PokerStars Announces More EPT and Regional Tours
PokerStars was cautious during the pandemic. It was one of the first tour operators to cancel events in March 2020 when Covid-19 cases spread across Europe. It postponed – and eventually cancelled – the Road to PSPC events as well as the PSPC Barcelona itself. It did the same for an upcoming event on the Brazilian Series of Poker, Okada Manila Millions, and its EPT Sochi set for March in Russia.
While still in the middle of the pandemic, PokerStars did run its EPT Sochi in October 2020. The live series ran but without guarantees and did complete its planned tournaments, but the European Poker Tour went back into postponement mode after that for nearly another year. It didn’t run another EPT until its return to Sochi in October 2021.
At that time, the Omicron variant hadn’t yet shown its proclivity to spread. PokerStars announced that the EPT Prague would return in December 2021, to which Omicron responded, “LOL.”
Now, EPT Prague is set for March 2022. And it seems so likely to go ahead as planned that PokerStars scheduled an EPT Monte Carlo to follow in late April to early May.
At the same time, PokerStars deemed it time to bring back several other regional tours, such as the Eureka Poker Tour, ESPT (Estrellas Poker Tour), UKIPT (UK & Ireland Poker Tour), and FPS (France Poker Series). Those had not been postponed due to Covid-19 but had been on indefinite hold for about five years. But as poker players clearly crave a return to live poker after nearly two years of pandemic-related cancellations and uncertainty, PokerStars is happy to oblige.
EPT Prague Approaches
The EPT Prague is just weeks away now. It is set for March 5-16 at King’s Casino Prague in the Hilton Prague. The schedule consists of 57 EPT trophy events, as follows:
| EPT Prague 2022 | (excluding qualifiers) | ||
| Event 1 | March 5-6 | € 10,200 | NLHE Knockout (€5K bounties, 1 reentry) |
| Event 2 | March 5-6 | € 1,100 | NLHE Freezeout |
| Event 4 | March 5 | € 550 | NLHE Hyper Turbo Freezeout |
| Event 5 | March 6-10 | € 1,100 | EPT National NLHE Main Event (1 reentry/flight, 4 flights) |
| Event 8 | March 6 | € 1,100 | NLHE Hyper Turbo Freezeout |
| Event 9 | March 7 | € 10,200 | NLHE (1 reentry) |
| Event 11 | March 8 | € 25,000 | NLHE (unlimited reentry) |
| Event 12 | March 8-9 | € 330 | NLHE National Cup (1 reentry/flight, 2 flights) |
| Event 14 | March 8 | € 2,150 | NLHE Hyper Turbo Knockout Freezeout (€1K bounties) |
| Event 16 | March 9-10 | € 2,200 | NLHE National High Roller (1 reentry) |
| Event 17 | March 9-10 | € 50,000 | EPT NLHE Super High Roller (unlimited reentry) |
| Event 20 | March 10-16 | € 5,300 | EPT Prague NLHE Main Event (1 reentry, 2 flights) |
| Event 21 | March 10 | € 550 | 8-Game (1 reentry) |
| Event 25 | March 10 | € 1,100 | NLHE Hyper Turbo Freezeout |
| Event 26 | March 11 | € 25,000 | NLHE (unlimited reentry) |
| Event 27 | March 11-12 | € 1,100 | PLO (1 reentry) |
| Event 28 | March 11 | € 2,150 | NLHE (1 reentry) |
| Event 29 | March 11 | € 550 | NLHE Hyper Turbo Freezeout |
| Event 31 | March 12 | € 25,000 | NLHE (1 reentry) |
| Event 32 | March 12-14 | € 2,700 | NLHE Second Chance Mystery Bounty (unlimited reentry) |
| Event 33 | March 12 | € 5,200 | PLO (1 reentry) |
| Event 34 | March 12 | € 1,100 | NLHE Hyper Turbo Freezeout |
| Event 36 | March 13 | € 2,150 | NLHE Hyper Turbo Knockout Freezeout (€1K bounties) |
| Event 37 | March 13 | € 25,000 | NLHE (unlimited reentry) |
| Event 38 | March 13-14 | € 1,100 | NLHE (1 reentry) |
| Event 40 | March 13-14 | € 1,100 | NLHE Short Deck 6+ (unlimited reentry) |
| Event 42 | March 13 | € 1,100 | NLHE Hyper Turbo Knockout Freezeout (€500 bounties) |
| Event 44 | March 14 | € 550 | HORSE (1 reentry) |
| Event 46 | March 14-16 | € 10,300 | EPT Prague NLHE High Roller (1 reentry) |
| Event 47 | March 14-15 | € 1,100 | NLHE Freezeout |
| Event 48 | March 14-16 | € 330 | NLHE Deep Stack (unlimited reentry, 3 flights) |
| Event 49 | March 14 | € 2,150 | NLHE Hyper Turbo Knockout (€1K bounties) |
| Event 51 | March 15-16 | € 2,200 | NLHE Deep Stack (1 reentry) |
| Event 52 | March 15-16 | € 25,000 | NLHE (unlimited reentry) |
| Event 53 | March 15 | € 1,100 | NLHE Hyper Turbo Freezeout |
| Event 54 | March 16 | € 220 | NLHE (unlimited reentry) |
| Event 55 | March 16 | € 2,150 | NLHE 6-Handed (unlimited reentry) |
| Event 56 | March 16 | € 5,200 | NLHE 6-Handed (unlimited reentry) |
| Event 57 | March 16 | € 1,100 | NLHE Super Hyper Turbo Freezeout |
Health requirements have eased in recent weeks. Currently, players do not need proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid test to attend the EPT. However, players must wear a respirator-style face mask to enter the casino and to play. They must also submit to a temperature scan upon casino entry. Conditions may ease further in the coming weeks, but everything depends upon the Covid-19 trends.
