Record Number of PokerStars Qualifiers Set for European Poker Tour Season 9 in Barcelona

LONDON, UK – July 26, 2012 – PokerStars, the world’s largest poker site, today said a record number of players will qualify online for seats to the European Poker Tour Main Event in Barcelona next month.  An expected 300 players will win their seats online, nearly 130 more than last year.

Players can learn more about how to qualify and to register for tournaments here: http://psta.rs/EPT.

“EPT’s relationship with PokerStars creates a unique opportunity for players to turn a small online investment into a chance to win millions of Euros,” said EPT President Edgar Stuchly. “For EPT Barcelona and throughout EPT Season 9 there will be a greater variety of buy-in levels and qualifying formats including Seat-Only and Seat + Expenses prize packages”.

“There’s also Player’s Choice and Main Event Passport tournaments which allow winners to choose from a variety of Main Events to play in,” Stuchly continued.

Barcelona festival of poker

This year, the EPT Barcelona event will run from August 15 – 25 at the Casino de Barcelona and the adjoining world-famous Arts Hotel, and will incorporate the popular Estrellas Poker tour into the schedule. This is the first time that a full schedule of Estrellas events has hit the Catalan city, and partnering with the EPT will mean a spectacular 11 days of non-stop poker action featuring a total of 47 events.

Spanish Team PokerStars Pro Juan Manuel Pastor said “I’m really excited about the EPT Barcelona festival and am looking forward to welcoming poker players from around the world to one of Spain’s most exciting cities. I hope to find some time away from the tournament to check out the sights, especially the Nou Camp to watch the opening La Liga match and catch some of the Spanish Euro 2012 Champions in action.”

The 11-day poker festival will feature a variety of exciting game formats with buy-ins for all bankroll levels starting from as little as €110, and will include a €1,000 Estrellas Main Event, and the highlight of the Barcelona festival, the €5,000 EPT Main Event. One of the great changes for EPT Season 9 is the update to the Main Event structure, which will see players starting with 30,000 chips with 75 minute levels to Level 14, and 90 minutes per level thereafter. This extra time per level will mean deeper play and therefore better value for players. 

Already confirmed to fly out to Barcelona to play are Team PokerStars Pros Liv Boeree, Jason Mercier, Luca Pagano, Daniel Negreanu, 2011 World Champion Pius Heinz, and Vanessa Selbst who is fresh from her outstanding success at this year’s WSOP.


More high-rolling action

As well as a greater variety of low buy-in games, EPT Season 9 will kick off in Barcelona with a plethora of games for fans of high rollers, starting with the €2,000 Estrellas High Roller as part of the Estrellas Poker Tour, a €10,000 Heads Up Championships tournament, a €10,000 NL 8-handed tournament, plus a brand new €50,000 Super High Roller event, which will be filmed for TV and will be the highest buy-in tournament ever held in Spain.

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier commented: “I’m very excited about all the high roller action that is on the schedule for the EPT Barcelona festival. There’s lots to keep players like me happy, including a great Heads Up Championship event, which mixes up the format a bit from the traditional No Limit Hold’em events. I’m also looking forward to taking on my fellow pros in the €50,000 Super High Roller.”

Creating the best player experience

The long-awaited launch of the EPT Concierge Service will also debut in Barcelona, and will provide players with a personalised service, to help them get the best out of their event experience. Want tickets to watch Barcelona vs Real Sociedad, forgot your toothbrush or need a restaurant booking? The EPT Concierge Service is there to help.

Away from the tables, the EPT Barcelona Player’s Party is set to be the hottest ticket in town and will be held at the exclusive Shoko Restaurant and Club on Barcelona beach on Saturday August 18, incorporating both the Estrellas Poker Tour and the EPT making it bigger and better than ever.

EPT Live webcast

Poker fans from all over the world will be able to watch the action from the final tables of the €50,000 Super High Roller and the €5,000 EPT Barcelona Main Event online, live and exclusive on PokerStars.tv.

The broadcast times are as follows: 

·         Sunday, August 19 13:00 CET – €50,000 Super High Roller: Final Table (English only)

·         Saturday, August 25, 14:00 CET – €10,000 Main Event: Final Table (English, German, Spanish, Italian and Russian)

The English versions of the webcasts will be hosted by Joe Stapleton and James Hartigan, and will feature live commentary from a variety of Team PokerStars Pros including Vanessa Selbst and Daniel Negreanu, plus there will be opportunities to take part in exclusive viewer freerolls

For the full EPT Barcelona schedule, see below: