Who will reign in Spain?

On May 23 day 1A of the World Poker Tour Spanish Championship begins and it is set to have one of the biggest prize pools ever to have been played for in Europe. The buy-in for the event is €5,000 + 300 that means some huge American names are expected to make the transatlantic flight to join the best European players around to fight it out for the huge first prize.

The last time there was a WPT Spanish Championship, in October 2007, 226 players from around the globe turned up to pay €7,500 to compete, including star names such as Gus Hansen, Erik Seidel, Isabelle Mercier, Juha Helppi and Christer Johansson. However, first place went to Austrian Markus Lehmann, who won €537,000 and the WPT Spanish Championship title after beating Frenchman Ludovic Lacay heads up.

This year's event will be the first of season 7 of the WPT, a schedule that takes in 15 events and lasts until April 2009 when the WPT World Championship takes place at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. As the rest of the events take place in America this is the best opportunity for European-based professionals to register a huge win on the WPT and to make a significant name for themselves, just as Lehmann did last year when he took his first major title.

The event will once again be held at the impressive Casino Barcelona. Set in one of the most beautiful spots in Barcelona, the 33,000 square foot casino features four gourmet restaurants, three bars, a disco/cabaret, and an easy-to-find "poquer" room.

"The WPT Spanish Championship was a great success last year," said Steve Lipscomb, WPT Founder, President and CEO. "We are honoured to return to Spain with a regional tour stop that Catalonians can call their own."

The field for this year's event is expected to top 400 in size and the final table is due to be played on the May 27. Make sure to keep visiting Guidetopoker to find out who wins.