Numbers (and facts) about the first season of the EA Poker Tour

The EA Poker Tour concept is simple and straightforward: small weekend tournament series in popular European tourist cities, a focus on the €560 Main Event, a few evening side events, and extensive media support. Following these principles, the EAPT have traveled around the European continent over the past 10 months, bringing thousands of poker fans to the tables.

It all started last June in Rozvadov, then unknown to European poker players, the EAPT attracted 596 players, but the €400,000 guarantee could not be beaten - the EAPT began its poker journey with a gift to Czech players in the form of a small overlay. The winner of Rozvadov was Bare Pele 12, who reached the Main Event via a €90 satellite and converted this money into € 81,000 three days later.

After Rozvadov, the festival began a journey of almost a year, traveling through the noble and colorful cities of Europe:

- EAPT Milan - champion Julio Anzelmo (€54,500)

- EAPT Barcelona - 357 entries, champion Fernando Santa Maria (€26,500)

- EAPT Bucharest - 486 entries, champion Ionut Voinya (€36,000)

- EAPT Bratislava - 389 entries, champion Miklos Juffa (€37,000)

- EAPT Malta - 660 entries, champion Lorenzo di Blasi (€50,000)

EAPT Grand Final

The Grand Final of the EA Poker Tour season was held on Cyprus in early May as part of a combined series with local brand Mediterranean Poker Party. The focus of the Grand Final was on the two opening tournaments, the $1,100 Luxon Pay Mystery Bounty ($1,000,000 GTD) and the $2,200 EAPT Grand Final ($2,000,000).

At any of the EAPT regional stops, the $1,000 tournament would have been a high roller tournament, but that's what a Grand Final is. Here, the $1,000 tournament was a warm-up event. The series organizers' courage in setting attractive and large guarantees more than paid off.

Mystery Bounty took a long time to start (after the first two flights, the number of registrations barely exceeded a few hundred), but it went fast - as a result, 955 people entered the game, and another 252 re-entered. In total - 1,207 entries and an EAPT record for the most participants in a single event. Mystery Bounty itself was a triumph for Russian players. The biggest knockout was former series champion Alexander Kirichenko ($70,000), and the event champion was Alexey Savenkov, who defeated Kirill Burtin and Konstantin Generalov in the final three-max event. Savenkov earned $85,000 for his victory, the best cash of his career.

Plans for the future

The inaugural season of the EA Poker Tour was a success, and it ended on a high note. Not surprisingly, the organizers of the series have already outlined plans for the near future.

The new EAPT season will kick off on May 17th in Nottingham, UK. Hundreds of players will gather at the Dusk Till Dawn Casino to compete for a share of the £500,000 guaranteed Main Event prize pool.

The concept of smaller weekend series in major tourist hubs and large poker clubs will remain in place for next season. It is already known that the EAPT will return to Rozvadov and Milan in the coming months, as well as setting its sights on Georgia. The Tbilisi stop will be the first of a long list of new locations selected for EA Poker Tour visits.

For updates on new EAPT stops, schedules, series photos, chip counts and tournament results, visit the official tour website at https://eapokertour.com.