The European Poker Tour is once again setting up shop in Barcelona, Spain after a brief one-year hiatus during which the EPT brand was replaced with the PokerStars Championship. To celebrate, PokerStars will be giving away 10 Platinum Passes to players at the festival valued at $30,000 each.
Last year during the PokerStars Championship Barcelona, 3626 players generated 4557 total entries for the €4 million guaranteed PokerStars National Championship, setting a record for the most attended live event in PokerStars history.
This year, PokerStars is using the return of its iconic live poker brand to Barcelona as a reason to celebrate, and it is handing out more than $350,000 worth of party favors in the form of Platinum Passes.
Each Platinum Pass includes a $25,000 entry to the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship (PSPC) being held in the Bahamas January 6-10, 2019 along with six nights’ accommodation at Atlantis Resort and $2000 in travel expenses and room credits.
How to Win a Platinum Pass
For players attending EPT Barcelona, 10 Platinum Passes will be awarded at the tables. Winners of the EPT Main Event, the EPT National, the EPT Cup, and the PSPC Package Qualifier will all receive a Platinum Pass. Plus, any player that qualifies (live or online) their way into the main event will be entered into a last longer contest where the last surviving qualifier will score a Platinum Pass.
PokerStars will also be hosting a special Crazy Pineapple Flip Out competition for players that make it to Day 2 of five select tournaments including the EPT Main Event, the EPT National, and the EPT Cup. To start the day, each table will be dealt a special Crazy Pineapple hand with the winner of each table moving on to the next round in a Shootout-style format until a winner is determined.
Three more Platinum Passes are earmarked for those that could not make it to Barcelona but still follow along with the action from home. By watching the live stream of EPT Barcelona, fans will get a chance to win their own Platinum Pass. To qualify, poker fans watching the English, Spanish and French language streams can earn a spot in a special a six-max hyper-turbo freeroll on September 2 by completing one of four ICE Challenges. Players can even earn additional chips in the freeroll by completing additional ICE Challenges. The winner of each freeroll will get a Platinum Pass.
New Executive Tournament Director
Danny McDonagh is taking the reins as Executive Tournament Director for the first time at EPT Barcelona. “I’m really looking forward to EPT Barcelona, undoubtedly one of the favourite stops of the tour, held in a truly breath-taking city. I look forward to meeting players and seeing them enjoy the added value that is on offer from this event,” said McDonagh.
“We’ve just launched what is in effect an online version of the Welcome Desk on Facebook for players to ask all of their live event related questions in a group called the PokerStars Live Events Team. It will allow players to interact directly with PokerStars staff and Tournament Directors to discuss all live event matters from online satellites to visa requirements.”
New Stars Store on Display
PokerStars is unveiling its new Stars Store in Barcelona too. In addition to traditional PokerStars merchandise, the worldwide leader in online poker has partnered with Hugo Boss to offer special premium co-branded apparel and products at its pop-up store next to the tournament room.
The online version of the new store will also carry the special merchandise and it is scheduled to go live during the tour stop in Barcelona.
EPT Barcelona is running now through September 2.
