362 of the world’s best poker players have fronted up £10,000 apiece for the Main Event of the first annual World Series of Poker Europe Presented by Betfair.com held in London this week.

And as play moves into Day 2, and the hype and anticpation builds, news reaches us that presenting sponsors Betfair have added an addition £57,000 to the prize pool, with a view to ensuring that the winner will take way at least £1 million.

“Nearly all of the world’s top poker players entered the World Series of Poker Europe, making it one of the most competitive poker tournaments in European history,” said WSOP Commissioner Jeffery Pollack. “Anyone who plays well enough to make it to the top 10 per cent of the field deserves – and will get – an excellent return on their investment.”

“We are in this for the long-term and this is the most prestigious poker event in Europe. I think a £1 millon first prize sets a good benchmark to build upon in the years to come,” said Betfair’s Head of Poker Ben Fried.

In addition to the £1 million top prize, second place in the WSOP Europe Main Event is worth £570,150, third £381,910, fourth £257,020, fifth £191,860 sixth £152,040, seventh £114,030, eighth £85,070 and ninth £61,540.

The remaining 27 finishers will receive from £41,630 to £27,150, depending on their final position.

The names of the entrants for the two starting days in the WSOP Europe No-Limit Hold’Em Championship – spread out over three London Clubs International casinos in the heart of London – read like a “Who’s Who” of the poker world.

Brunson (three of them), Chan, Cunningham, Ferguson, Forrest, Greenstein, Gordon, Harman, Hellmuth, Lederer, Lindgren, Lisandro, Negreanu, Raymer, Nguyen – names well known to poker fans around the globe.

They were joined by scores of lesser-known but accomplished players, all eager to outlast one of the strongest fields in European poker history and take home one of the first three WSOP bracelets ever awarded outside the United States.

European players dominated the first two events, with the Betfair sponsored Thomas Bihl of Germany winning the HORSE tournament and Dario Alioto of Italy capturing the Pot-Limit Omaha crown.

The WSOP Europe Main Event is being played at three casinos operated by London Clubs International – Fifty on St. James Street, The Casino at the Empire on Leicester Square and The Sportsman at Marble Arch, and is due to finish late on Sunday, 16 September evening.