Over 300 PokerStars Players Qualify Into the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo
The European Poker Tour Season 12 Grand Final has joined forces with the France Poker Series to create what promises to be the biggest poker festival in Monte Carlo.
The schedule features 80 action-packed events from April 25 to May 6 at Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort highlighted by the €5,300 Main Event, which is half the price this event has featured in previous years.
Back in February when the schedule was announced, PokerStars Director of Live Events Edgar Stuchly predicted that the festival would be the biggest, in no small part due to the plethora of online satellites hosted by the world's biggest online poker room.
"This season's PokerStars and MonteCarlo® Casino EPT Grand Final promises to the biggest and best yet," proclaimed Stuchly. "As always, our flagship events will attract the best players in the world to Monaco, but we have a wider range of tournaments than ever before this season, giving everyone a chance to compete. We are also hoping to break our record for the number of online qualifiers. We look forward to seeing thousands of players at our Season 12 finale."
PokerStars announced on its blog that a record-breaking 302 players already qualified for the EPT Main Event via online satellites on its site. The previous record took place two years ago when 210 online players qualified into the EPT Season 10 Grand Final Main Event.
The large number of online qualifiers was propelled by the 121 players to qualify in via €10 EPT Grand Final Spin & Gos, with each winner heading to Monte Carlo in luxury with a package valued at €9,000.
Stuchly was elated by the huge number of online qualifiers participating in this year's EPT Grand Final poker festival with the number bound to grow with online satellites still running on PokerStars.
"We're very excited about this season's finale," Stuchly shared on the PokerStars Blog. "We reduced the Main Event buy-in to give additional players a chance to join us and that's exactly what has transpired with a record number of online qualifiers set to compete in this prestigious event. For all our regulars, as well as all those coming to an EPT for the very first time, we extend a very warm welcome to Monaco."
In addition, another 155 players qualified into the €1,100 FPS Main Event for pennies on the dollar via the many qualifiers hosted on PokerStars around the clock.
Many big names are expected to take part in the poker festival. PokerStars confirmed two of its team members will be joining the field in six-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu and Brazilian football legend Ronaldo Nazario.
More Than Just a Poker Tournament
In addition to the non-stop poker action, the EPT will be hosting a variety of fun activities including a Multi-Sports Simulator Contest with the overall winner walking away with an Estrellas Barcelona Main Event package, and a player party at Monaco's most iconic club, Jimmy'z nightclub.
As if that wasn't enough, the 2016 European Poker Awards will be held during the poker festival on May 3 at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel. Among the nominees are PokerNews.nl's Frank Op de Woerd and contributor Remko Rinkema.
The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to give you updates as they happen in some of the biggest events in the poker festival including the €100,000 Super High Roller (April 28-30, the €5,300 Main Event (April 30-May 6), the €50,000 Single-Day Super High Roller (May 1), and the €25,750 High Roller (May 4-6).
EPTLive will also be streaming on a 30-minute delay feature tables with hole cards face up during seven-days of the poker festival including the EPT Main Event starting on Day 2.
For more information on the complete EPT Grand Final schedule, head on over to EPT.com.
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