Live Across Europe

As the live poker tournament circuit in Europe winds down ahead of the annual exodus to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, it has not escaped the attention of this writer that the 2009/2010 season witnessed a number of significant changes.

Sometimes the changes were subtle, sometimes not, but most of the time they were for the better.

The rise of the regional and network/site-specific tour was probably the most pronounced.

As I nail these words to the page, PokerStars — the near-universally accepted king of the poker tour — is hosting three simultaneous poker festivals in the UK, USA, and Spain. Something that would have been almost unthinkable a year or two ago, even more so for the fact that they are dotted neatly between the legs of seemingly ever-expanding European, Asia Pacific, and Latin American Poker Tours.

Not only has the EPT gotten bigger and more popular, it has improved its structure — something that also seemed to revitalise the Irish Open this year which attracted a record-equaling field of 708 players for its main event.

The growth of the network/site-specific tour was perhaps the surprise success of the last 12 months with the European Masters of Poker, EC Poker Tour, and Unibet Open events providing a fun and financially flexible alternative to the EPT main attraction. The community-element of these events is paying dividends for savvy sites, and increasingly they are realising that European players deserve (and are prepared to play) during the traditionally quiet summer period.

The advent of the PokerStars North American Poker Tour has provided a fillip for somewhat beleaguered U.S. players who used to have the only game in town — the World Poker Tour — only to see it suffer a slow decline in popularity over the last couple of years.

The first NAPT Mohegan Sun main event in April attracted a 716-strong field and the tour is shaping up to be a shot in the arm for the live U.S. tournament poker circuit.

Whether PartyGaming’s purchase of the WPT can resurrect its fortunes remains to be seen. The tour is expanding in Europe and Party has excellent in-house PR and marketing talents but its once glorious luster has dimmed and it will need a lot of elbow-grease to return its former sparkle.

The once hugely popular and successful Grosvenor UK Poker Tour also seems to have hit a wall, with numbers for its events down quite dramatically — its recent flagship London event saw numbers decline from 432 in 2007, to 397 in 2008, 398 in 2009 and just 318 in March this year.

Perhaps its re-branding from Blue Square Poker to GCasino will turn things around but the experience of the British Masters Poker Tour, with three re-brands in three years, might indicate that to compete at the highest level, consistency and a sense of community and continuity are key.

Its working for the Irish Open, EPTs, PKR Live, International Poker Open and a host of others across Europe, and while there will always be casualties in a highly competitive business environment, I feel we haven’t yet seen the extremes of what the current sea change in live tournament activity will bring.
Watch this space.