Neymar Jr, Gerard Pique compete for top prize in European Poker Tour in Barcelona

Football superstars Neymar Jr and Gerard Pique joined more than 1,500 people in Barcelona to compete in PokerStars’ European Poker Tour (EPT) in Barcelona, which has become one of the most popular poker festivals in Europe, PokerStars.com, an Amaya Inc. brand, announced today.

Neymar Jr had already made an appearance earlier in the week as a fan supporting new and old friends competing in the record-breaking first stop of EPT’s new season.

He returned with fellow FC Barcelona player Gerard Pique and the two took their seats amid some of poker’s elite players competing in the €25,000 buy-in High Roller event. The football superstars were amongst 118 players taking part in the one-day, single re-entry High Roller event, and right from the start, the competition quickly moved from the pitch to the poker table with the footballers keeping a close eye on each other’s stacks.

Pique has competed in EPT Barcelona events for several years, with his best result coming two years ago when he finished 19th in the €10K High Roller for €21,150. Pique said, “I love playing poker and the PokerStars European Poker Tour in Barcelona is one of the best tournaments in the world, right here in my beautiful home city. It's fantastic to be here, win or lose.”

It is Neymar Jr’s first time competing at an EPT event, but he is no stranger to the poker table. He recently made news when he hit a royal flush in an online tournament at PokerStars, and went on to make the final table. He posted his hand to his Instagram account (where the new PokerStars ambassador has more than 30 million fans) and it has now been liked more than 510,000 times.

Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree currently sits in second position in the High Roller position with three players remaining. The winner of the event will walk away with €865,000 for first place. For regular updates on how Neymar Jr and Gerard Pique are doing at EPT Barcelona, visit the PokerStars Blog.

The flagship €5,300 EPT Barcelona Main Event is also under way and has broken the current record for the biggest EPT Main Event ever held. More than 1,673 players entered the event and registration is still open. There are some big names taking part including Team PokerStars players Andre Akkari, Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier, Johnny Lodden, Isaac Haxton as well as Team PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira De Melo, an Olympic Gold Medallist. The field also includes hundreds of players who won their seats online – many for as little as €11.

The EPT12 Barcelona Poker Festival is running August 18-30 at Casino de Barcelona. The festival has broken many records this year and is the most attended festival PokerStars has ever held in Europe. With 35 additional poker tables and 28 extra tournaments this year, an external marquee was constructed to accommodate the massive schedule of events and number of players.

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Full Tilt pits Hansen against Blom in best-of-three match

As two of the most exciting players in poker face off in a best-of-three contest for $50,000 and to avoid a forfeit, Full Tilt Poker is inviting players to cash in on the action with a further $50,000 for qualifiers to win.

The battle is set for 14:15 ET on Sunday, September 14th, when Gus Hansen and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom will play Stud 8 (Gus’ choice), No Limit 2-7 Triple Draw (Viktor’s choice) and a third game chosen by a public vote on the Full Tilt blog. While the winner earns $50,000, the loser has to deal with more than just a bruised ego and must either record and release a video of their attempt at singing the winner’s national anthem, or play 1,000 hands of micro-stakes ($0.05/$0.10) Razz.

To take part in Heads Up Showdown, players will need to pick a side to play for a piece of the $50,000 prize pool. Full Tilt Poker players must deposit $20 or more and then earn at least 50 Full Tilt Points between Thursday, August 28th and Sunday, September 7th. Qualifiers will receive one ticket for the $10K Gus Supporters Freeroll or the $10K Viktor Supporters Freeroll, which both take place at 14:15 ET on Saturday, September 13th.

After the best-of-three contest concludes, players who registered for the winner’s supporters’ freeroll will get a shot at a share of $30,000 in the $30K Heads Up Showdown Flip Freeroll, at 14:15 ET on Monday, September 15th.

As an added bonus, players who log in and watch the three pro matches on Full Tilt Poker on Sunday, September 14th will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win a $635 FTOPS Main Event Ticket.

Viktor Blom said, “I skipped Vegas and EPT Barcelona this summer, so it feels good to have something big coming up. This Heads Up Showdown against Gus is going to be really cool, especially as there’s more than money on the line.”

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EPT10 Barcelona: it starts today with the Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event!

After Season 9 ended with the spectacular culmination of the EPT Grand Final just before the advent of summer, now the time has come to usher in the Season 10 of the world's most important tour sponsored by PokerStars that once again makes a stop in beautiful Barcelona for what will be the EPT records, coinciding with the first round of this season what will be the 100th Main Event of the history of the European Poker Tour.

In the charming Spanish town overlooking the Mediterranean Sea coast everything is ready for the EPT Main Event which will start on Thursday 21, but since today's action at the Casino Barcelona will be busy being going on for a few hours the first day of 'Estrellas Poker Tour, the regional stage of the Tour sponsored by PokerStars that is a prelude to the event prince.

The partnership between the EPT and the organizer of events to record Estrellas Poker Tour is renewed for the third time in 2014 Last year, the € 1,100 Main Event Estrellas has attracted a record field of 1,798 players and this year , with a day 1 in more and thanks to the greater number of tables designed for the occasion, the expectations are really high with no minimum turnout will struggle to touch the 2,000 admissions.

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EPT announces schedule for 100th EPT in Barcelona

The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour (EPT) today announced a packed schedule for the 100th EPT, which will take place in Barcelona, the debut event of Season 11.

Joining forces with the national Estrellas Poker Tour once again, the festival will feature a total of 43 events between August 16 to 27, 2014. In common with all next season’s events, EPT Barcelona will feature several new tournament formats enabling as many players as possible the chance to compete. The 12-day festival will include brand new dedicated €200 and €1k Seniors Events (for ages 50+) and a reduced buy-in for the Women’s Event (from €300 to €200). There will also be the opportunity to qualify online for a wider range of events, including new “Championship Events” being held at most stops. In Barcelona, there will be a €1k PLO Hi/Lo Championship event, a €1k Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Championship and a €1k No Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Championship – all 8 handed.

EPT Barcelona will continue the successful Season 10 formula of offering players a wide range of lower buy-in “fun” events including a €100 Deuces Wild tourney and €200 NL Turbo Deepstack “Win the Button” event. There will also be more satellites than ever before online.

With more than 9,000 entries overall, last season’s EPT Barcelona Poker Festival was a staggering success, the start of a season that broke numerous records and attracted more players than ever before. The Season 11 EPT Barcelona festival is expected to set new European prize pool and attendance records and will kick off with the €1k Estrellas Main Event (which last year attracted a record 1,798 entries), followed by the €50,000 Super High Roller and the €5,300 EPT Main Event. Up to 20 extra tables are being made available for numerous events after sell-out attendances last year.

EPT President Edgar Stuchly said: “Season 10 was such a huge success that we are very excited about the 100th EPT in Barcelona. It’s going to be a historic event and we are looking forward to welcoming thousands of players to Casino Barcelona to take part.”

The key dates include:

-- €1k Estrellas Main Event: August 16-21, 2014
-- €300 Estrellas Mini: August 16-21, 2014
-- €50k Super High Roller: August 18-20, 2014
-- €200 Women’s Event: August 24, 2014
-- €5,300 EPT Main Event: August 21-27, 2014
-- €10k High Roller: August 25-27, 2014

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