{"id":228645,"date":"2022-08-26T07:38:38","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T12:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=228645"},"modified":"2022-08-26T11:31:09","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T16:31:09","slug":"ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/","title":{"rendered":"European Poker Tour Barcelona Sets Records, Raises Future Bar"},"content":{"rendered":"

The European Poker Tour (EPT) recently wrapped up its stop in Barcelona, Spain<\/a>, and the results exceeded all expectations. The tournament series was so successful that future poker events will likely have a hard time keeping up.<\/p>\n

\"EPT
Poker players line the tables during the EPT Barcelona this month. The tournament series was a huge success, drawing record numbers of participants. (Image: Sport.es)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The PokerStars EPT Barcelona series ran from August 8-21 at Casino Barcelona. Now that PokerStars<\/a> has finished crunching all the numbers, it\u2019s clear why the stop is an important one for the tour.<\/p>\n

More than 60 events comprised the joint EPT and Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT) at Casino Barcelona. Several new records emerged as a result, with new poker players adding their names to an exclusive list of champions.<\/p>\n

Raising the Bar on Live Poker<\/h2>\n

The largest PokerStars Live event was the Sunday Million Live at King\u2019s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. That was set in 2017, when the event recorded 5,045 entries. However, the ESPT \u20ac1,100 Main Event attracted a massive 6,313 to create a prize pool of just over \u20ac6 million (US$5.98 million).<\/p>\n

As a result, 938 players all received cash. The smallest amount was \u20ac1,820 (US$1,813). Rick van Bruggen of the Netherlands was the big winner, pocketing \u20ac600,000 (US$598,080). The most he had won until then was just $20,000.<\/strong><\/p>\n

UK poker pro Jack Sinclair finished second in that event, taking home \u20ac377,120 (US$375,913). A few days later, he finished 78th in the EPT \u20ac5,300 Main Event, adding another \u20ac20,480 (US$20,416). Since the beginning of the year, Sinclair has picked up more than $500K in live-tournament action, according to Hendon Mob.<\/p>\n

EPT Main Event an International Affair<\/h2>\n

The EPT Main Event was another massive gathering. It drew 2,294 entries \u2013 some of whom earned their seats through satellite events \u2013 creating a prize pool of \u20ac11,125,900 (US$11.09 million).<\/p>\n

\n

The previous EPT Main Event record for participation was 1,988, set in 2018. The latest tournament also set a record for most participating countries, attracting players from 78 distinct locales. In 2019, 75 countries were represented.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Giuliano Bendinelli became the reigning EPT Main Event champ after beating French player Jimmy Guerrero in the final heads-up battle. Going into that face-off, it seemed an impossibility, as Bendinelli was down to just one big blind.<\/p>\n

However, he pulled it off, scoring a massive \u20ac1.49-million (US$1.48 million) payday. Guerrero took home \u20ac1.25 million (US$1.24 million) for his effort. In addition, 328 finalists all took home at least \u20ac5,907 (US$5,890) in cash.<\/p>\n

Francisco Benitez of Uruguay helped put his country on the poker map during EPT Barcelona. He won two events, the \u20ac10K Mystery Bounty tournament and the \u20ac25K High Roller. For both, he pocketed \u20ac570,000 (US$568,461).<\/p>\n

Mikita Badziakouski also had a great run. After missing out on the top prize in the EPT Monte Carlo<\/a> Main Event earlier this year, the Belarussian poker pro shipped the EPT Barcelona \u20ac100K Super High Roller. It was a repeat of the same feat from 2018.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There were also other regulars who didn\u2019t make it all the way through in the Main Event. Lucas Silva Rocha of Brazil did well, surviving until the 14th. Maria Lampropulos, Benjamin Pollak, Timothy Adams, and others weren\u2019t as fortunate.<\/p>\n

EPT Events Building Steam<\/h2>\n

COVID-19 forced a temporary halt to live tournaments, but the series is showing how important they are.<\/p>\n

\n

The first stop on the tour was at King\u2019s Casino Rozavdov in the Czech Republic. There, the Main Event attracted 1,190 entrants and awarded more than \u20ac5.77 million (US$5.76 million) in cash. Next, the EPT Monte Carlo<\/a> proved to be a big hit. Its Main Event saw 1,073 entries that distributed over \u20ac5.2 million (US$5.18 million).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The next stop for the EPT is London. The Hippodrome Casino<\/a> will host the series from October 18-28, with the \u20ac5,300 Main Event running October 22-28.<\/p>\n

