PokerStars Live Heads into 2020 without PCA
It’s no secret that PokerStars is primarily an online poker business, but it has prided itself on excelling in live tournaments around the world as well. From the European Poker Tour to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, PokerStars has offered players unique tournament experiences for well over a decade.
The lineup for live PokerStars events is set for 2020. While there is always the likelihood that more tournaments could be added, there are a number of big ones ready to go.
There are changes, however. The most notable is that players are not currently in the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). After 15 years, PokerStars decided to stop hosting the PCA. The shrinking numbers at the PCA in the years after Black Friday combined with player requests for fresh locations led the company to close the door on that event after last year.
Even so, there are plenty of tournaments for PokerStars players around the world, so let’s see what different tours and events are set in stone.
European Poker Tour (EPT)
As mentioned, the EPT has long been a series of live tournaments that draws players from around the world. The schedule is not as varied as it once was, but the 2019-2020 tour still had and has some action-packed festivals to offer.
Season 15 started months ago and hosted EPT Barcelona in late August and EPT Prague in December 2019. That leaves three stops on the schedule for the first half of 2020.
Today at #EPTPrague, Mikalai Pobal made history, by becoming the first male to win two EPT Main Event titles. 🏆🏆👏 pic.twitter.com/r5FVPbAfBT
— PokerStars LIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE) December 17, 2019
EPT Sochi: March 20-29 at Casino Sochi in Russia
–Main Event: March 24-29, RUB175,000 buy-in with RUB122,500,000 guaranteed prize pool
EPT Monte Carlo: April 23-May 2 at Sporting Monte-Carlo in Monaco
–Main Event: April 27-May 2, €5,300 buy-in with single reentries
EPT Barcelona: August 12-30 at Casino Barcelona in Spain
–Main Event: August 24-30, €5,300 buy-in
–PSPC: August 20-24, €22,500 buy-in
The last stop’s PSPC, for those unfamiliar, is the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship. The inaugural PSPC was held at the 2019 PCA, complete with hundreds of players who won their seats throughout the prior year. Platinum Passes are already being awarded for the 2020 PSPC, complete with buy-ins, hotel accommodations, and travel expenses.
Roads to PSPC
In the many months from now until the PSPC in August 2020, there are many chances to win Platinum Passes at live tournaments. Of course, there will be at least one pass awarded at EPT Sochi and EPT Monte Carlo, but there are special events set up specifically to award more passes.
Road to PSPC Barcelona (Spain): January 13-19 via €220 buy-in
Road to PSPC Le Havre (France): January 15-19 via €175 buy-in
Road to PSPC St. Amand (France): February 11-16 via €175 buy-in
Road to PSPC Valencia (Spain): March 4-8 via €220 buy-in
Road to PSPC La Grande Motte (France): March 10-15 via €175 buy-in
Road to PSPC Madrid Gran Via (Spain): April 1-5 via €220 buy-in
Road to PSPC Cannes (France): June 10-14 via €175 buy-in
Road to PSPC Madrid Torrelodones (Spain): July 1-5 via €220 buy-in
PokerStars notes that more events are going to be added to the schedule soon.
Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP)
The Brazilian Series of Poker is in its 15th season and kicks off at the end of January. The events focus on regional poker destination sin Brazil and are set up to take place as follows:
BSOP Brasilia: January 30-February 5 at Royal Tulip Alvorada
–Main Event = January 31-February 4, R$2,600.00 buy-in
BSOP Sao Paulo: March 19-24 at Sheraton WTC
–Main Event = March 20-24, R$2,600.00 buy-in
BSOP (location to be determined: April 30-May 5
–Main Event = details unavailable
BSOP Sao Paulo: July 15-22 at Sheraton WTC
–Main Event = details unavailable
BSOP Sao Paulo: November 24-December 5 at Sheraton WTC
–Main Event = details unavailable
Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT)
This is also a very long-running series for PokerStars, but it doesn’t seem to be staying its usual course in 2020. There are only two events on that official calendar, with numerous other events – unspecified, not APPT-designated – set for Manila in the Philippines throughout the year.
APPT Open Taipei: January 31-February 9 at Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Club in Taiwan
–Main Event: February 3-7, TW$35,000 buy-in with TW$7,500,000 guaranteed prize pool
APPT Manila: July 31-August 9 at PokerStars Live at Okada in Philippines
–Main Event: August 6-9, PHP$75,000 buy-in with PHP$20,000,000 guaranteed prize pool
There are numerous other events set up to take place at the PokerStars Live poker room at Okada in Manila throughout the year, the first of which got underway on January 4. Most of the stops have yet to post the exact schedule for their tournaments, so the Main Event dates will be posted later.
Red Dragon Manila: January 4-11
–Main Event: January 6-10, PHP$110,000 buy-in with PHP$50,000,000 guaranteed prize pool
Okada Manila Millions: March 9-15
–Main Event: PHP$3,500 buy-in
Manila Megastack 14: May 22-31
–Main Event: PHP$35,000 buy-in
Manila Super Series 14: July 6-12
–Main Event: PHP$15,000 buy-in
Manila Super Series 15: September 22-28
–Main Event: PHP$15,000 buy-in
Manila Megastack 15: October 30-November 8
–Main Event: PHP$35,000 buy-in
Manila Megastack Challenge: December 6-13
–Main Event: PHP$65,000 buy-in
The Main Event of Red Dragon Manila has shattered its ₱50,000,000 ($975K approx) guarantee already, with Day 1B ongoing and 1C starting soon. https://t.co/fhLMYH1OxJ pic.twitter.com/JHMxXjRKoM
— PokerStarsBlog (@PokerStarsBlog) January 7, 2020
Lex Live
Popular member of Team PokerStars Online, Lex Veldhuis, launched a tour of his own in 2019…in conjunction with PokerStars. The first event took place in Namur, Belgium in March, and the second took the action to London in October.
It's very hard to put into a tweet what Lex Live 2 meant to me and how nice it was to hang out with everyone. Can't believe this was just the 2nd edition. You are all awesome. Thank you for coming and hanging out ❤️.
Taking some much needed downtime. See you soon <3
— Lex Veldhuis (@LexVeldhuis) October 9, 2019
The purpose of the poker festivals is to bring the Twitch poker community members to live tournaments, to meet in person and all participate in the games.
The next one is already on the schedule:
Lex Live 3: April 17-26 at Aspers Casino in Stratford Westfield City in London, UK
–Main Event: April 18-26, £230 buy-in
Thinking of heading to London for #LexLive 3 in April to meet up with @LexVeldhuis, have some laughs, & play some poker?
We don't blame you.
From how to get there & where to stay to online satellites & fun activities, here's all you need to know: https://t.co/Cl1DcA9r49 pic.twitter.com/x3jx2vSELz
— PokerStarsBlog (@PokerStarsBlog) January 7, 2020
