More Platinum Pass Roads Announced to PSPC 2020
This August, PokerStars announced the second PokerStars Players No Limit Championship (PSPC), which will take place in Barcelona in 2020. It will be timed to coincide with the European Poker Tour (EPT) stop at Casino Barcelona.
The dates of the second PSPC are August 20-24, 2020.
The success of the very first PSPC in January 2019 at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure – the last PCA, as it turned out – prompted the online poker operator to prepare for a second one.
In 2020, the #PSPC will return.
Destination Barcelona, August 20-24.
The journey to a #PlatinumPass starts now.
ℹ️ https://t.co/TJo7z17dFG#DareToDream pic.twitter.com/5N68pat6v1— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) August 28, 2019
Almost immediately, players began to win their Platinum Passes. The five finalists of the Chase Your Dream promotion in Barcelona this year won the first five passes.
Each Platinum Pass is worth €26,466, which includes the €22,500 buy-in to the PSPC tournament, a six-night hotel stay in Barcelona, and airfare/transportation for the player and a guest, along with some money for expenses.
In the weeks since, PokerStars has awarded more than two dozen additional passes and mapped out some roads by which other players can with their passes.
The Moneymaker Road
In September, PokerStars announced the first path to PSPC passes as Moneymaker’s Road to PSPC.
Last year, Chris Moneymaker and his Moneymaker Tour traveled the United States with low buy-in tournaments and Platinum Pass opportunities.
This year and into next, Moneymaker is hosting an expanded tour. As a tip of the hat to his $86 satellite win that led to his $2.5 million WSOP Main Event victory, the tours will offer low buy-in events around the world, starting in Russia and ending in the US.
So far, the schedule is set as follows:
The schedule is not final, but the stops and details announced thus far are as follows:
–October 11-13 at Sochi Casino in Sochi, Russia = RUB10,500 buy-in (approximately $166)
–October 16 at Reno Peppermill in Nevada, US = $175 buy-in
–October 24-27 at Le Meridien Hotel, Piccadilly, in London, UK = £140 buy-in
–October 28 – November 3 at Aspers Casino in Newcastle, UK = £140 buy-in
–November 4-10 at Milton Keynes & Aspers Casino in Stratford, UK = £140 buy-in
–November 22-24 at Bonnington Hotel in Dublin, Ireland = €175 buy-in
–December 11-15 at Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida, US = unknown buy-in
–January 10-19 at Stones Gambling Hall in Citrus Heights, California, US = unknown buy-in
The first of these was awarded at the EPT Open Sochi. The tournament cost approximately $163 to play, and it delivered 909 entries. Vadim Gayduk, a 26-year-old from Belarus, won nearly $20K in the tournament, as well as a Platinum Pass.
The second Platinum Pass win happened just this week in Reno, Nevada. The $175 tournament was a part of the Run It Up Reno series, and it attracted 428 players. In the end, Drew Gonzalez won the Platinum Pass.
Congratulations to @ThirstLounge member Drew '@BetOnDrew' Gonzalez, who took down the @runitupreno IX $175 #MoneymakerTour event last night.
In doing so, he became the first North American to win a #PlatinumPass to the #PSPC 2020.
Here's how it happened: https://t.co/rvogoaFBfJ pic.twitter.com/5yp82VAUJf
— PokerStars Blog (@PokerStarsBlog) October 17, 2019
The Akkari Road
PokerStars announced another road to the PSPC this week. Akkari’s Road to PSPC will put PokerStars Ambassador Andre Akkari of Brazil in the position of awarding a pass.
At this time, there is just one tournament on that road, and it will take place at the BSOP Millions in Sao Paulo December 3-5. There will be a R$1 million guarantee on the prize pool, and the buy-in will be R$350. There will be qualifiers online starting at R$3.30, though, through November (10th, 17th, and 24th).
É pra espancar! https://t.co/Fv55uWst5N
— andre akkari (@aakkari) October 17, 2019
Since this road was inspired by Moneymaker’s Road to PSPC, Moneymaker will be in Sao Paulo for the BSOP Millions tournament.
Tracking Passes
PokerStars has set up a unique tracking system for Platinum Pass winners. Anyone can check this page to find out how many passes have been awarded thus far.
Even better, many of the winning players have profiles listed on the page. Since they range from poker pros to recreational players, their stories are interesting.
The interactive map also shows the location of winners thus far. One can see that the vast majority of the 29 Platinum Pass holders as of October 18 live in Europe, though one is from Brazil and another from Canada. Some are not yet shown on the map, such as the winner of the Run It Up Reno event this week.
This page on the PokerStars site is also a handy tool, showing each upcoming opportunity to compete for a Platinum Pass. Most challenges are online, but new live events are being announced regularly.
