PokerStars is sending its players to two distinct spots on two different continents next week for live tournaments that bear the online poker site's name.
PokerStars in the main sponsor behind both the
European Poker Tour and the
Asia Pacific Poker Tour, both which have an event starting next week. The £5,400
EPT London takes place at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino from Sept. 25-29, and the
APPT Seoul takes place at the Sheraton Walkerhill in Korea from Sept. 28-30.
PokerStars has seriously promoted these events both online and regionally by encouraging its users to try to qualify for them, and the site is sending several members of its Team PokerStars to both Korea and the U.K. to represent the company.
Joe Hachem, 2005
World Series of Poker champion, is confirmed for
APPT Korea, and there will no doubt be other members of Team PokerStars in attendance. Hachem is particularly important to PokerStars in Asia because, as an Australian, he's from near that region.
PokerStars sent team members
Daniel Negreanu,
Vanessa Rousso, and others to the first
APPT event that was held in Manila in August, and local newspapers in Seoul have already begun to run articles on Hachem.
This is the first year for the
APPT, so it could use as much star power as it can get to help generate interest in the game of poker in Asia. Despite the marked success of many Asian-born poker professionals, poker is still in its infant stages in Asia.
APPT Seoul is the second of three
APPT events to be held this season. Its championship event takes place in Sydney, Australia, from Dec. 13-16.
The
EPT has sunk its teeth into the major poker tournament market of Europe.
EPT London is the second event of the fourth season of the
EPT, which includes 10 events. All of the events are taped and broadcast on European television. The
EPT started with seven events in 2004.
Attendance for most of the
EPT events has steadily increased every season, and the first
EPT event of this year,
EPT Barcelona, attracted 543 players (74 players qualified through PokerStars). This is the second-largest playing field the tour has attracted (March's season three championship attracted 706 players).
After London, the
EPT heads to Baden, Austria, and qualifiers to this event are now running at PokerStars. Click
here to take advantage of a deposit bonus offered through
CardPlayer.com.
