BY TOM SOMACH

The first-ever World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) got underway Thursday in London, England, with the start of the first of three separate tournaments.

The first event is a H.O.R.S.E. tournament with 105 entrants and a total prize pool of 262,500 British pounds, equal to about $525,000 U.S.

The top 16 finishers in the tourney will end up in the money, with the winner earning 70,875 British pounds or about $141,750 U.S., and the 16th-place finisher earning 5,250 British pounds or about $10,500 U.S.

H.O.R.S.E. involves five different types of poker–hold ‘em, Omaha, razz, stud and eight-or-better stud.

The buy-in was 2,500 British pounds, equal to about $5,000 U.S.

Among those busting out on the first day of action were Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson, Todd “Son of Doyle” Brunson, Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth Jr., Michael Keiner, Ted Forrest, Ben Grundy, Jesse Jones, Carl Weeks, Andy Bloch, Humberto “El Wacko” Brenes, Barry Greenstein, Andy Fitzgerald, Richard Gryko, Dave Colclough, Joe Sebok, Mike Binger, Dan Shak, Robert Williamson III, Mike Mizrachi, Andy Black, Johnny “The Orient Express” Chan, Phil Gordon, Noah Jefferson and Marcel Luske.

Among those making it to the second day of action were Annie Duke, Dave Williams, Gus Hansen, Kirk Morrison, Alex “The Mad Russian” Kravchenko, Howard “The Professor” Lederer, John Juanda, Marc Goodwin, Jen Harman and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson.

WSOPE action is to take place at multiple casinos in London.

The first event is taking place at the Empire Casino.

The second event will be a pot-limit Omaha tournament with a buy-in of 5,250 British pounds or about $10,500 U.S.

The third and final event, a Texas hold ‘em tournament, will be the WSOPE’s main event, and the winner will be considered the winner of the WSOPE.

The main event has a buy-in of 10,000 British pounds, equal to about $20,000 U.S.

The winners of each of the three WSOPE events are to receive championship gold bracelets, just as winners of WSOP events in Las Vegas do.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)