It's Official!

The poker calendar has run out of room. If you want to start a new poker tournament, you'll first have to invent a new month, because the poker schedule is now constant, global, and for big money anywhere. And if the last part of 2004 is any indication, Europe is the place that's attracting the money.

Just think back. The life of a professional poker player used to consist of making your home near a good local cardroom and taking three poker trips per year. But if you want to be on the big scene today, your home is just a place for doing the laundry. Padraig Parkinson called me the other night to say exactly that: He was home for 12 hours to change suitcases. Padraig had been to European Poker Tour (EPT) tournaments in London and Dublin, a PacificPoker television tournament in Maidstone, and was off to the United States to play in a World Poker Tour (WPT) event, without coming up for air. But it's like that for all players these days.

Take the first week of November, for example. Amsterdam has been the place to be for that time period since time began, or maybe 13 years just seems that long right now. But this year, the week was blown up; PrimaPoker was sponsoring a $20,000 buy-in event in Monte Carlo, and the World Poker Tour was hosting a $500,000 freeroll tournament for qualified players in Connecticut. Shopping bags full of money were won and lost at these venues, with European pros split between the three.

Players love coming to the Amsterdam Masterclassics for the right reasons: great town, great hospitality, and a great poker tournament. Holland Casinos adds money to the prize pools even though the tournaments are always sold out, a mind-boggling gesture that brings acres of goodwill. Also, they charge no juice for the main event. Most players just pay on for the tournaments and spend their free time enjoying the town and leaning at the bar. Surinder Sunar, who nearly owns Amsterdam, once told me that it's OK to keep drinking in Amsterdam as long as you can stand up. But if you fall down, he said, you have to stop. Leaning is allowed.

Yes, players these days are spoilt for choice. And the fact that big-name Americans are willing to travel to Europe when so many big-money tournaments are going on at home shows what the buzzword is today – logos. While poker players wearing logos on television has created friction in Europe in the past, particularly in the UK, today Europe leads the field. The EPT allows "branded" players in all of its tournaments. The Prima tourney in Monte Carlo, the recent WPC tournament in Dublin, and the PartyPoker European Open are a few others. And with logo issues on the American tour, European tournament organizers now see that for limited-field television tournaments, branding ability is the biggest single draw in ­attracting premier players.

Of course, the biggest single poker branded name in Europe these days is UltimateBet's Dave "Devilfish" ­Ulliott. Card Player Europe sat down with him recently while on the Ladbrokes poker cruise for our cover story. Also in this issue is a first from Conrad Brunner, who will be contributing from the sidelines of the European Poker Tour. Plus, all of our usual columnists are here.

The Ladbrokes poker cruise was great fun. The best thing about it was the quality of the people aboard, the nicest bunch of poker players I've ever come across. The atmosphere was fantastic, a round of applause was provided for every exit, and there was not a cross word. Many of the Swedish Internet players are starting to make their mark on the live tournament scene. Irishman Rory Liffey said, "The Swedes all play very similar, but I find it very difficult to crack their system. So, I'm in huge trouble against every one of them!" But Rory has hope. If he can figure out how to play against just one Scandinavian player, he says, he'll have the recipe for everyone.

Good luck!