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23 Feb 2025
Many people have already heard about the dates of the EA Poker Tour's return to beautiful Batumi, but the schedule has just been released. In brief: April 5-13, 33 rake-free events with a total guarantee of over $1,000,000.
The EAPT's first trip to Georgia took place this past August. At that time, the week-long series included 15 cup tournaments with a total prize pool of $300,000. But the organizers clearly underestimated the Georgian players' and foreign guests' love of poker. From the very first tournament, it was clear that EAPT Georgia was going to be a full house. The 25 tables set up for the series were packed with people eager to play, tournaments were overflowing with guarantees, and prize pools were growing like yeast. As a result, $370,000 was generated in the Main Event alone - more than was originally planned for the entire series. Champion Hayk Manasyan outlasted 740 opponents to take home a massive $54,000 for a $500 tournament.
EAPT Georgia had several success factors. First, the Georgian people had been waiting for a big series in their country for a long time (EAPT was the first poker festival in the last seven years), and second, the whole series was rake-free. This means the rake and staff fee in absolutely every EAPT Georgia event was 0. In general, the August series was recognized as excellent, so the return to Batumi was not far off.
The EAPT returns to Georgia resort April 5-13 with 33 events, including 17 Cup tournaments. The total announced guarantee exceeds $1,000,000, with the lion's share going to the major tournaments:
• EAPT Cup (April 5-7) / $350 buy-in, $100,000 guarantee. A warm-up tournament with 5 starting flights and a second (final) day. Anyone who makes it through Day 1A-1E is already guaranteed a prize;
• Luxon Pay Mystery Bounty (April 5-8) / $300 buy-in, $80,000 guarantee. Another warm-up tournament, but with "mystery" bounties. Knockouts for knocked out opponents will be available on Day 2, but before that, players will have 4 attempts to qualify. The winner of this tournament will receive a package* to the Luxon Pay Grand Final in Cyprus in early May, in addition to the prize money.
• High Roller Bounty (April 8-9) / $1,000 buy-in, $50,000 guarantee. There are three high roller tournaments in this series: High Roller Bounty, Classic and Super High Roller. You can enter each of them directly for $1,000 or you can try to qualify through the Phase. The buy-in for Phase is much smaller ($150 for this event), 7,500 chips are given out at the start, and anyone who makes it to the 15% of the field will take their chips straight into the tournament.
Phases for the High Roller Bounty Tournament will take place on April 5th and 7th, with the tournament itself taking place on April 8th and 9th. The prize for each knockout will be $500.
• Super High Roller (April 11-12) / Buy-in $2,000, guarantee $50,000. The schedule is pretty much the same, you can either enter directly or try your luck in the phases. Phases run on April 9th and 10th and cost $300 to enter.
• High Roller (April 13th) / $1,000 buy-in, $50,000 guarantee. Towards the end of the series, you can play in a one-day classic High Roller tournament with no knockouts. It also has a phase that takes place the day before and costs $150.
• Main Event (April 9-13) / $600 buy-in, $300,000 guarantee. One third of the total guarantee will go to the Main Event, which will take up most of the festival. Phases to the Main Event will be held on April 6th and 8th for just $120, with the Main Event days starting on April 9th. In total, players will have 6 entry days: five with more or less tolerable blinds (up to 40 minutes) and the sixth for those who want to jump on the bandwagon - the Last Chance Flight with levels of 12 minutes.
All starting flights of the main tournament will be played until the prizes are won (15% of the total number of entries), the second day will be the final day and will be played until the winner. Players who make it to the heads-up in the Main Event will also win a vacation* to Cyprus.
*The Luxon Pay Grand Final 2025 package includes $2,200 main tournament buy-in, accommodation at the 5* Merit Park Hotel, airport transfers.
Side event buy-ins will remain plus or minus the same as last year, with players able to compete for their cup for $120-$250.
All 17 EAPT Georgia Cup tournaments, satellites and phases will be played in a no-rake format. This literally means that the organizer's commission for all events of the festival in Batumi will be 0. Accordingly, the prize pools of the tournaments will be formed according to the principle of the number of participants multiplied by the buy-in. Sounds great, but there is still a spoonful of tar.
Georgia has a mandatory 20% state tax on gambling. This means that players in the series will be required to pay 20% of their winnings to the local treasury. Foreigners or local passport holders - it doesn't matter. The tax will be collected when the prize money is paid out, you do not have to fill in any declarations yourself. You will have to pay from the prize money for entering the ITM zone, as well as for knockouts, bounties and any other prize money received in tournaments.
Check out the full EAPT Georgia schedule on the festival website: