Online qualifiers begin for EMOP Barcelona

DUBLIN, Ireland -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- The European Masters of Poker makes its penultimate stop in Barcelona, Spain from July 29 to August 1, having just completed the Prague leg of the tour which attracted 258* players and generated a prize pool of EUR258,000.

Qualification for the EUR1,150 buy-in event, which is expected to be the largest of the tour with an up to 500 runners and an estimated prize pool of EUR500,000, is now underway across the Entraction network where poker players can qualify for as little as EUR2 or 200 VIP-points.

Premium partners for the European Masters of Poker are i4poker, Pokerihuone, Pinnacle Sports, KickOffPoker, DailyPoker, GoldWin Poker and 24hPoker.

There are nine daily satellites to the EUR100 Sunday Main Qualifier (19:40 CET) and five daily satellites to the EUR100 Wednesday Main Qualifier (19:40 CET).

A total of at least six packages are guaranteed in the prize pool each Sunday while four packages are guaranteed each Wednesday. Players can also buy in directly through their Entraction account.

Each package to the European Masters of Poker is worth EUR1,800 with EUR1,150 for the tournament buy-in and EUR650 for travel and hotel expenses. The event is expected to attract around 500 players creating an estimated prize pool of EUR500,000.

Vladislav Shuravin from Russia won the third European Masters of Poker in Czech capital Prague in late June topping a field of 258 players at the Spearmint Casino. After a deal had been done, Shuravin took down EUR39,675 for his victory. The final table in Prague included EMOP Bulgaria winner Reuven Dayan.

The European Masters of Poker is designed to appeal to players who want to play big live tournaments with affordable buy-ins, in exiting locations and is proving its popularity with the increasing fields.

This event, held at Casino Barcelona, will also feature a EUR500 + EUR50 pot-limit Omaha side event and a EUR300 + EUR30 no-limit hold'em side event.

An additional benefit of the European Masters of Poker is the leader board competition where players can win additional prizes beside the regular prize pool. Five percent is taken from each tournaments prize pool and is placed in the leader board prize pool. The top 15 overall players will receive cash prizes after the five tournaments are completed.

The estimated first prize is EUR25,000. In addition to this, the winner will receive a watch worth EUR10,000 if the player has earned 25,000 VIP-points from January 1st 2009 until the start of the last tournament.