PokerStars has kicked off a run of exciting live events with a hugely successful revival of the UK & Ireland Poker Tour in London. The UKIPT was a mainstay of the European poker calendar for five years and got back into action in early April with a massive ten-day festival at The Hippodrome Casino.
UKIPT London, which took place April 1 to 10, featured 17 different tournaments including a £1,100 Main Event, £2,200 High Roller, Ladies Event and the UKIPT Cup. Overall more than £1 million was awarded in prize pools and the big turnouts bode well for the other two UKIPT events that have now been announced - UKIPT Dublin next month and the ESPT/UKIPT Malta Summer Poker Festival in Malta in June.
UKIPT London recap
UKIPT fans have waited a long time for their beloved tour to make a return and the London Hippodrome event certainly did not disappoint. British player James Rann fended off competition from the likes of Alexios Zervos, Julien Sitbon, Kully Sidhu and November Niner Antoine Saout on his way to the prestigious UKIPT London title and a £86,569 pay-day. With a field of 645 entries, nearly 100 players took a share of the £619,200 prize pool including PokerStars Ambassador Ben Spragg, Tom Hall, Sam Grafton and Dean Clay from the UK along with PCA Super High Roller runner-up Henrik Hecklen, Florian Duta, Sebastian Gohr and Conor O’Driscoll (who also took down the £300 Win the Button tourney earlier in the festival).
Nottingham player Jack O’Neill won the most expensive buy-in tournament on the 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 by 17 entries. Others who cashed included runner-up Jamie Nixon, Ben Spragg, Josh Boulton and Terry Jordon. O'Neill was among the bigger stacks towards the bubble and remained at the top of the chip counts for most of the final table.
Forthcoming PokerStars live events
Next up for UKIPT fans is UKIPT Dublin which is taking place at the city’s Bonnington Hotel from May 16-22. Live poker tournaments in Ireland are always tremendous fun – and the UKIPT will have the added frisson of being the first UKIPT back in Dublin since the tour ended five years ago. Vladas Tamasauskas from Lithuania won the last UKIPT Dublin in February 2016 for €176,000 – one of the biggest first prizes the tour had ever known. Numerous tournaments will be on the May schedule including a €2,200 High Roller and Mystery Cup event.
Following Dublin, the UKIPT is headed to the Mediterranean for its third stop in 2022 and a new PokerStars ESPT/UKIPT Malta Summer Festival in gorgeous Malta. The event is being jointly hosted by the UKIPT and Estrellas Poker Tour at the Intercontinental Hotel in the buzzing resort of St Julian’s from June 18-26. The €1,100 buy-in Main Event will take pride of place from June 22-26 with a €2,200 High Roller and Mystery Cup event also on the schedule during the nine-day festival. With its gorgeous sunny weather, stunning beaches and a wealth of tourist amenities, Malta is the ideal poker destination and hugely popular with players from all over Europe.
Back to the Bahamas
The celebrated PokerStars Players Championship and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure will herald an exciting start to 2023 in the Bahamas. The festival is being held at the magnificent Baha Mar resort, a brand-new venue for the PCA, from January 22 to February 3. The first $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship was a massive success with Spanish PokerStars qualifier Ramon Colillas turning his Platinum Pass into a $5.1 million payday. There were a total of 1,039 entries for the 2019 event creating a prize pool of nearly $26.5 million.
PokerStars is promising to take the event to a whole new level for the second edition in January 2023 with a truly epic celebration of poker. The $10,300 buy-in PCA Main Event will run January 24 to 29 with the $25k Players Championship kicking off on January 30.
PokerStars will also be hosting two European Poker Tour events later this year: EPT Barcelona in August and EPT Prague in December; more info on those two stalwart European events will be coming soon.
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