PokerStars’ new “In the Money at 180,000” tournament has proved popular at EPT Barcelona, with the €550 event attracting 572 entries after initially being capped at 300 players.

The tournament was one of the more unusual additions to this year’s EPT Barcelona schedule, replacing the traditional bubble with a target-stack format. The original 300-player limit was eventually removed as demand grew, allowing the field to nearly double its planned size.

With 572 entries, the tournament generated a €274,560 prize pool, giving the new format a sizeable first test.

The concept is straightforward but very different from a standard tournament.

Players started with 30,000 chips and needed to build their stack to 180,000, six times the starting stack, to secure their place in Day 2. Reaching the target also guaranteed them a minimum cash.

Once a player hit 180,000 chips or more, they were removed from the tournament, with their stack bagged for the second day. This meant players could potentially secure a Day 2 spot relatively early, while the rest of the field continued playing.

The format removes the usual bubble period, where players can become increasingly cautious as they approach the money. Rather than waiting for enough opponents to be eliminated, players have a clear target they need to reach themselves.

That also changes the incentives for short stacks. In a conventional tournament, a player can sometimes survive by folding their way into the money. Here, simply staying alive is not enough. Players need to accumulate chips to reach the 180,000 mark.

Popular From The Start

The tournament was initially capped at 300 players, but that proved too restrictive. PokerStars ambassador David Lappin said the event was created after players asked for another lower buy-in tournament on the Barcelona schedule.

“Players said they wanted another lower buy-in on the PokerStars schedule in Barcelona + we created a new €550 tourney just for them!” Lappin wrote on X.

He added that the tournament had been so well attended that the cap was first increased before ultimately being removed altogether. The result was a field of 572 entries, almost twice the original 300-player capacity, according to PokerStrategy.

The €550 buy-in also made the tournament one of the more accessible events on the EPT Barcelona schedule, which includes a wide range of higher-priced events. Combined with the unusual structure, that appears to have helped attract players to the new format.

A Format to Watch

The biggest question now is whether “In the Money at 180,000” becomes a one-off experiment or appears again on the PokerStars live schedule.

The format itself is not new. Target-stack structures have been used extensively in satellites, including online poker, where players reach a predetermined chip target to secure a seat rather than playing through a traditional bubble.

What makes the Barcelona event different is that PokerStars has applied the same principle to a regular tournament.

There is also an unusual endgame if the field reaches a point where fewer than 180,000 chips remain in play. The remaining players then play for all the chips, with the last player standing advancing to Day 2. Any minimum cash is prorated based on the stack held when that situation is reached.

For players, that creates a tournament where accumulating chips is the only route to securing a Day 2 spot. For PokerStars, the 572-entry turnout provides an encouraging first indication that players are willing to try something different.

Whether the format returns at another EPT stop will ultimately depend on how PokerStars evaluates the experiment, but its first appearance in Barcelona has already attracted considerably more players than the operator initially expected.