The final EPT event for 2022 returns to King\u2019s Casino in Rozvadov from December 7-18. The \u20ac5,300 Main Event is scheduled for December 12-18.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The European Poker Tour (EPT) recently wrapped up its stop in Barcelona, Spain, and the results exceeded all expectations. The tournament series was so successful that future poker events will likely have a hard time keeping up. The PokerStars EPT Barcelona series ran from August 8-21 at Casino Barcelona. Now that PokerStars has finished crunching […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":228647,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,14],"tags":[81919,81907],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEuropean Poker Tour Barcelona Sets Records, Raises Future Bar - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The European Poker Tour (EPT) recently wrapped up its stop in Barcelona, Spain, and the results exceeded all expectations. The tournament series was so\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"European Poker Tour Barcelona Sets Records, Raises Future Bar - Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The European Poker Tour (EPT) recently wrapped up its stop in Barcelona, Spain, and the results exceeded all expectations. The tournament series was so\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-26T12:38:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-26T16:31:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/EPT-Barcelona.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1125\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erik Gibbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erik Gibbs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/\",\"name\":\"European Poker Tour Barcelona Sets Records, Raises Future Bar - Casino.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/EPT-Barcelona.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-26T12:38:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-26T16:31:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/21bf33e35290a1da9c572298dac6b7ca\"},\"description\":\"The European Poker Tour (EPT) recently wrapped up its stop in Barcelona, Spain, and the results exceeded all expectations. The tournament series was so\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/EPT-Barcelona.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/EPT-Barcelona.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1125,\"caption\":\"Poker players line the tables during the EPT Barcelona this month. The tournament series was a huge success, drawing record numbers of participants. (Image: Sport.es)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Poker Tournaments\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tournaments\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"European Poker Tour Barcelona Sets Records, Raises Future Bar\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/21bf33e35290a1da9c572298dac6b7ca\",\"name\":\"Erik Gibbs\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-13-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-13-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Erik Gibbs\"},\"description\":\"Erik Gibbs covers global gaming news for Casino.org. His scope includes Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. Erik has covered gaming markets in Europe and Asia for the past six years. Erik joined Casino.org in November 2021. Erik has written for numerous gambling- and a handful of industry publications has quoted casino-related media outlets over the years and. He is always excited to bring a new perspective on what's happening in the gaming space. Erik enjoys following the global gaming industry, paying particular attention to innovation and regulation. Originally from the US, Erik has spent extensive time living in various countries across the globe. He enjoys anything that has to do with the outdoors and exploration, although he readily admits that he would have no trouble spending all day fishing on a boat. He currently resides in Spain. Contact Erik at erik.gibbs@casino.org.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/erik-gibbs\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"European Poker Tour Barcelona Sets Records, Raises Future Bar - Casino.org","description":"The European Poker Tour (EPT) recently wrapped up its stop in Barcelona, Spain, and the results exceeded all expectations. The tournament series was so","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"European Poker Tour Barcelona Sets Records, Raises Future Bar - Casino.org","og_description":"The European Poker Tour (EPT) recently wrapped up its stop in Barcelona, Spain, and the results exceeded all expectations. The tournament series was so","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2022-08-26T12:38:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-08-26T16:31:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1125,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/EPT-Barcelona.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Erik Gibbs","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erik Gibbs","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/","name":"European Poker Tour Barcelona Sets Records, Raises Future Bar - Casino.org","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/EPT-Barcelona.jpg","datePublished":"2022-08-26T12:38:38+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-26T16:31:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/21bf33e35290a1da9c572298dac6b7ca"},"description":"The European Poker Tour (EPT) recently wrapped up its stop in Barcelona, Spain, and the results exceeded all expectations. The tournament series was so","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/EPT-Barcelona.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/EPT-Barcelona.jpg","width":2000,"height":1125,"caption":"Poker players line the tables during the EPT Barcelona this month. The tournament series was a huge success, drawing record numbers of participants. (Image: Sport.es)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ept-barcelona-sets-records-raises-the-bar-for-future-poker-tournaments\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Poker Tournaments","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/tournaments\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"European Poker Tour Barcelona Sets Records, Raises Future Bar"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/21bf33e35290a1da9c572298dac6b7ca","name":"Erik Gibbs","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-13-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-13-96x96.png","caption":"Erik Gibbs"},"description":"Erik Gibbs covers global gaming news for Casino.org. His scope includes Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. Erik has covered gaming markets in Europe and Asia for the past six years. Erik joined Casino.org in November 2021. Erik has written for numerous gambling- and a handful of industry publications has quoted casino-related media outlets over the years and. He is always excited to bring a new perspective on what's happening in the gaming space. Erik enjoys following the global gaming industry, paying particular attention to innovation and regulation. Originally from the US, Erik has spent extensive time living in various countries across the globe. He enjoys anything that has to do with the outdoors and exploration, although he readily admits that he would have no trouble spending all day fishing on a boat. He currently resides in Spain. Contact Erik at erik.gibbs@casino.org.","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/erik-gibbs\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228645"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}