With pay-outs to players of almost half a billion Euros over the past nine years, Pokerstars can be allowed a little boasting about the success of its European Poker Tour, and this week the Isle of Man-based company recalled its history as a highly successful international tournament enterprise.
On the threshold of its tenth season, which kicks off in Barcelona next week, EPT president Edgar Stuchly recalled that the Tour began in 2004 with a 229-player event in Casino de Barcelona, and was won by Swedish player Alex Stevic for a first prize of Euro 80,000.
Since that first event, the EPT has visited 16 countries and hosted 1,095 events; attracting 111,389 players from 100 countries around the world.
Stuchly says the key to the EPT’s success has been its focus on innovation, providing players with world-class poker action and giving them a truly memorable and challenging experience.
Over the years, the EPT has evolved with its players, adding popular stops such as the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), beautiful Prague in the Czech Republic and the seaside resort of Sanremo in Italy.
A host of new game variants has been added ranging from Pot Limit Omaha and turbo events to Open-Face Chinese and Win the Button.
Super High Roller events are now a regular fixture at several stops including the PCA, Barcelona, London and the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final.
More recently, partnerships with regional poker tours such as the Estrellas Poker Tour in Spain and the UK & Ireland Poker Tour have turned the EPT events into true poker ‘festivals’, offering players a greater variety of game types and buy-in levels.
The player experience is a fundamental part of the EPT’s vision, and the EPT Concierge, the five-star bespoke player service which launched at the start of Season 9, helps players and their guests get the best from their EPT experience, whether it be hotel bookings or table reservations at the hottest clubs in town.
The tenth season continues the tradition of new ideas. Starting with the online qualifiers, the range and availability of online satellites is increasing, with over 20 direct qualifier EPT satellites running every week. These include new formats and a wide range of buy-ins package types.
In addition there are increased guarantees on satellites running on the last Sunday of the qualification period for each event, with ten seats guaranteed to most events.
For all events, late registration is being extended. For the Main Events, High Roller and Super High Roller tournaments, players will be able to register as late as the start of Day 2, while for all other side events registration won’t close until the start of Level 5.
In addition, the EPT will now be guaranteeing that every EPT Main Event Day 1a during Season 10 will be played nine-handed.
It isn’t all about the poker, however; the appealing venues chosen for each leg offer many RandR opportunities, and in season ten there will be special free player activities at all stops, starting with yacht party trips in Barcelona giving players the opportunity to swim and snorkel in the open water, or simply relax on deck.
This year EPTLive webcasts will capture the action from EPT Barcelona, starting with the Super High Roller event on Friday August 30, and finishing with the Main Event on Saturday September 7 – a total of nine days of live poker action.
The webcast will be streamed to viewers in over 50 countries in 13 languages, including Mandarin Chinese. Along with the live coverage from the tables, pro interviews and player competitions, there will be increased functionality within the media player for Season 10 including Facebook and Twitter share buttons, plus auto-replay and rewind buttons.