It's that time of year once again. Forget Christmas – the World Series is back for it's 42nd anniversary! The wait feels like an eternity, but it's finally here.

The lights of Las Vegas shine brightly over The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, as the WSOP prepares for another year of exploding atmosphere, incredible poker, a mountain of money and a shiny bracelet (good luck buying this one from a jewellers) in this classy Hotel and Casino. People from all over the world will attend, battling it out for the first place position. He or she  who holds the bracelet, is champion. So who will be the victor? Let's take a look at some of our favourite British poker masterpieces that have got their eyes on the prize.

Sam Trickett - Quite possibly one of Britain’s best, the 25 year old born in East Retford is in it to win it. After thrashing the Aussie Millions High Roller Event, hitting 1^st place and winning $1,508,258 it's pretty clear this guy's a tough player. With a total career live earning of $4,658,350, this guy is loaded. Some people try to dominate the WSOP for the cash. Others for the fame or just the buzz. For the rest, and in Sam's case – it's for the bracelet.

Sam's form right now is perfect. He's practically unbeatable at the moment. After being nominated as one of the best UK high stakes cash players, and with Titan Poker backing him all the way, one can only wonder if it is even possible to take this guy down without a bad beat. He's smashed a vast amount of tournaments, including the Aussie High-Roller Event, The Coral British Masters Poker Tour and hit 2^nd place in The Super High-Roller Event at an enormous $100,000 buy-in. With all these achievements in the bag, the only thing left for Sam to thrash is the WSOP itself, the big daddy of it all. Personally, my money's on him.

Liv Boeree - “Hell has no fury like the wrath of a women.” No kidding! Boeree is one of Britain's most fierce and talented poker players in our arsenal. The 27 year old model, guitarist, professional poker player and T.V. presenter from Kent (solid proof that women can in fact multi-task, right there) knows what she's got to do – and that's own that bracelet.

Liv has tried to get the bracelet in the past. In 2008 and 2009, she attended the WSOP with a straight head, determined to hold that bracelet high for herself. Unfortunately, she never made it a reality. With the championship title still on her goal list, Liv has been pushing herself to excel even further. With her drive, passion and high fuelled determination, I'd like to see anyone take her on.After dominating the EPT in San Remo during 2010, Liv's bankroll increased by €1,250,000. This made her the 3^rd woman to nail an EPT title. With powerful success such as this, there is no doubt that Liv's form right now is not far from perfect. Everyone is expecting great things from Liv during this WSOP, and chances are she won't disappoint.

Toby Lewis - One of Britain's youngest. The 21 year old from Hampshire is going to be taking full advantage of Vegas, as he'll be making his appearance in the WSOP for the first time. Toby has mainly played online poker, but in 2010 proved to the world how skilled he really is by smashing the EPT event in Portugal.

Confident, Britain's new young blood feels he's got a strong chance, and wants to meet his own personal goal of hitting at least the top 50-60 players. By Toby having never played in the WSOP before, he can quite easily use this to his advantage, or it could just as easily be his downfall. His presence has never been felt, and his tactics have generally been hidden behind a computer screen. No one is really sure of how this will effect him, but it's very clear that no one will also know what to expect from him either. People will have to try and figure him out. To the other players, he's either just another rogue, or an assassin at the felt. It's down to him how he plays his game, and this could be his very chance to take the world by storm. Do Britain proud, lad.

Jake Cody - The young pro from Rochdale is after nailing the WSOP to make the Triple Crown. After conquering the EPT in 2010 for €857,000, Cody then blitzed the main event of the WPT in London 6 months later for £273,783 . Now, he's got his focus set on the biggest prize of all: the bracelet from the WSOP to make his Triple Crown.

With hardly any experience in Vegas, Cody's determined to make this year one of his best. He needs this win to secure his Triple Crown, which will make him one of the first to ever perform so well in a long, long time. Cody's performed exceptionally recently, and if he keeps up his game like he has been doing, we're sure to see yet another outstanding achievement from him this year.

Editor's Note: Event number 2 ended by crowning Jake Cody as champion. Jake Cody Wins the Triple Crown and $851,192.  He has just acquired his first WSOP bracelet, and joined the ranks of Gavin Griffin and Roland de Wolfe as a Triple Crown Champ. Well done!

After cashing in every single WSOP he's ever played in, and with TWO bracelets at his disposer – we're definitely due to see another amazing performance from Bansi. With the bankroll to see Vegas at it's best, the stakes are high for Bansi to gain yet another bracelet, making his jewellery box one of a kind.

