On Friday the 2011 World Series of Poker Europe tournament series got underway with the first of seven bracelet events, a €2,500 buy-in Six-Handed NLHE tournament. The stars were out in full force for the first-ever WSOPE to take place in Cannes, France (having moved from its long-time home in London, England this year) and a total of 360 players registered for the first WSOPE event of 2011.

With 360 participants the prize-pool swelled to just over €750k, with a first-place prize of €215,999 as well as a World Series of Poker bracelet. A total of 36 players will make the money, and with the field already down to around 100 players before the end of Day 1 (the tournament is scheduled for three days) the money bubble is likely to burst midway through Day 2 on Saturday.

Amongst the players off to a quick start are Peter Jetten, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst, 2010 WSOP Main Event runner-up John Racener, Titan Poker Pro Marvin Rettenmaier (check out the best Titan bonus code on the Internet), and poker superstars Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, and Carlos Mortensen.

Here is a look at the top 10 unofficial chip-counts at the time of writing:

1. Flavien Guenan – 108,800

2. Benjamin Pollak – 106,425

3. Antonio Venneri – 99,575

4. Casey Kastle – 86,100

5. Peter Jetten – 71,275

6. Anton Wigg – 67,075

7. Bruno Benveniste – 64,475

8. Alessandro Speranza – 52,900

9. Luca Falaschi – 52,000

10. Tapio Vihakas – 51,000

Tags: Benveniste, Bonus Code, Cannes France, Carlos Mortensen, Daniel Negreanu, Falaschi, John Racener, Kastle, London England, main event, phil hellmuth, Poker Superstars, Pollak, Prize Pool, Speranza, Tapio, Titan Poker, Vanessa Selbst, World Series of Poker, wsope

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