European Poker Tour

The European Poker Tour (EPT) is a series of televised poker tournaments played across Europe, which began in September of 2004. With 4 successful seasons already under its belt, the EPT has become Europe’s most popular and richest poker tournament, and boasts total prize pools exceeding €26 million.

The EPT usually kicks off in August/September in Barcelona, and then moves on to a range of other cities in Europe for several months of tournaments, before culminating for a grand final in Monte Carlo in April. Some of the visited cities in the past include Ireland, England, Austria, Spain, Czeck Republic, Germany, Denmark, Poland, France, Baden, and the Bahamas.

The EPT is primarily a tournament of Texas Holdem games, but does offer several other variations such as Omaha and 7 Card Stud. Regular buy-ins range from about €7,500-9,000, and a grand final buy-in of about €10,500. PokerStars.net, the main sponsor of the EPT, accepts wire transfers and bank cheque for direct buy-in, and also offers a variety of satellite tournaments with entry prizes held a month before the tournament begins. Other leading online poker websites also offer limited entry prizes into the EPT, with minimal buy-ins. All qualifiers via the PokerStars satellites are treated to 5-star accommodation, spending money and travel expenses, as well as their buy-in. The legal age of entrants depends on the city in which the tournament is held, and all such details, as well as the tournament schedule, times, dates, dress codes, satellites, and more, is featured on the EPT official website – www.europeanpokertour.com.