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Moneymaker Tour Returns as PSPC Chances Expand

Written by Jennifer Newell
Last updated on
PokerStars Platinum Pass

PokerStars announced the second PSPC just a few weeks ago. The PokerStars Players No Limit Championship will return for another iteration of the tournament in Barcelona in 2020. It will be a part of the EPT Barcelona festival next year.

Considering the success of the first PSPC at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in January of this year, it was no surprise that PokerStars would want to do it again. But it was a high bar to meet after having distributed 320 Platinum Passes to help make the tournament so historic.

PokerStars is going to aim for that bar.

The tour of live tournaments named after Chris Moneymaker is returning but on a global scale. Other announcements about Platinum Passes are coming out regularly.

There is little doubt that the next PSPC will be a hit.

Moneymaker Tour with Tweaks

Last year, the Moneymaker PSPC Tour traveled the United States. It started in a small California town, crossed the country, even offered an online event in New Jersey, and ended in Maryland.

This year, it’s starting a bit later with a different name and more events on a wider scale.

Moneymaker’s Road to PSPC is the name of the new tour, still celebrating Moneymaker’s $86 satellite win that led to the WSOP Main Event victory for $2.5 million. This series, however, will depart from the $86 buy-ins that made last year’s tour so popular across the US.

The tour will be global but still feature stops in America. In fact, the first event will be in Russia in coordination with the European Poker Tour stop there, then move to the US and then the UK and back to the US.

The schedule is not final, but the stops and details announced thus far are as follows:

–October 11-13 at Sochi Casino in Sochi, Russia = RUB10,500 buy-in (approximately $166)

–October 16 at Reno Peppermill in Nevada, US = $175 buy-in

–October 24-27 at Le Meridien Hotel, Piccadilly, in London, UK = £140 buy-in

–October 28 – November 3 at Aspers Casino in Newcastle, UK = £140 buy-in

–November 4-10 at Milton Keynes & Aspers Casino in Stratford, UK = £140 buy-in

–November 22-24 at Bonnington Hotel in Dublin, Ireland = €175 buy-in

–December 11-15 at Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida, US = unknown buy-in

–January 10-19 at Stones Gambling Hall in Citrus Heights, California, US = unknown buy-in

The winner of each tournament will take home more than their share of the pool; they will also win a Platinum Pass worth more than $30,000. The pass includes the buy-in to the PSPC in Barcelona next year, as well as hotel accommodations, airfare and transportation, and other expenses.

Moneymaker is excited to get back on the road and award Platinum Passes again. “There are not enough words to explain how much fun was had on last year’s tour. I can’t wait to get back out there,” he said. “Playing poker and hanging out with people who love the game is memorable enough, then add in the Platinum Pass and opportunity to potentially change someone’s life… It’s going to be awesome!”

Other Upcoming Platinum Pass Opportunities

PokerStars also launched something called the Platinum Pass Experience. It launched in France and will head to the UK.

The Platinum Pass Experience gives players the chance to start with a £5.50 buy-in, win a £2,200 live poker prize package, and translate that into a Platinum Pass.

There will be eight tournaments of this nature scheduled for the UK audience from September 28 to October 20. The eight online winners will meet at Aspers Casino in Westfield Stratford City to then play for the £16K prize pool and a Platinum Pass.

Spanish players in upcoming Campeonato Espana de Poker (CEP) events will also have the chance to win Platinum Passes. That CEP tour stops next in Marbella October 23-27 and then Peralada from November 27 to December 1. Not only will Main Event winners take home Platinum Passes, all PokerStars qualifiers in the events who made it through to Day 2 will participate in a Crazy Pineapple poker hand for a Platinum Pass.

Other events at which Platinum Passes will be awarded, according to the PSPC page, include:

–Road to PSPC Namur in Belgium:  €150 buy-in, September 23-29

–Road to PSPC Aix-en-Provence in France:  €150 buy-in, October 3-8

–IPO Nova Gorica in Italy:  €490 buy-in, October 10-15

–Road to PSPC Divonnes in France:  €460 buy-in, November 28 – December 1

More PSPC Information

Recently, PokerStars Marketing Director Eric Hollreiser spoke with PocketFives about the upcoming PSPC in Barcelona in 2020. This was the interview that revealed the end of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure after 15 years.

Hollreiser noted that the goal of the Platinum Passes is to “seed excitement and storytelling throughout the year.” And though PokerStars is aiming for the next PSPC to be “bigger and better,” there are no guarantees that there will be more Platinum Passes awarded than the 320 given out last time.

Additionally, he said PokerStars will not add $1 million to the first-place prize as they did this year.

Hollreiser believes that the PSPC stories will create the content themselves and drive new players to the tournament next year. He believes promotional marketing like “Dare to Dream,” a television campaign launched this year in Spain and then to France and Germany, will create a bigger PSPC without having to add money to the prize pool.

One component of the PSPC that will remain the same will be the rake-free aspect of the tournament. Hollreiser explained, “Like this year, we will not be taking race from PSPC, and we will be taking the dealers’ fees from the prize pool.”

 

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