EPT Online Underway on PokerStars
While the majority of the online poker world focuses on Las Vegas and the 2007 World Series of Poker, an exciting promotion is currently underway on PokerStars. The European Poker Tour Online kicked off on May 30th and runs until the third week of June. It is 24 days long with unique prizes being given away, capped off by a $1,050 buy in Main Event which will send one PokerStars patron to the EPT Grand Final in beautiful Monte Carlo, Monaco. Seven other live EPT tournament seats will be given away as well on PokerStars.
There are eight tournaments throughout the course of 24 days that give away seats to live EPT events in Barcelona (Spain), London (England), Baden (Austria), Dublin (Ireland), Dortmund (Germany), Copenhagen (Denmark), Warsaw (Poland), and the finale in Monte Carlo (Monaco). Each of these tournaments is $215 if you want to buy in directly. If $215 is too steep, you can satellite in as well. They start from $8 and take place every day leading up to the big $215 tournament. Double Shoot Out Sit & Go Tournaments are available as well. If you win a satellite, you’ll be awarded a ticket to play in any of the $215 tournaments you’d like except for the Grand Final, which has its own satellite system. The next EPT Online event is the EPT German Open. The $215 tournament is on Saturday, June 16th at 2:00pm ET (14:00 ET for all you Europeans). The prize package to the winner of the $215 tournament is valued at $13,000 and includes travel, hotel, and entry into the tournament. The complete EPT Online schedule is given below:
| DATE | TIME* | BUY-IN | NAME | TYPE |
| May 30 | 1300 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| May 30 | 1400 | $8 + $0.80 | EPT Online Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| May 31 | 1300 | $8 + $0.80 | EPT Online Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| May 31 | 1400 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 1 | 1400 | $200 + $15 | EPT Online – Barcelona | Freezeout |
| June 2 | 1400 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 3 | 1300 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 3 | 1400 | $8 + $0.80 | EPT Online Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| June 4 | 1300 | $8 + $0.80 | EPT Online Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| June 4 | 1400 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 5 | 1300 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 5 | 1400 | $8 + $0.80 | EPT Online Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| June 6 | 1400 | $200 + $15 | EPT Online – London | Freezeout |
| June 7 | 1300 | $8 + $0.80 | EPT Online Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| June 7 | 1400 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 8 | 1300 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 8 | 1400 | $8 + $0.80 | EPT Online Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| June 9 | 1400 | $200 + $15 | EPT Online – Baden | Freezeout |
| June 10 | 1300 | $8 + $0.80 | EPT Online Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| June 10 | 1400 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 11 | 1300 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 11 | 1400 | $8 + $0.80 | EPT Online Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| June 12 | 1300 | $8 + $0.80 | EPT Online Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| June 12 | 1400 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 13 | 1400 | $200 + $15 | EPT Online – Dublin | Freezeout |
| June 14 | 1300 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 14 | 1400 | $8 + $0.80 | EPT Online Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| June 15 | 1300 | $8 + $0.80 | EPT Online Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| June 15 | 1400 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 16 | 1400 | $200 + $15 | EPT Online – Dortmund | Freezeout |
| June 16 | 1600 | $80 + $8 | EPT Online Monte Carlo Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 17 | 1300 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 17 | 1400 | $8 + $0.80 | EPT Online Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| June 17 | 1600 | $30 + $3 | EPT Online Monte Carlo Satellite | Rebuy |
| June 18 | 1400 | $200 + $15 | EPT Online – Copenhagen | Freezeout |
| June 18 | 1600 | $30 + $3 | EPT Online Monte Carlo Satellite | Rebuy |
| June 19 | 1300 | $8 + $0.80 | EPT Online Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| June 19 | 1400 | $20 + $2 | EPT Online Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 19 | 1600 | $80 + $8 | EPT Online Monte Carlo Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 20 | 1400 | $200 + $15 | EPT Online – Warsaw | Freezeout |
| June 20 | 1600 | $30 + $3 | EPT Online Monte Carlo Satellite | Rebuy |
| June 21 | 1400 | $80 + $8 | EPT Online Monte Carlo Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 21 | 1600 | $30 + $3 | EPT Online Monte Carlo Satellite | Rebuy |
| June 22 | 1400 | $30 + $3 | EPT Online Monte Carlo Satellite | Rebuy |
| June 22 | 1600 | $80 + $8 | EPT Online Monte Carlo Satellite | Freezeout |
| June 23 | 1100 | $30 + $3 | EPT Online Monte Carlo Satellite | Turbo Rebuy |
| June 23 | 1400 | $1000 + $50 | EPT Online – Monte Carlo | Freezeout |
The online tournaments award seats into the fourth season of the EPT. In season three, Gavin Griffin, who qualified through PokerStars to get into the Grand Final, took €1.8 million back to his home in the United States. That’s around $2.4 million at today’s exchange rate. The final table of the Grand Final was composed of players from all over the world. Joining Smith were Marc Karam (Canada), Soren Kongsgaard (Denmark), Kristian Kjondal (Norway), Josh Prager (United States), Steve Jelinek (U.K.), Andy Black (Ireland), and Ram Vaswani (U.K.). To go along with his EPT title, Smith also won a bracelet in the $3,000 Pot Limit Hold’em event at the 2006 WSOP.
The EPT has grown leaps and bounds entering its fourth season. The Season One Grand Final, won by Rob Hollink, had a prize pool of just over €2 million. That grew to €3 million in Season Two, when PocketFiver Jeff “yellowsub” Williams took home first place. In Season Three, it had more than doubled to €6.6 million, which was equal to around two-thirds of the total prize pool for every event in Season Two combined. PokerStars claimed the prize pool of the Grand Final was the largest “for a tournament in Europe and a record outside of Las Vegas.” Nearly 3,500 players entered the eight EPT events in Season Three, or about 435 per tournament.
Try something different if you’re looking for a potentially big payoff. Visit PokerStars to learn about the EPT Online.