Bansi smashed the WSOP in 2006 from the $1,000 No Limit Hold' em event. He rinsed the tournament, hitting 1^st place. As if a bracelet and a £230,209 prize wasn't enough, he took another stab at the WSOP in 2009. After a valiant attempt to grab another bracelet, he eventually dropped out of the tournament at 3^rd place. For his efforts, he received a tasty £360,887 from the £10,000 World Series Of Poker Europe Main Event. Determined to prove to the world, and himself, that his first bracelet wasn't a fluke – he went straight into the 2010 WSOP $1,500 No Limit Hold' em Event. To no surprise, Bansi struck 1^st place making his new and shiny bracelet his second, and taking home an additional $515,501. Not many poker professionals can say they own not one, but two WSOP bracelets. If the trend follows, players within the WSOP are going to have a hard time beating this poker legend.

Richard Ashby - The 39 year old from London believes he's got what it takes. However, his track record is like swings and roundabouts.

Specialising in events other than No Limit Hold' em, Ashby favours particular games such as Omaha, Stud and H.O.R.S.E. He's managed to win a bracelet, but has no problem admitting his game could use a quick polish. Renown for his online play, maybe we can safely say the felt isn't one for him. He's had his ups and downs. Haven't we all? Nonetheless, it's crystal clear where his talent lies – and that's behind the monitor.

It's not all bad news for Ashby, though. In 2001, Ashby took a shine to live poker, winning the Grosvenor UK Open in Luton. He took home £10,500, and that's when the ball really started rolling. After hitting the final table in particular tournaments such as the Aussie Millions, it seemed Ashby had found his calling.

In 2010, he succeeded in a variety of WSOP events. He claimed his bracelet after besting the WSOP $1,500 Seven Card Stud Event. He then followed his success with a close 2^nd place finish in the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Buy-in.

Maybe he just had a bad streak at the beginning, and potentially he will show us what he's really made of. Or, maybe 2010 was just his year and he could be one of the first few out of the tournament entirely. We'll just have to wait and see. Either way, it's pretty guaranteed he'll give it his best. It looks like Britain could give another top show just like last year, eh?

Roberto Romanello - When the ball is no longer in your court, things become that little bit trickier. Romanello however, has proven to the world an injury is no excuse to retire from anything.

The ex-professional football player from Wales accidentally found his true calling. From king of the pitch down to king of the sofa after an accident that forced him to stay at home for three months, Romanello decided to dabble with online poker. You can see where this ends up.

After only a minor two weeks of playing online, he won a WPT package. Fluke? Not a chance. He did fairly well in the WPT, and continued to hit casinos in Cardiff and Swansea. With an ever increasing bankroll, Romanello slugged up a hefty £4,000 - £5,000 per week. Why stop there? He decided in 2006 to hit-it-up with the pros, as he flew over to the glorious Las Vegas to see what damage he could do at the WSOP Main Event. After being stripped to 600 chips from an original 10,000 chips within only the first hour, it was looking like Romanello was about to be out for the count ... wrong again. After raking in pot upon pot, Romanello climbed back up the ladder and reached 34,000 chips.

Ultimately, Romanello took $40,000 back with him to Wales – and that's enough to make anyone smile. However his smile was about to be turned into laughter, as he took a stab at the Barcelona Open Event still during 2006. After smashing the €500 event and equipping a further €42,200 from the tournament, he just simply couldn't be stopped. Like a steamroller out of control and no fuel limit, he slammed even more tournaments including the EPT Copenhagen in 2010 and the World Poker Tour Bratislava. For a satisfying victory, Romanello was awarded €1,803,000! By this point, we can all safely say poker will be his new profession, earning more than he ever did by playing football. Romanello is a battle-ship. There's no denying it. He's got his sights set on the WSOP 2011 bracelet, so alarm bells had better be ringing for anyone entering! As an added bonus to his poker career, winning a bracelet now would also buff-up his crown jewel, making it his Triple Crown.

 Update: Matt Perrins, from the small suburban town called Rochdale, matched the feat of his close neighbor, by winning a WSOP title in the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven Lowball Championship.  The three-day competition concluded yesterday at the Rio in Las Vegas.  Perrins’ victory took place only days after Jake Cody, also from Rochdale, won the $25,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Championship.

Perrins’ victory was impressive for at least one additional reason.  Incredibly, he had never played this game until this tournament began.

Perrins later explained he was tired of playing Hold’em and decided to try something “different.”  For most people, that means sitting down in a small-stakes cash game or perhaps entering one of the many daily tournaments spread throughout Las Vegas, during WSOP-time.  For Perrins, that meant ponying up a $1,500 entry fee and entering a tournament filled with many hardcore Lowball enthusiasts and ending up the champion.