PokerStars thinking big for next four stops on EPT

(PRESS RELEASE) -- As the European Poker Tour (EPT) Malta Poker Festival heats up, PokerStars.com, an Amaya Inc. brand, is already getting prepared for EPT Prague and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Almost 100 tournaments are planned for Prague, which kicks off at the Hilton Prague on December 5, 2015. The EPT’s return to the Czech Republic features the tour’s biggest ever schedule and will include new formats and variants during the 12-day extravaganza.

Thanks to a special EPT promo week, players will also have more chances than ever before to win their way to Prague, as well as January’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in the Bahamas.

PokerStars’ Director of Live Events Edgar Stuchly said: “We are putting all our energy in to giving players the best poker experience they have ever had with Season 12’s four remaining stops. Our goal is to give more players the chance to compete at an EPT, so we have also made some changes to buy-in levels, reducing the PCA Main Event from $10,000 to $5,300, and the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final from €10,600 to €5,300.

“We’re making these changes to bring the Grand Final more in line with other stops such as Prague and Barcelona, which have created record-breaking fields over the last couple of years, by giving a large percentage of players what they’ve been asking for - the opportunity to play more tournaments within their bankroll, while also making the Main Event more accessible to a wider number of players around the world. The Grand Final schedule will continue to have a wide range of buy-ins, all the way up to the incredible €100,000 Super High Roller.”

EPT Prague and PCA Promo Week

The EPT Prague promo week, which runs from November 2-8, features a host of two-phase ‘Steps-style’ satellites as well as an FPP Mega Path qualifier from as little as 3 FPPs. Several regular satellites will also have increased guarantees. Winners of ‘Phase 1’ tournaments will get a seat in the Promo Week ‘Phase 2” tourneys and the chance to win a full prize package for the €5,300 EPT Prague Main Event for €27. Phase 1 satellites for the €1,100 Eureka Main Event will cost just €11. Players who just want to jump straight in at higher buy-in levels can enter the Mega Qualifiers direct. The €530 EPT satellite and €215 Eureka qualifier both have ten full packages guaranteed and take place November 8. For more information, please see http://psta.rs/1MeHKYg.

The PCA promo week will run at the same time, so while competing for a seat in beautiful winter-time Prague, players can also set their sights on a sunny New Year in the Bahamas. The special week features a wealth of different promotions including a PCA Mega Qualifier on November 8 (25 packages guaranteed and feeder satellites starting from $1), daily PCA freerolls and the new ‘PCA Puzzle’ satellite. This exciting format enables players to earn ‘pieces’ of the puzzle to qualify for an All-in Shootout offering a full $10,770 prize package. For just 25,000 Frequent Player Points, VIPs (SilverStar and above) are also invited to compete online in the special ‘PCA VIP Bash’ on November 7, with five PCA packages added by PokerStars. Full details at http://psta.rs/1KAm8V4.

January’s PCA is already set to be the biggest PokerStars festival ever held. The massive 104-event schedule gets under way at the stunning Atlantis resort in The Bahamas on January 6, 2016.

Prague will, as always, be a hugely popular stop; last season, record after record was smashed with 12,000 entries overall and more than €20 million awarded in prizes. PokerStars’ two further Season 12 stops will be the EPT Dublin Poker Festival from February 9-20, 2016 and the EPT Grand Final in Monaco from April 25 to May 6, 2016.