Positive EV

In these straitened times, we're all a little more conscious of getting value for our hard-earned cash, and why shouldn't we look to our online poker sites and live tournament sponsors as much as we look at the price of groceries in the supermarket?

Thankfully, whatever your bankroll, there is something to get excited about from PokerStars and BoylePoker as autumn begins to creep up and the nights draw in.

The former has made a bold move by guaranteeing a £1 million first prize at the European Poker Tour London from Oct. 1 to 5. More impressive in my book, however, is the launch of its new online reservation service for players - EPTHotels.com - which will offer a centralised booking service for all the tour's stops.

Anyone who has ever experienced the nagging dread in the days and weeks before travelling to a poker tournament of having to find and book a hotel that caters to your needs yet is convenient to the event can now rest a little easier.

The BoylePoker International Poker Open is a quite remarkable live tournament. With more than 1,000 players attending the Dublin event last year from all over Europe - largely by word of mouth - the €150 buy-in is sure to attract a similar number again.

The event is nothing if not innovative. From mid-August, 20 percent of all pre-registered players' rake goes straight into the prize pool - meaning the player can affect how much extra money is added.

On top of that, the sponsor is adding €20,000 to the prize pool, which could easily take the total to more than €150,000.

This is a staggering sum for such a low buy-in live tournament and is both the perfect training ground for aspiring live tournament players as well as more experienced players who wish to sample the unique challenge of playing in a massive field.

Card Player will be in attendance at both events, though only playing the latter, and we'll continue to bring you the most up-to-date news on the best value tournaments across the continent.

November Nine Outlast September Nine

The good news continued for players attending the World Series of Poker Europe, with the announcement that this year all events will take place in one venue - the Empire Casino in Leicester Square, London - and not split across three casinos like last year.

This will come as great relief to the hundreds who endured the challenging conditions in 2007 and is another example of common sense prevailing. Yet, we remain faced with the incongruous scenario of crowning the WSOPE main-event winner before their counterpart from the WSOP in Las Vegas emerges in November. It's a pointed example of how the game is evolving and just one of the many rolling developments we are beginning to get used to in the game.

With the EPT Barcelona, WSOPE, and EPT London all taking place within three weeks of each other, players and fans have a lot to look forward to this side of the Atlantic as the European circuit gets underway in earnest. Let's hope we get the champions we deserve.