Hold on to your hats, poker fans, the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) begins next week!

The 2009 WSOPE will be the third annual WSOPE and it is to be held in London, England, from September 18 through October 1, 2009.

The four-event European poker tournament is the little sister of the more-established 57-event World Series of Poker (WSOP), which is played every year beginning in May in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, and which held its 40th annual edition in 2009. ? The fourth and final event of the ‘09 WSOPE will be the WSOPE’s signature event, the Main Event, a no-limit Texas hold ‘em tournament with a buy-in of 10,000 euros, or about $14,000 U.S.

Because no casino in London is massive enough to accomodate the entire WSOPE Main Event, the first few days of Main Event action will take place at three different London casinos, before consolidating at one location.

Here is the schedule for the 2009 WSOPE, as released by WSOPE officials:

Event #1, September 18-21, 2009, no-limit Texas hold ‘em tournament, buy-in of 1,000 euros.

Event #2, September 21-23, 2009, combination pot-limit Texas hold ‘em and pot-limit Omaha tournament, buy-in of 2,500 euros.

Event #3, September 23-25, 2009, pot-limit Omaha tournament, buy-in of 5,000 euros.

Event #4, Main Event, September 26-October 1, 2009, no-limit Texas hold ‘em tournament, buy-in of 10,000 euros. ????? All four events are open to the public.

In addition to the four official WSOPE events, there will be two unofficial WSOPE events.

On September 17, 2009, the day before official WSOPE action begins, a special no-limit Texas hold ‘em tourney is to be held by British online poker room and WSOPE sponsor Betfair (www.betfair.com) for a select group of participants who qualified by playing online at Betfair.

And on September 25, 2009, a team no-limit Texas hold ‘em tournament called the Caesars Cup is to be held between teams of poker pros from Europe and the Americas.

Similar in concept to the Ryder Cup, which pits teams of European and American golf pros against each other, this will be the inaugural year for the Caesars Cup.

If it’s a success, expect the Caesars Cup to become an annual part of the WSOPE.

Last year’s WSOPE Main Event was won by veteran pro John Juanda of the USA, while the first WSOPE Main Event, in 2007, was won by 18-year-old Annette Obrestad of Denmark.

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