Guide to the European Poker Tournament

The European Poker Tournament, EPT as it is popularly known is Europe’s richest and most popular poker tour. It takes place in the lavish and beautiful casinos of some of Europe’s most historic cities.

A prestigious series of major poker tournaments, the 1st EPT season was initiated in the year 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion witnessed in the Texas Hold’em popularity. The year 2008 will host the fifth season of the EPT and to date, all EPT events continue to be No Limit Texas Hold’em.

These poker tournaments are televised for a global audience and designed on lines similar to those of the World Poker Tour (WPT). In fact, today, the European Poker Tour has earned the reputation of being not only the largest but leading televised poker series in the world. Live television coverage is available on almost all major European networks.

When it first started, the most significant difference between the World Poker Tour and the EPT was the buy-in and its subsequent influence on the prize pool. The EPT featured buy-ins that were approximately half the size of the WPT. However, this dramatically changed in Season 4. The buy-in increased to €8,000, (US$ 10,000), which was the buy-in for most WPT events. The reason for this change was the intensely rising popularity and lack of space in participating casinos. Moreover, the final table is made up of eight players as against the six players in the WPT.

The EPT is sponsored by PokerStars and filmed for television broadcasting by the famous award-winning production company Sunset+Vine. By virtue of its fame, esteem and recognition, it is broadcast throughout the world. It also includes a featured ‘show’ table for broadcast on Eurosport and other satellite as well as terrestrial TV channels across the world.

John Duthie, famous as the winner of the inaugural Poker Million Tournament was the brain behind the European Poker Tour. Duthie also acts as the commentator of the show along with Colin Murray.