Poker tournament in Europe
Old logo used prior to 2024
Old logo used from 2024 to
2024
The European Poker Tour (EPT) is💱 a series of poker tournaments similar to those in
the World Poker Tour (WPT), created by John Duthie, winner of💱 the inaugural Poker
Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Texas Hold
'em popularity.💱 Since 2011 the EPT has been sponsored and wholly owned and controlled
by PokerStars the online casino and taped by💱 Sunset + Vine for television broadcast
across Europe.
In seasons 1-3, the most significant difference between the competing
poker tours was💱 the buy-in and its effect on the prize pool, with the EPT featuring
buy-ins about half the size of the💱 WPT. This changed in season 4 when the buy-in for
most EPT events was increased to €8,000 (due to increased💱 popularity and lack of space
in participating casinos[1]). At 2007 exchange rates, this is approximately equal to
the US$10,000 which💱 is the buy-in for most WPT events.
Furthermore, the final table is
made up of 8 players, as opposed to the💱 6 player final tables popularised by the
WPT.
For the first couple of seasons, Duthie commentated for the show alongside Colin
💱 Murray. Since the middle of Season 3, James Hartigan has been the lead commentator,
with professional players Greg Raymer, Daniel💱 Negreanu and Victoria Coren Mitchell
providing analysis. Hartigan also presents the live webcast[2] from each event. The TV
show was💱 first hosted by Caroline Flack, then joined by Natalie Pinkham. Seasons 4 and
5 were hosted by Kara Scott, while💱 Seasons 6 and 7 were fronted by Michelle Orpe. Since
Season 8, there have been four different presenters with Kristy💱 Arnett, Sarah Grant,
Laura Cornelius and Lynn Gilmartin, with commentators James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton
presenting the TV shows.
2010 EPT💱 Berlin robbery [ edit ]
On 6 March 2010 four masked
men, armed with knives and at least one hand gun💱 robbed the EPT event in Berlin.
According to the police, the robbers got away with €242,000. No one was seriously
💱 injured, only one guard got a minor cut while trying to detain one of the robbers. The
panic which gripped💱 the crowd was briefly captured on the live webcast before the
camera cut away. The attackers were caught several days💱 after the robbery and later
convicted and sentenced to three years in prison.[3]
2024 rebranding [ edit ]
In 2024,
the series💱 was discontinued and rebranded as the PokerStars Championship. However, this
only lasted one year and the EPT returned in 2024.[4]
2024💱 EPT Online [ edit ]
In 2024,
three scheduled stops on the EPT (in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Prague) were cancelled
💱 due to the COVID-19 pandemic – a fourth event (in Sochi) continued as planned.
An
inaugural EPT Online series took place💱 on sponsor site PokerStars instead, running from
8–18 November 2024. The series comprised 20 tournaments, including aR$5,200 Main Event,
fourR$10,300💱 High Roller events, and aR$25,000 Super High Roller. The Main Event, which
had aR$5 million guaranteed prize pool, attracted 1,304💱 entries. The final prize pool
came toR$6.52 million, of whichR$1,019,082 went to the eventual winner "WhatIfGod",
with Timothy Adams finishing💱 as runner-up.[5]
EPT Main Event winners [ edit ]
