PokerStars has already laid down a busy schedule for next year, releasing a schedule that featured 21 confirmed live poker events for 2020.
The events would be held in venues all over the globe, from Europe to Asia to the Americas. And even though the events are live, prospective players would be able to earn seats in the various tournaments via online satellites at PokerStars.com.
Satellites for the Red Dragon Manila poker festival, which would be held in early January 2020, are already up and running.
At the moment, there are three confirmed stops for the European Poker Tour (EPT). EPT Sochi would be making a return for the third straight year, scheduled for March 20-29. Monte Carlo, which was a stop for nearly all of the EPT’s 15 years, is back after a one-year absence. EPT Monte Carlo will run April 23 – May 2.
The 2019 PSPC received 1,039 entries, becoming the largest live $25,000 buy-in poker tournament of all time
EPT Barcelona has appeared in every single season and would be back again in 2020, August 12-30. EPT Barcelona is also the tour stop during which the PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) would be held next year. In 2019, the inaugural PSPC ran during the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in January.
The 2019 PSPC got 1,039 entries, thus becoming the largest live $25,000 buy-in poker tournament of all time. The initial record was 639, set at the 2007 World Poker Tour Championship. The prize pool was an astounding $26.5 million, which included $1 million added by PokerStars. Ramon Colillas won the tourney and went home with a cool $5.1 million.
The Road to PSPC was a new wrinkle in 2019. The buy-ins for these poker tournaments are smaller than your usual PokerStars live events, ranging from €150 ($167) to €300 ($335) plus fees.
On top of the cash prizes, though, tournament winners would also receive a PSPC Platinum Pass. The Platinum Pass includes the €22,500 ($25,116) buy-in into the PSPC, six nights for the winner and a guest in a five-star Barcelona hotel, airport transfers, PSPC merchandise, €1,250 ($1,395) in travel expenses, and special experiences.
There will be Road to PSPC events in both France and Spain during the first half of 2020. The France locations include La Havre, St. Amand, La Grand-Motte, and Cannes. Spanish stops include Madrid (twice), Barcelona, and Valencia.
PokerStars awarded a total of 320 Platinum Passes, from both live and online contests, for the 2019 PSPC.
PokerStars has already confirmed seven stops so far for Asia in 2020, all of which are in Manila, Philippines. Red Dragon Manila is the very first PokerStars live event of 2020, scheduled for January 4-11. A prize pool of 60 million Philippine pesos ($1,186,338) guaranteed.
