WSOP Europe / Dave Allan / 15 September 2009 / Leave a comment

As international poker playing royalty descend on the capital to battle it out at the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe, Betfair the presenting sponsor has unveiled a specially commissioned £1 million portrait revealing Queen Elizabeth's Po Po Poker Face.

Marking the start of the biggest poker tournament outside of Las Vegas, the unique Union Jack portrait is made up of over 2,000 individual poker chips with an estimated value of £1,000,000 worth of LCI Casino poker chips. Taking over 100 pain staking hours to create, the spectacular image will be unveiled on 17th September under tight security at the Casino at The Empire, Leicester Square. UK artist James Fentiman's previous commissions have included portraits of Jack Nicholson and Barrack Obama made up of thousands of LEGO blocks.

Betfair's Richard Bloch said: "As London plays host to the World Series of Poker Europe and becomes the equivalent of Las Vegas for two weeks, we decided to mark the occasion by putting a poker twist on the iconic profile of the Queen.

"It's the perfect way to welcome international visitors to London and celebrate iconic British traditions of the Queen, Union Jack and of course the World Series of Poker Europe."

Renowned for bringing the biggest names in world poker together under one high rolling roof, the World Series of Poker Europe hits London from 17th September to 1st October. As arguably the most prestigious event to take place outside of the US, the tournament has an estimated £1m cash first prize and has rapidly gained a reputation for being one of the toughest and most exciting in the world. Last year's record breaking 21 hour final table witnessed Juan Juanda defeat the Russian protégé Stanislaw Alekin to clinch the WSOPE Main Event title.

Pushing poker rivalries to the limit, the unique qualifying set up for the World Series of Poker Europe means that online qualifiers and established poker pros go head to head for the Main Event prize and coveted WSOPE bracelet.

Upping the ante this year, Betfair has been calling on amateur players to take full advantage of the chance to get a piece of the World Series of Poker Europe action by qualifying online at Betfairpoker.com for a seat and the chance to write themselves in to poker folk lore.

See Full size image