King's Resort Celebrates 20 Years of Poker Excellence

King's Resort, Europe’s largest poker room and host of the World Series of Poker Europe, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The resort opened its doors on June 26, 2003, thanks to the vision of self-made millionaire and antique dealer Leon Tsoukernik. His dream of establishing a premier casino near the German-Czech border has reshaped the poker world, solidifying Rozvadov’s status as Europe’s Las Vegas.

King's began hosting regular large-scale poker games in 2006 in what is now known as the “old” 5-star rooms. In 2009, poker truly took off at King’s with the legendary €50,000 GTD King’s Premium tournaments held every weekend, boosting the casino’s popularity. Major changes to the tournament events occurred in 2011 with the introduction of the €200,000 GTD German Championship of Poker Main Event featuring a €1,100 buy-in, and numerous other tournament series offering a wide range of poker events. In the subsequent years, more tournament series like the PokerStars Eureka Tour, the German Poker Tour (GPT), and Deutsche Poker Tour (DPT) were added.

The year 2014 marked the opening of the grand Pokerarena at King’s, boasting up to 160 poker tables and securing its title as the largest poker room in Europe. A year later, the collaboration with the WSOP commenced, with King’s hosting the WSOP Circuit Events. 2017 was a pivotal year for King’s. A high-end 5-star hotel was launched, featuring a wellness center, an art gallery, and a gym, providing guests with unmatched comfort and luxury. In addition, King’s introduced a unique Fabergé-inspired casino space, blending opulent design with an exhilarating gaming experience. That’s not all for 2017, as it was the first year the esteemed World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) was held at King’s. The €10,350 WSOPE Main Event was claimed by Spain’s Marti Roca De Torres, and Dominik Nitsche took home the $111,111 One Drop High Roller. In 2018, Tony G celebrated a legendary birthday party at King’s that included a PLO Birthday Tournament with a €200,000 GTD prize pool and a special bounty on Tony G’s head. In 2019, the German Poker Masters set a record with 6,961 entries, and the IPS (Italian Poker Sport) had 2,740 entries. In 2020, we witnessed all-time highs at the SPF (Spanish Poker Festival) with 1,718 entries and the GPD (German Poker Days) with 3,143 entries. The World Series of Poker Europe continues to grow in popularity, with the Main Event participant count peaking at 763 in 2022. Omar Eljach from Sweden emerged as the winner, netting over €1.3 million. The 15th WSOPE tournament series is slated for October 25 – November 16, 2023, with the Main Event starting on November 11. Players from around the globe, including Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Tony G, ElkY, Adrian Mateos, Chris Ferguson, Hossein Ensan, Fedor Holz, Liv Boeree, Viktor Blom, and Sean “Moneymaker” Deeb, descend upon King’s for the World Series of Poker Europe.