Play Soft... Win Hard
Many things have changed over the years since the inception of the EPT. Originally the annual event was traditionally held at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino. After many years of the Victoria being the queen of the EPT, it moved to a new location and is no longer set in stone at the Victoria. Regardless, the EPT is majestic and when you have made it to the EPT London or any of the many EPT locations, then you know you are on the move to the top. Many of the best live poker players from Europe, the US and beyond - including famous names such as Chris Moneymaker and Daniel Negreanu have participated in the European Poker Tour.
The most recent winner of the last event held in London was Sebastian Pauli with a purse of £499,700. There were over 675 qualifiers in the field. That particular event was held at Grand Connaught Rooms. There are no EPT events scheduled in London for this current season. The past three season winners from the London event are:
The buy-in for this premier live poker event held in September of each year is £5000+£200 - more than $10,000. Fortunately many online poker sites offer satellite qualifiers ranging from just a few dollars entry (details below). One of the main European Poker Tour sponsors is Pokerstars. In the 2007 event 4 of the final 5 players qualified online through this site – including the eventual winner.
EPT London features a great range of preliminary poker tournaments with buy-ins ranging from just £300. These include pot-Limit Hold’em, 7-Card Stud and Omaha live poker tournaments. In addition there are live satellite qualifiers for the No-Limit Hold’em main event from just £70.
With a field of almost 400 players the payouts for this poker tournament are very lucrative.
As the largest online poker site, and main sponsor of the EPT London tournament – Pokerstars offer a wide range of EPT satellite qualifiers. Direct entry can be won through the $215 ‘Double Shootout’ tournaments on PokerStars.net. Alternatively multi-table satellite tournaments to the EPT London start at just $16 – leading to ‘super satellites’ with guaranteed seat allocation.
Becoming qualified for a seat with the EPT is not an easy task and if you had to rely solely on enough cash to invest into buying a seat many great poker players would never make it. So, fortunately leading poker sites like Pokerstars offer four different varieties of satellites that will allow even the smallest budget player to earn a seat. Here are ways to become qualified.
Full Package - this type of satellite win garners you the full Monte. Complete with money towards travel, accommodations and a seat to the Main Event. Typically it is not available until closer to the event. Pokerstars is the only place to qualify for EPTs.
Seat-only - this is similar to the full package tournament but the winner only receives a seat at the Main Event. This is perfect for the local player or someone who has the money to spend or patrons who will support your travel and such.
Steps - this typically comes in the form of a single table tournament where you the winner gets to move on to the next highest level and continues on until the main prize is won.
Flips or All-in - this type of satellite is great for people on a limited limit and budgetary constraints. Players see the blinds and antes placed so high that each player is considered all-in from the beginning and remain in the tournament until a winner is declared.
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