EUROPEAN POKER TOUR PROGRAM RELEASED BY POKERSTARS

EPT PROGRAM RELEASED BY POKERSTARS French action is back in nine stop schedule The 5th Pokerstars European Poker Tour will this year start in Barcelona in September and end in May 2009 with a Grand Final in Monte Carlo, according to the schedule released by the company this week.  And the good news is that a French stop has been reintroduced to the nine stop program. "The new EPT season includes all the events which have made the past four seasons such a triumph with record fields across Europe and record prize pools," said EPT chief executive John Duthie. "We have set very high standards and aim to improve on this still further in Season 5." The schedule is: September 10-14, 2008 : Barcelona Open : buy-in Euro 8 250   October 1-5, 2008 : London : buy-in  GBP 5 400   November 15-19, 2008 : Polish Open : buy-in PLN 21 000    December 9-13, 2008 :  Prague : buy-in Euro 5 250   January 20-24, 2009 : Deauville, France : buy-in Euro 5 300   February 17-21, 2009 : Scandinavian Open : buy-in DKR 52 250   March 10-14, 2009 : German Open : buy-in Euro 5 250   April 18-23, 2009 : San Remo : buy-in  Euro 5 250   April 29-May 3, 2009 :  Monte Carlo Grand Final : buy-in Euro 10 600   The Tour generated a total prize pool of almost Euro 40 million last time, with 5 902 players (1 682 of them PokerStars online qualifiers) and the biggest prize pool ever generated outside of Las Vegas and Monte Carlo, Duthie revealed. Glen Chorny, from Ontario, Canada, won the last Grand Final (see previous InfoPowa report) beating a record 842 players to win more than $3 million after winning his seat online at PokerStars. "We anticipate the EPT making an even bigger impact in Season 5, attracting more players from all around the world and even larger prize pools," Duthie said. Online satellites for the Barcelona leg in Season 5 begin on July 7.