PokerStars EPT Monte Carlo Set to Begin Online Poker Qualifiers
After a very successful PCA in the Bahamas to kick off 2019, PokerStars is preparing for its next big live poker tournament festival. It’s a familiar one to many in poker, as it used to be the grand finale of each season’s European Poker Tour. While the EPT is not the busy schedule it once was, it is still a force in the global poker scene.
PokerStars and Monte Carlo® Casino are gearing up for this year’s EPT action, complete with 41 tournaments in the lineup and qualifiers beginning for dot-com players next weekend.
With satellites starting at just €1 and prize packages set at €8,220, players can start planning their trips to Monaco as soon as they win their way in.
Poker and More Poker
Monte Carlo is beautiful, and there are many reasons to wander the streets and discover all of Monaco. But there will also be a lot of poker to be played from April 25 to May 4 at the Monte Carlo® Casino.
The first day alone will kick off with a €1,100 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Freezeout and a €10,300 NLHE Single Reentry event. And the second day continues those events, along with a €550 Pot Limit Omaha Single Reentry and a €550 NLHE Hyper Turbo Freezeout. That is also the day that the €1,100 buy-in NLHE French National Championship begins with its first of two starting days (and three starting flights).
In addition to the French National Championship, there will be numerous other highlighted tournaments at the series:
–April 28: €100K EPT NLHE Super High Roller, unlimited reentries
–April 28: €2,200 French National Championship NLHE High Roller, single reentry
–April 28: €330 EPT NLHE Cup, one entry per flight
–April 29: €25K NLHE High Roller, single reentry
–April 30: €50K NLHE High Roller, single reentry
–May 1: €10,300 PLO High Roller, single reentry
–May 2: €25K EPT NLHE High Roller, single reentry
–May 3: €25K NLHE High Roller, single reentry
And the king of all tournaments at the series will be the EPT Main Event, a NLHE affair with a €5,300 buy-in, single reentry per player, and two starting days. It will start on Monday, April 29, and run through Saturday, May 4.
The 2018 PokerStars and Monte Carlo® Casino EPT was memorable for much of its action, such as Sam Greenwood winning the Super High Roller and Justin Bonomo taking down two €25K High Rollers. The Main Event offered an exciting final table lineup with names like Patrik Antonius, Ole Schemion, and David Peters, but it was Frenchman Nicolas Dumont of France who won it for €712K.
Getting There
Some players will have no problem buying plane tickets and going to Monte Carlo, cash in hand, ready to buy in to any tournaments they want to play. That is not the majority of players!
For most poker players, they can begin by qualifying online. Satellite tournaments begin on the French and Spanish PokerStars sites on February 10, with the dot-com site offering qualifiers beginning Sunday, February 17. They will be starting as low as €1, with Spin & Go action starting at €30 on the French site and €35 on PokerStars.com.
The EPT Main Event prize package includes a buy-in to the €5,300 EPT Main Event, with the extra €2,290 available for accommodations, travel, and expenses.
And for those making plans already, remember that the Monte Carlo festivities only require a minimum age of 18 but does remind players that there is a dress code. Most players fly into Nice and reserve shuttles to get to Monte Carlo, though there are trains from most major cities in France and Italy directly into Monte Carlo.
