GCBPT bad beat

After two very successful years, it appears the Gala Casinos British Poker Tour won’t be returning in 2009. There has been no official confirmation at this point but all signs indicate that the ‘People’s Poker Tour’ has held its last tournament.

The news will come as a big blow to both UK poker players and the UK poker scene in general. With an affordable £500 buy-in the GCBPT main events filled a niche gap in the market for aspiring amateurs and professionals that didn’t have the money available to buy-in to more expensive poker tours such as the GUKPT and EPT. Throughout its’ two years, a number of very talented British players have taken down GCBPT titles, including PokerPlayer reader Zachary Ford and Hendon Mobster Joe Beevers.

The reasons given for the GCBPT’s demise appear to be related to the nationwide credit crunch. However, it is hard to see how the tour was failing to make money with sold-out events throughout the second season being the norm.

Looking ahead to the future, the collapse of the GCBPT reinforces the GUKPT as the dominant poker tour throughout the UK. It wouldn’t be a surprise if their cheaper priced side events see a growth in participation throughout 2009 as poker players look for a replacement to the GCBPT. Whatever happens, we at PokerPlayer would like to thank the GCBPT for two great years of poker and wish everyone involved the best in the future.

Update

After the surprise news of the GCBPT’s demise, speculation has been rife with the reasons behind the tour’s failure to run in 2009. Finally, GCBPT Tour Manager Mark O’Donnell has released an official statement explaining things from their side;

“While we’ve had two fantastic years running the ‘Great British Poker Tour’, we’ve now decided to look at a number of new events and promotions for 2009 that will not only excite our players but are of great value and are accessible to poker players of all levels.

“Through our poker websites (galapoker.co.uk, coralpoker.com and eurobetpoker.com) we are already planning to run more satellites than ever to the world’s biggest poker tournaments including the European Poker Tour, World Series of Poker and Aussie Millions.

“Our online schedule also continues to evolve with over $ 14m guaranteed in prizes every month and includes Guest List – a $ 10k new player freeroll – as well a new weekly $ 300k ‘ChampionChip’. We are also looking at offering a number of other significant tournaments over the next couple of months. Details will appear on galapoker.com, coralpoker.com and eurobetpoker.com when these tournaments are confirmed.”