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On 15 August, the PokerStars European Poker Tour Season 9 kicks off in Barcelona. A record number of 300 players are set to qualify online.
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The PokerStars [4] European Poker Tour (EPT) Season 9 will be special in more than one ways. First of all, a record number of 300 players can qualify online for the first stop in Barcelona, held between 15 and 25 August. This is about 130 more than the number of players who won their seats in the EPT Barcelona 8 Main Event via satellites.
EPT President Edgar Stuchly said the rise in interest of online satellite tournaments is due to the several buy-in levels and ways to qualify, providing opportunities to play for buy-ins only or for entire packages. "There's also Player's Choice and Main Event Passport tournaments which allow winners to choose from a variety of Main Events to play in," Stuchly added.
What is more, EPT is set to cooperate with local tournaments in Season 9, which means in Barcelona a joint EPT – Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT) will be organised. This is the first time ESPT visits the Catalan city with a full schedule for a combined total of 47 events, including the €1,100 Estrellas Main Event, the €2,000 Estrellas High Roller, the €5,300 EPT Main Event, the €10,300 EPT9 Heads Up Championship, the €10,300 NLHE High Roller Single Reload – 8 Handed and the €50,000 EPT9 Super High Roller tourneys. Buy-ins for the events begin at €110.
To top it all, The PokerStars EPT 9 will be sponsored by the Swiss luxury watch brand Slyde by HD3, offering a unique, “Black and Steel” design watch, worth €5,480, for each of all six EPT Main Event champions. The winner of the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo receives a “Black and Rose Gold” design watch, retail price €9,000, in addition to the tournament prizes.
Players who visit EPT Barcelona 9 are bound to meet Team PokerStars Pro players like Liv Boeree, Jason Mercier, Luca Pagano, Daniel Negreanu, Pius Heinz, Vanessa Selbst and "ElkY" Grospellier.