play. The others who bagged chips are guaranteed at least €1,146 when they return on Monday. Meanwhile, they take a break while the second flight plays out on Sunday.

Event 2: Day 1A of 3	€550 buy-in	PLO 8-Max (Unlimited RE)
Total entries (so far):	199	(132 players, 67 reentries)
Registration still open?	yes
Total prize pool:	TBD	(€200K GTD)
Players paid:	11 paid so far
Minimum payout:	€ 917
Winner payout:	TBD
Chip leader:	Marc Meden
Players remaining:	19
Day 1B start:	4pm Sunday
Day 2 restart:	2pm Monday