PokerStars: More Live Events to Be Announced
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The end of European Poker Tour Prague — which came in exciting fashion as the second two-time EPT champion was crowned — signaled the close of major PokerStars LIVE events for 2019.
Players and onlookers turned their attention to 2020, and the release of the 2020 PokerStars LIVE schedule provided immediate fodder with which to plan for the coming year.
The past couple of years have looked largely similar in terms of major PokerStars LIVE events. Each of those years kicked off with the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and followed with four European stops: Sochi, Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Prague. The 2020 schedule contains two large changes, however, with PCA off the schedule and no mention of EPT Prague. Are five major stops becoming three?
PCA Dropped, Not Replaced
In September, news hit the wire that the PCA had been discontinued.
One of PokerStars' flagship live events for over a decade-and-a-half, the PCA started out on a cruise ship and then spent 15 years at Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island. It was once a hotbed of satellite qualifiers and the site of a slew of seven-figure prizes, one of the dream destinations to which poker players around the world aspired to go.
However, attendance flagged in recent years. A Main Event price cut to $5,000 under the PokerStars Championship banner in 2017 led to the weakest prize pool in the land-based history of the event, and attendance in 2018 — back up to costing $10,300 — dropped to a level not seen since 2005.
Only a jolt from the PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold'em Championship in 2019 pushed numbers back up, but the 865 entries in last year's Main Event was still short of the roughly 1,000 who were turning up in the first years following Black Friday.
The picture painted by the numbers, combined with grumblings from players unhappy about the Atlantis experience, led PokerStars to axe the event, former Director of Poker Marketing Eric Hollreiser said before leaving the company late last year.
"We regularly review each event and our entire event schedule, not only to keep things fresh but also in thinking about what's going on elsewhere in the poker world and understanding how the event is doing across numerous areas," he said. "From attendance, schedule feedback, the overall experience, to player feedback on the ground, our regular surveys, and direct customer feedback through various channels, we've a lot to take into consideration. From there we decide whether the event is something we should replace or if we do something different."
"You can imagine that can be quite a lengthy and complex process as we scope out possible venues and partners, or work out other plans," Hollreiser explained. "The PCA was amazing and we all had a wonderful time over the years, it was just time for a change."
Some wondered if a different event would replace PCA in the early January slot, but last month's schedule release revealed the company has opted to go a different direction. They've instead rolled out Red Dragon Manila, covered here on PokerNews, and several other events aimed at qualifying players for the second running of the PSPC, scheduled for Barcelona later this year.
Whither Prague?
When PokerStars released the 2020 schedule, PCA being absent was fully expected following the September reveal that the event wouldn't return. However, it wasn't the only notable absence — EPT Prague did not grace the December portion.
The official PokerStars press release highlighted just three EPT events for the coming year, with Sochi, Monte Carlo and Barcelona making their expected returns.
"We haven't released the full roster of live events for 2020"
The Czech capital has a long, rich history of hosting EPT events dating back to Season 4 in 2007. It has been a staple of the PokerStars LIVE experience ever since, regularly awarding huge first-place prizes north of €700,000.
As such, it would be a surprise if Prague was left off the schedule in 2020. PokerNews reached out to PokerStars to find out whether EPT Prague will be making a return. A response was non-committal, but it did hint something is in the works.
"We haven't released the full roster of live events for 2020, and although it looks like a busy year of live action as it is, there's still more to come," they said.
A complicating factor could be new ownership of the EPT's usual venue, Casino Atrium Prague at the Hilton Prague. King's Casino owner Leon Tsoukernik recently purchased the venue, and King's has hosted several partypoker events over the past few years.
With PokerStars hinting more announced events would be forthcoming, PokerNews will bring more updates when news becomes available.
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