WOW! PokerStars EPT Barcelona Smashes Record for Biggest Main Event Field

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Aug 16, 2022 3 min read Last updated Nov 30, 2022

After a field of 749 players entered the PokerStars and Barcelona©Casino European Poker Tour Main Event on Day 1a, and with bumper fields expect in satellite tournaments for the event, it was always a matter of when and not if the record for the largest EPT Main Event would be broken.

And that's without mentioning the Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event that finished earlier this week, won by Rick van Bruggen, which with 6,313 entries broke the record for largest live poker tournament in EPT history.

Day 1b saw a total of 1,485 entries meaning not only has the record been broken, but the 2,000 mark was surpassed. With an additional 65 players at the start of Day 2, the final figure stands at 2,294.

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_{**Note: 2017 PokerStars Championship Barcelona attracted 1,682 players and generated a prize pool of €8,157,700.}

Testament to PokerStars Live Poker Offering

Put together, it shows that live poker is truly alive and well once more on the European circuit and that the European Poker Tour continues to attract massive live fields to its events.

"The team behind the scenes put in a huge amount of effort to ensure these events run smoothly and players get the best experience possible"

Toby Stone, EPT Tournament Director, said that it was great to see the work his team put in rewarded with a such a great turnout.

"The record field here in Barcelona shows just how strong the PokerStars live poker offering continues to be, even after the coronavirus pandemic," he told PokerNews. "The team behind the scenes put in a huge amount of effort to ensure these events run smoothly and players get the best experience possible.

"I'm delighted to have broken the record at one of our most popular stops on the tour!"

Rick van Bruggen Wins Record-Breaking Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event

The PokerStars Blog's Howard Swains echoed Stone's sentiment, saying it always looked likely that Barcelona would break the record after the events of the previous two years.

"Barcelona has always been one of the most popular EPT destinations, and post-COVID I suppose it was always likely to be a record-breaker, and it looks certain to be exactly that.

"Just how many really is the question, and we're all very excited to find out exactly how many people it turns out to be!"

History of the European Poker Tour

It is coming up for 18 years since Alexander Stevic won the first EPT Main Event in Barcelona. A field of 229 players generated a prize pool of €229,000 with Stevic walking away with the €80,000 first prize.

Since then, numerous notable players have added their names to the list of EPT champions. Two-time champions Victoria Coren Mitchell and Mikalai Pobal are stand-outs in a list that includes Steve O'Dwyer, Manig Loeser, John Juanda, Adrian Mateos, Jason Mercier and Hossein Ensan.

Fast forward to 2022 and the EPT continues to go from strength to strength, with the announcement of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and PSPC in 2023 and the return to London for the first time in eight years this October.

Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He now works as Managing Editor. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.

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