The World Series of Poker is once again spreading its wings and this time to Africa. The WSOP will be held in South Africa in October from the 24th until the 31st. The event will take place at the Emerald Resort and Casino.

Before 2007 no events of this magnitude was held outside of the USA, thereafter the WSOP Europe was launched. The WSOP Europe main event is considered to be one o the most daunting and prestigious events of the year. Previous big buy-in poker tournaments hosted on the African continent include the Sun City Million Dollar Poker Tournament in South Africa in September 2008, and a World Poker Tour event in Marrakech in October 2009.

The WSOP Africa is looking to offer two events, one being a three-day $1,100 buy-in pot-limit Omaha event with $300 rebuys, and a 200 player cap. The other event will be a four-day $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em event with the field capped at 500 players.

The Emerald resort is one hour south of Johannesburg. Before 2010, the biggest claim to fame that South Africa had in terms of the World Series of Poker came when South African Raymond Rahme finished third in the 2007 main event for over $3 million, but soon that will change.