European Poker Tour - Mega Bucks for Europe's Poker Players
The European Poker Tour (EPT) is the counterpart to the World Poker Tour (WPT)
A Short History of the European Poker Tour (EPT)
For those top poker players living in Europe who have a thing for Texas Hold’em poker, the EPT is the answer. When John Duthie won the Poker Million tournament, he was inspired. Winning a poker tournament was great, but Duthie wanted more. He loved playing Texas Hold’em poker in tournaments. He wanted to add something to the Word Poker Tour (WPT). Thus in 2004 he established the European Poker Tour, which was seen as the WPT’s younger sibling. The EPT is sponsored by PokerStars (which now owns part of it as well) and is broadcast on TV throughout Europe. Duthie is the show’s commentator. It hasn’t been around for all that long, but that is one of its great strengths. In the short time of its existence, the EPT has garnered incredible success.
Where the EPT is Holding Today
It is true that the EPT is not as prestigious or huge as the WPT. And it certainly began with much humbler beginnings. But in its so far short life, the EPT has made quite a splash. Today the EPT boasts prize money of over $ (EURO) 6 million which is said to be the largest cash prize for poker outside of Vegas. Because this is so appealing, a number of top Vegas players have started to make the trip to the EPT. If there is money to be made paying poker, geography won’t stand in a poker giant’s way. The grand finale for the EPT is held at the prestigious Monte Carlo, which, metaphorically, is pretty close to Las Vegas anyway and could be said to even be Europe’s answer to Las Vegas. The game exclusively played at the EPT is No Limit Texas Hold’em. Indeed the grand final once had 935 players a prize of $ (EURO) 9.35 million. Now that is serious money no matter where you are.
How the EPT Works in Practice
Since the EPT was established after the WPT, it makes sense that the way games are set up and played are very similar. There are major poker tournaments taking place (which are broadcast on TV), buy ins (that aren’t as expensive as their US counterparts), etc. There are less than 12 major events which take place around various European cities. Each season takes seven months from beginning to end. The public went wild and wanted more and today the event is extremely popular.
A Highlight of the EPT
For sure the largest EPT to date has been the won in Italy in which 1,178 players took part. At that event the prize for season 5 was $ (EURO) 54 million and had nearly 8,000 contestants.