British players are not the only poker fans who are thrilled by the return of next month’s EPT festival in London. After a break of nearly seven years, the popular event will be attracting players from all over the world to its new home at the spectacular Park Lane Hilton.
The festival, which sees the UKPT and EPT renewing their highly successful partnership once again, is taking place from October 18 to 28 and features nearly 50 different tournaments on the schedule. Highlights include the UKIPT London Main Event, a UKIPT Mystery Bounty and the UKIPT High Roller along with blockbuster EPT tournaments such as the EPT Main Event, EPT High Roller and Super High Roller, H-O-R-S-E Championship and the eagerly-awaited EPT Platinum Pass Mystery Bounty.
It is EPT London that first put Victoria Coren Mitchell (pictured) in the spotlight when she won her first EPT trophy at the Vic back in 2006. The event has always attracted big names, huge fields and giant schedules. Past Main Event champions also include John Shipley, Aaron Gustavson, Michael Martin, David Vamplew, Benny Spindler and Ruben Visser.
EPT London in October is going to be MASSIVE. Let MainEventTravel find you a great place to stay – including the Hilton itself!
Key dates:
UKIPT:
UKIPT Main Event: October 18-22 - £1,100
UKIPT Mystery Bounty Cup: October 20-21 - £440
UKIPT High Roller: October 21-22 - £2,200
EPT:
EPT Super High Roller: October 21-23 - £50,000
EPT Main Event: October 22-28 - £5,300
EPT Platinum Pass Mystery Bounty: October 24-26 - £3,000
EPT High Roller: October 26-28 - £10,300
The EPT Main Event will be streamed from Day 2 (October 24-28) so you can watch all the action on the PokerStars YouTube channel. In addition to all the tournaments, there will also be cash games running 24/7 at the Hippodrome Casino near Leicester Square. Please note that EPT London will be a cashless event so all cash registrations and cash deposits need to be done at The Hippodrome Casino – and remember to bring your photo ID!
The Park Lane Hilton is an amazing venue, right on the edge of Hyde Park and walking distance from a ton of attractions in the UK capital including Buckingham Palace. The sky bar on the 28th floor offers spectacular views over the park and the city beyond.
The UKIPT festival held in London in April featured 17 different tournaments and, overall, more than £1 million was awarded in prize pools. Britain’s James Rann (pictured) beat off competition from top names such as Alexios Zervos, Julien Sitbon, Kully Sudhu and November Niner Antoine Saout to take down the Main Event for £86,569. With a field of 645 entries, nearly 100 players took a share of the £619,200 prize pool including PokerStars Ambassadors Ben Spragg and Sam Grafton. Nottingham player Jack O’Neill won the most expensive buy-in tournament on the UKIPT London schedule - the £2,200 High Roller – for £64,520. The tournament attracted a record 131 entries, overtaking the previous biggest field for the UKIPT tour.
The final EPT of the year will be EPT Prague which is taking place in its traditional pre-Christmas slot from December 7-18.
Photo Credit: PokerStars, Danny Maxwell, Neil Stoddart