EPT Re-Branded As PokerStars Championship

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Monday, September 12th, 2016 | Written by Charles Washington

The European Poker Tour (EPT) is in the midst of its thirteenth season, which also is going to be its final one. No, PokerStars isn’t doing away with their ultra popular tour, but it is re-branding the tournament series into two individual events, namely the PokerStars Championship and the PokerStars Festival.

When the European Poker Tour first began in 2004, most of its players haled from Europe, but as the event has grown in prestige, and the sizes of available purses have skyrocketed, the series has drawn an increasingly diverse assortment of players from all around the world. As a result, PokerStars, the organizer and sponsor of the EPT, has chosen to eliminate the Europe-only name and introduce its new format, and as a company press release explains:

“With the European Poker Tour (EPT) outgrowing its European borders, PokerStars is making its biggest live events even bigger, by encompassing key PokerStars sponsored events from around the world and bringing players worldwide the much-loved EPT experience.”

Re-Branding

PokerStars continues to be a major promoter of tournaments around the globe, but the increasing numbers of events being sponsored by the operator has also contributed to a confusing situation in which it is not always readily apparent to participants who the main sponsor actually is. For example, as well as the EPT, other series currently promoted by PokerStars includes the LAPT, UKIPT, APPT, ANZPT, IPT, FPS, BSOP, EUREKA, Aussie Millions, and Estrellas Poker Tour.

By bringing the unwieldy array of PokerStars sponsored tournaments under two umbrellas, i.e. the PokerStars championship and the PokerStars Festival, the site should be able to streamline its operation, while also benefitting from an improved level of brand awareness.

The PokerStars Championship

If you want to compare poker to other competitive sports, the PokerStars Championship would be the major leagues, or the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB of the poker scene. Consequently, the operator will be holding PokerStars Championship events in many of the world’s most prestigious cities, such as Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Macau, and Panama. Other venues will be announced in the months to come.

In each stop, the PokerStars Championship will offer a 10 to 11-day series with up to 100 tournaments per series, with the calendar kicking-off with the PokerStars Championship Bahamas from January 6 to 14, 2017, instead of the previous named PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA).

As a part of the PokerStars Championship tour, PokerStars will be awarding a Player of the Year Prize, in which winners of each tournament win a VIP package for the following year’s series, in addition to a free tournament buy-in and accommodation. There will also be an invitational tournament for winners with a $100,000 cash prize for the winner.

The PokerStars Festival

In keeping with our sports theme, the PokerStars Festival is a little more like the minor leagues, and will take place in some of the “more out-of-the-way EPT stops.” Although you can still expect fierce competition at the events, they are meant to appeal to more recreational players rather than pros.

Each festival will last from 6 to 7 days, and will feature numerous events with low-priced buy-ins. Throughout each series, there will also be other non-poker activities, making the experience more like a vacation to a casino than a hard core poker-only event.

Currently, there are two PokerStars Festival events scheduled, with one held at the Resorts Casino Hotel from October 29 to November 6 this year, and a second held in London. Needless to say, there will be many more PokerStars Festival locations added for 2017 in the near future.

Is Re-branding the Right Decision?

Will consolidating all of the various PokerStars events into two series and re-branding the European Poker Tour be beneficial? It’s likely the answer will be yes, as both events build off the brand recognition of PokerStars’ already illustrious name in the world of poker. That said, the decision has still divided the poker community, with one side citing the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ argument, and the other side embracing the ‘change is good’ approach. As one poker reporter, Matthew Pitt, wrote recently:

“When I was in Prague last year, an army of players came and went from the tournament room over the course of a week, then someone picked up a massive prize, rinse and repeat. The creation of the PokerStars Championships and PokerStars Festivals could bring some of that excitement back for players and staff alike. Instead of going to the same old venues year in year out, players get to literally travel the world.”