PokerNews Live Reporting Team: Where Will You Find Them Next?
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team travels around the world to tournaments of all sizes to bring you the best and most extensive tournament coverage anywhere. For seven weeks, the Team covered the 2010 World Series of Poker at the Rio Convention Center. They brought you the exciting stories, amazing plays, and a few bad beats, but now that the 2010 WSOP is over, it's time to move on. Where is the Team headed to next? We've got the inside scoop for you right here.
LAPT Florianopolis, Brazil
First up is the PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour Florianopolis. This will be the LAPT's second time in Brazil. The first, Season 1, was in Rio de Janeiro, but for Season 3 the tour moved to the southern Brazilian city of Florianopolis, which is half situated on mainland Brazil and half on Santa Catarina Island. The $2,500 + $200 four-day Main Event will begin on August 5 and run through August 8. Side events will be running throughout the Main Event for those who don't make deep runs or who would rather test their skills at a smaller buy-in, including a $45,000 guarantee rebuy event and the first-ever pot-limit Omaha event in LAPT history.
In 2008, LAPT Rio de Janeiro attracted 314 players, creating a prize pool of $785,000. Taking the lion's share of $222,940 was Julien Nuijten from the Netherlands.
If you're looking to get in on some Season 3 LAPT action, there's not much time left. LAPT Florianopolis is the second-to-last stop for Season 3. Sign up for a PokerStars account and qualify now.
European Poker Tour Tallinn, Estonia
The European Poker Tour kicks off Season 7 in Tallinn, Estonia. Although it is the EPT's first foray into the Baltic States, it isn't the first. The PokerStars Baltic Festival was held in Tallinn in 2009. EPT Tallinn will run from August 10 through August 16 and has 17 events on the docket. The Main Event boasts a buy-in of €4,000 + €250. The 2009 Baltic Poker Festival Main Event attracted 307 players, creating a prize pool of €300,000. It was won by the U.K.'s Thomas Partridge. There was also a €10,600 high-roller event, which was taken by Ville Wahlbeck while Shaun Deeb finished second.
Newly minted Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst will be making her debut on the EPT circuit at EPT Tallinn and will be joined by PokerStars teammate Katja Thater, EPT Barcelona winner Carter Phillips, EPT Berlin winner Kevin MacPhee, and plenty of other pros.
Want to go mix it on the felt in Tallinn and take in some of the sights? Qualify now on PokerStars.
Full Tilt Poker Merit Cyprus Classic
Last year, the World Poker Tour added the Merit Cyprus Classic to its tour schedule. Although Cyprus isn't on the WPT's schedule this year, it's still on the poker schedule. The Full Tilt Merit Cyprus Classic will take place August 17 through August 26. Last year, 181 players hit the felt for the $10,000 Main Event, creating a prize pool of $1,755,700, with $579,165 going to France's Thomas Bichon for the win.
This year, the buy-in for the Main Event has dropped to $5,000. There will also be a $25,000 high-roller event and several side events to keep poker players occupied in case the five-star resort and Mediterranean Sea aren't enough.
Full Tilt is running qualifiers for this event, and we can't think of a reason not to sign up for your shot at a seat and to check out the entire schedule of events, head over to MeritPoker.com.
European Poker Tour Vilamoura, Portugal
For the second year in a row, the PokerStars European Poker Tour is headed to Portugal. Season 6's EPT Vilamoura attracted 322 players last year, creating a prize pool of €1,561,700 and making it the richest poker tournament ever held in Portugal. Antonio Matias walked away with the biggest chunk of change when he took down the field and walked away with €404,793. That field was riddled players that have become EPT staples. Friend of PokerStars and PokerStars Serial Qualifier Pierre Neuville took second place in that event, and chess prodigy turned poker player Jeff Sarwer finished third.
EPT Vilamoura, the second stop on the EPT's Season 7 schedule, will take place August 28 through September 2. The €5,000 + 300 Main Event takes place at one of Portugal's premier tourist destinations where players will get to relax by the beach or hit the links at one of the area's championship golf courses.
If this sounds like your kind of poker tournament, you should sign up for a PokerStars account and qualify for your seat today!
Now you know where the PokerNews Live Reporting Team is headed for the next month. If you can't make it to one of these amazing stops, you can always follow along with the Live Reporting blog and you can be sure thatLynn Gilmartin, Kristy Arnett, and Gloria Balding will be bringing you video interviews and tours from each of these stops.
Until then, follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