Start preparing for #EPTPrague!
👍Three weekly online qualifiers to Main and National
❓Mystery Bounty tournament to debut
😀Merch and bonuses for all players
🤩Much, much more…https://t.co/hJEHElq3O2— PokerStars Blog (@PokerStarsBlog) February 3, 2022
EPT Monte Carlo Set
For years, the EPT Monte Carlo was the grand finale of the European Poker Tour season. It was a must-play stop on any player’s global tour schedule. The last time it played out was in May 2019 when Manig Loeser won the Main Event for €603,777 and players like Sergio Aido, Tim Adams, and Benjamin Pollak won High Roller events.
Three years later, the EPT Monte Carlo – PokerStars European Poker Tour presented by Monte-Carlo Casino ® officially – returns to Sporting Monte-Carlo in Monaco. It is set for April 28 to May 7, 2022. It will run in conjunction with the return of the FPS (France Poker Series).
The full schedule is not yet available, but there are some highlights to note:
April 28-May 2: €1,100 FPS Main Event
May 2-7: €5,300 EPT Main Event
May 1-3: €100K EPT Super High Roller
May 5-7: €25K EPT High Roller
TBD: €2,200 FPS High Roller
Breaking: #EPTMonteCarlo is back, as are four of our popular regional tours.
All the dates and details 👉 https://t.co/wFSUGZUuC0 pic.twitter.com/XDzjdrnh4O
— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) February 23, 2022
Return of Regionals
As mentioned, the triumphant-yet-still-cautious return of live poker to Europe prompted PokerStars to bring back some of its popular regional tours.
The France Poker Series previously halted action after its FPS Deauville in September 2016. But PokerStars is bringing it back with the aforementioned EPT Monte Carlo. The next two stops will be later this year as follows:
FPS Divonne at Casino Divonne les Bains (October 4-9)
FPS Aix-en-Provence at Casino Barriere (November 22-27)
The Estrellas Poker Tour last hosted a tournament in Marbella in partnership with the UKIPT in June 2016. But the Spanish tour will mark its return at the end of March in Madrid. PokerStars will add more stops to the tournament in the coming weeks and months, pandemic permitting.
ESPT Madrid at Casino Madrid Gran Via (March 28 – April 3)
-March 30-April 3: €1,100 ESPT Main Event
-March 29-30: €2,200 ESPT High Roller
-April 1-3: €330 PokerStars Cup
Further west in Europe, the UK & Ireland Poker Tour is ready to make its comeback. Its last stop was in London in November 2016. And London is where the tour will resume.
UKIPT London at Hippodrome Casino (April 4-10)
-April 7-10: £1,100 UKIPT Main Event
-April 6-7: £2,200 UKIPT High Roller
-April 9-10: £440 UKIPT Cup Mystery Bounty
The Eureka Poker Tour held its last event in Hamburg in September 2016. This tour focused on the Central and Eastern European regions and is making its long-awaited return in March. It will do so in conjunction with the EPT Prague March 6-10. The next stop on the tour will be in May.
Eureka Rozvadov at King’s Casino (May 23-31)
As with the others, more details about each stop on these tours and notices about future stops will emerge as the Europe continues to recover from pandemic closures and reopen for regular business.
Action Beyond Europe
The Brazilian Series of Poker was on hold through most of 2020 and well into 2021. PokerStars offered three BSOP Online series for players throughout that time period, but they did successfully host the BSOP Millions 2021 in late November and early December 2021. Now, the live events are ready to go, with the season’s kickoff set to begin in March.
BSOP Sao Paulo at Sheraton WTC in Rio (March 24-29)
BSOP Rio de Janeiro at Royal Tulip (June 2-7)
BSOP Winter Millions at Sheraton Sao Paulo WTC Hotel (July 13-20)
BSOP Lawn in Gramado at Wish Serrano Resort (October 12-18)
BSOP Millions at Sheraton Sao Paulo WTC (November 14-26)
Com esse baita garantido e os satélites começando dia 30/01 no @pokerstars, já passou da hora de você se programar pra participar do #BSOPSP, né?
Todos os detalhes sobre a etapa você encontra no nosso site: https://t.co/VPssRGKctr#BSOP #Poker #PokerStars pic.twitter.com/7Ck1JDtCxD
— BSOP (@BSOPoficial) January 28, 2022
Similarly, the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) had a prominent gap in its tournament schedule in the last few years. The tour was just getting its 2020 schedule underway when the pandemic hit. They hosted the APPT Taipei in Taiwan in January 2020 and then had to pause. But enter 2022, and the APPT is ready to return.
APPT Open Manila at PokerStars Live at Okada Manila, Philippines (May 30-June 5)
-May 30-31: ₱15,000 APPT Open Kickoff
-May 31-June 2: ₱20,000 APPT Open National
-June 2-3: ₱150,000 APPT Open High Roller
-June 2-5: ₱40,000 APPT Main Event
APPT Manila 13 at PokerStars Live at Okada Manila, Philippines (July 29-August 7)
-July 29-31: ₱20,000 APPT Kickoff
-July 31-August 3: ₱35,000 APPT National
-August 4-7: ₱65,000 APPT Main Event
-August 6-7: ₱40,000 APPT Superstack
-August 6-7: ₱250,000 APPT High Roller
PokerStars will provide updates and post schedules on its PokerStars Live website.
