PokerStars announce EPT Season 9

As the world’s mega stars battle it out for European Poker Tour glory at this week’s Grand Final in Monte Carlo, tour sponsors PokerStars has announced that the EPT will return later this year for Season 9.

According to the world’s largest poker site, EPT Season 9 will feature more poker, more variety of games and more opportunities for players to qualify or enter at buy-in levels that are right for them.

PokerStars confirmed stops in eight major cities and said it will partner with local tours at each stop to create bigger festivals with more poker.

‘EPT Season 9 will bring a new level of innovation to our tour and will enhance the experience for all players,’ said EPT President Edgar Stuchly.

Each of the eight EPT event aims to be a spectacular ‘can’t-miss festival of poker’, kicking off at EPT Barcelona on August 15, before rounding off once again in Monaco next May.

In addition to this, the EPT in Season 9 will link up with its regional poker tour partners such as the Estrellas Poker Tour and the UK & Ireland Poker Tour, which will mean more tournaments with a greater variety of buy-ins to satisfy players of every bankroll.

There will also be a hike in High Roller action, with a €10,000 tournament at every stop, a €50,000 event in Barcelona and a $100,000/€100,000 Super High Roller and $25,000/€25,000 High Roller tournaments at the PCA in the Bahamas and Grand Final in Monte Carlo.

In addition, PokerStars has announced there will also be a new €10,000 Championship Series for players of games in a variety of disciplines, including Heads-Up, Pot-Limit Omaha and 8-Game.

‘We have had a lot of fun working with our players and our tournament staff to create some of the most exciting poker tournaments in the world. With all the incredible improvements coming to the tour, many of them created from player suggestions, EPT 9 will solidify us as the can’t-miss destination for European poker,’ added EPT’s Live Poker Specialist, Neil Johnson.

How you can qualify

During Season 9 there will be more opportunities than ever before to qualify online for the EPT, according to PokerStars.  There will be a greater number of online qualifiers to suit players, and their bankrolls, and qualifying periods for each individual event will also be extended, alongside new qualifying formats.

Here’s the full EPT Season 9 schedule*:

BARCELONA: August 15-25, 2012 Main event: August 19-25, 2012
SAN REMO: October 3-11, 2012 Main event: October 5-11, 2012
PRAGUE: December 5-15, 2012 Main event: December 9-15, 2012
PCA: January 6-15, 2013
DEAUVILLE: January 30 – February 9, 2013 Main event: February 3-9, 2013
LONDON: March 6-16, 2013 Main event: March 10-16, 2013
BERLIN: April 24 – May 4, 2013 Main event: April 28 – May 4, 2013
MONTE CARLO: May 6-15, 2013 Main event: May 6-12 2013

*The above is a provisional schedule.