The dates have been announced for the 2008 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE).

Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., owner and operator of the WSOP and the WSOPE, announced this week that the second annual WSOPE will be held September 19 through October 1, 2008, in London, England.

As with last year’s inaugural WSOPE, this year’s affair is to be held at three London casinos: the Sportsman Casino, the Fifty Casino and the Casino at the Empire.

“It was a clean sweep for the Europeans last year,” said WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, referring to the fact that poker players from European countries won all three events of the initial WSOPE.

“There are many, many talented players in the European poker community and I think it caught some of the world’s best known poker players by surprise,” he said.

“It’s safe to say the pros haven’t forgotten about last year and the young guns should expect a tougher fight in 2008.”

The third and final event of last year’s WSOPE was the Main Event, a no-limit Texas hold ‘em tournament that was won by Annette Obrestad of Norway.

At age 18, she became the youngest person ever to win a WSOP or WSOPE Main Event, and the first female to do so.

She also won the most money ever earned by a female poker player for winning a tournament–one million British pounds, equal at the time to 2,013,102 U.S. dollars.

That topped the previous record–$2 million–won by Annie Duke in the Tournament of Champions, a made-for-televsion tourney aired a few years ago by ESPN.

As for Obrestad, she won’t be allowed to try her luck at the next WSOP, which begins in May in Las Vegas.

That’s because the U.S.-based WSOP has a minimum age requirement of 21, while the U.K.-based WSOPE has a minimum age requirement of 18, and Obrestad is now just 19.

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