This afternoon, PocketFives attended a press conference held in the Betfair VIP Lounge regarding the upcoming second annual World Series of Poker Europe. The events, beginning in September, will take place in London. As last year, London Clubs International casinos Fifty, The Casino at the Empire and Sportsman will play host.

WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack began the conference by thanking Betfair for last year’s smashing success and proclaiming his excitement for year two. He made two major announcements; this year, they will be increasing the number of bracelet events from three to four, and ESPN will air eight hours of WSOPE across the globe, making it the most widely-distributed European poker programming of all time. ESPN 360, the network’s premier broadband service, will also air live footage of the final tables.

The upcoming events will be supplemented by plenty of live and online satellites, as well as ongoing cash games. The event schedule is as follows:

Event #1 - September 19th: £1,500 No Limit Hold’em 3-day tournament [NEW!]
Event #2 - September 22nd: £2,500 HORSE 3-day tournament
Event #3 - September 24th: £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha 3-day tournament
Event #4 - September 27th: £10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Championship 5-day tournament

Pollack also mentioned that there will be five non-bracelet events running as part of the series; players may register at any of the LCI casinos, any Harrah’s location in Las Vegas, on Betfair.com or at the Rio during the remainder of the WSOP. The Rio will also host a $1.5K mega-satellite to the main event starting July 10th-11th.

The head of Public Relations for Betfair, Richard Bloch, opened up the conference to questions from the media for Betfair-sponsored players Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi, WSOP Europe runner-up John Tabatabai, and defending champ Annette “Annette_15″ Obrestad.

Annette, ever the media darling, told onlookers that she is happy to be in Vegas for the third time - this time, truly on vacation as she is not yet old enough to participate in the events. While the petite poker princess’ feet just barely touched the ground under the press table, she explained that her motivation to play the WSOP Europe main event last year was her first chance at a bracelet - and that the money wasn’t bad, either. She looks forward to defending her title this September alongside her other Betfair cohorts.

As a side note of interest to PocketFivers, we overheard a candid discussion between Annette and Sorel prior to the press conference. As they watched last year’s footage of the WSOPE on the projection screen in the Betfair Lounge, they were rehashing whether or not she ever found the guy that stole her chip last year. Annette laughed before joking that she had no problems getting it back!

• September 28, 2008 -- Another Day, Another Day 1
• September 27, 2008 -- Day 1A, WSOP Europe
• October 14, 2008 -- Mizzi and Sebok Hit the Road
• October 13, 2008 -- Sorel Rallies, Youngblood Ousted