The online giant PokerStars released details about the PokerStars Open, a new series of tournaments for 2025 that will bring high profile events to cities throughout the continent.
The PokerStars Open replaces the online room’s regional tours and puts most of its live European events under one brand. So say goodbye to the Eureka Poker Tour, the France Poker Series (FPS), the UK & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT), and Estrellas in Spain, and hello to the PSO.
A total six standalone stops will join PokerStars Open Main Events at EPT Monte Carlo and EPT Barcelona.
“PokerStars is thrilled to introduce a new series of events to the European poker calendar. Our PokerStars Open events will offer players accessible exceptional experiences, with each venue providing a distinct atmosphere that contributes to a cohesive European series, complementing the European Poker Tour while also standing out on their own,” said Cedric Billot, Associate Director of Live Events Operations at PokerStars. “We understand that players love to travel for tournaments, so we’ve expanded to the PokerStars Open format. This allows us greater flexibility to host million-guaranteed events across Europe, beyond just our traditional national tour locations.”
Each festival will be headlined by a €1,100/£1,100 PokerStars Open Main Event with €1M/£1M guaranteed, with many different side events. Feeders to the tourneys will be run on PokerStars clients. Players can also use their Power Path Silver Passes to play events.
See the PokerStars client for more information on qualifying routes.
The stops
Three new cities were added to the schedule of six, and it starts with a trip to Campione, Italy, at Casino Municipale March 10-16. This event, like most of them, will be streamed on PokerStars’ socials.
A month later the Irish Open will take place at the Royal Dublin Society in Ireland April 10-21. It’s the 45th year for the Irish Open. It started after Irish bookmaker Terry Rogers, who had run tournaments in Ireland since the mid-70s, returned home from a trip to the World Series of Poker and knew his countrymen would go crazy for Texas hold’em.
From May 28 to June 9, the PSO will be at Namur: Circus Casino Resort in Belgium.
The next stop will be at Gran Madrid Casino Torrequebrada in Malaga, Spain, June 16-22.
The PSO is off for the summer, but starts up again in Manchester, UK, for the first time Oct. 20-26 at Casino Manchester235 before closing up its first season in Cannes, France — another new stop. The finale takes place at Casino Barriere Le Croisette Dec. 8-14.
PokerStars’ European Poker Tour has two stops scheduled: EPT Monte Carlo April 30 to May 10, and EPT Barcelona Aug. 18-31.
EPT Paris was supposed to kick-off the season in February, but was cancelled due to “uncertainty surrounding licensing requirements,” PokerStars said in a press release.
More stops could be added to both schedules.
