The World Series of Poker Europe owes its existence to its annual Las Vegas counterpart, but how similar are the main events of each series?

An obvious difference is the number of competitors in each of the events. The 38th World Series of Poker Main Event attracted a staggering 6,358 hopeful players, whilst the 2007 WSOPE Main Event hosted 362 members of poker's elite.

It would be almost impossible to compare the entire Main Event but comparisons can be made of the final table of nine.

Due to the difference in number of entrants, the average chip stack varied massively. At the WSOP a player would need just over 14.12m chips to be considered average, whilst at the European series an average stack would be slightly over 804,000.

Despite this massive difference, anyone with an average stack at either event would still be able to pay the blinds and antes for 20 orbits, meaning that none of the players would be desperate to make any moves right away and there was plenty of room to play poker.

Both final tables had an equal number of professionals in attendance, with seven players stating playing poker was their profession.

The average age of the WSOP final table was just under 38 years, with Hevad Khan being the youngest at the table, aged 22, with South African Raymond Rahme being the oldest at 62 years.

A more youthful final table gathered at the WSOPE with the average age being a tender 22.5 years old. Seasoned Danish pro Theo Jorgensen was the eldest at 35 years with eventual winner, Annette Obrestad being the baby of the table aged just 18-years-old.

Surprisingly, not a single Scandinavian player made the final nine of the World Series in Las Vegas, but they more than made up for that fact at the inaugural WSOPE, where they occupied five of the nine seats at the Empire Casino.

It seems that despite sharing the World Series of Poker branding, both festivals are unique but both are worthy of a place on any poker player's calendar.

A quick word of advice. Should you decide to play in the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event on September 27, keep out of the way of any 22-year-old Scandinavian professional players, as it seems the final table draws them in like moths to flames!