European Poker Tour BARCELONA FESTIVAL opens with record number of players entered in estrellas main event tournament
BARCELONA, August 16, 2012 – More than 1,000 players entered the €1,100 buy-in Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT) Main Event today producing a prize pool of over €1,000,000, smashing all previous records for an ESPT poker tournament and more than doubling the highest previous field of players for an Estrellas event.
“We have filled every seat at every poker table in the Casino Barcelona,” said European Poker Tour President Edgar Stuchly. “I can’t think of a better way to open the EPT Barcelona festival than having a sell-out crowd.”
An official total of 1,036 players entered the four-day €1,100 buy-in Estrellas Main Event, the finale of ESPT Season 3, taking the prize pool to a phenomenal €1,004,920 and making it the biggest poker tournament ever held in Spain in terms of number of players. The Estrellas champion is set to take home a €200,000 first prize. The biggest ESPT field before today was in Madrid in Season 2 with 498 players.
Some of the biggest names in European poker entered the event including David Vamplew (winner of EPT7 London), Kevin MacPhee (winner of EPT6 Berlin), Team PokerStars Pro Sandra Naujoks (EPT5 Berlin winner), Martin Finger (EPT8 Prague winner) and Ivan Freitez, EPT7 Grand Final champion. Also competing were numerous members of Team PokerStars Pro including Juan Manuel Pastor and Ana Marquez from Spain, Irishman Jude Ainsworth and Belgian twins Christophe and Matthias De Meulder.
The Estrellas Poker Tour Grand Final is part of the Barcelona Poker Festival – the first time that a national tour has partnered the EPT to create a mega 11-day feast of poker. The concept has clearly had massive appeal for players. The Festival is running August 15 – 25, featuring a total of 47 events with buy-ins starting from as little as €110 - up to €50,000 for the Super High Roller event which kicks off tomorrow, Friday August 17.
EPT Live webcast
Poker fans from all over the world can watch the action from the final tables of the €50,000 Super High Roller and the €5,000 EPT Barcelona Main Event online, live and exclusive on PokerStars.tv.
The broadcast times are as follows:
· Sunday, August 19 13:00 CET – €50,000 Super High Roller: Final Table (English only)
· Saturday, August 25, 14:00 CET – €5,000 Main Event: Final Table (English, German, Spanish, Italian and Russian)
The English versions of the webcasts will be hosted by Joe Stapleton and James Hartigan, and will feature live commentary from a variety of Team PokerStars Pros including Vanessa Rousso and Daniel Negreanu, plus there will be opportunities to take part in exclusive viewer freerolls.
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