PokerStars Cuts Another Major Tournament

(Photo: Pokerstars.com)

There is a prevailing trend towards catering for the needs and wants of the recreational poker player at the moment. PokerStars have already removed heads up cash games because it was seen as a shark's paradise with many sharks choosing to sit out on individual tables and wait for their prey to join. PokerStars have recently announced Duel poker, a far more recreational concept than pure heads up cash games which is currently in beta mode. Their biggest change was their announcement that the European Poker Tour (EPT) has been changed into a PokerStars Championships and Festivals tour which also sees more of the field cashing so give more players the chance to win some money.

In association with these changes PokerStars have announced that the Asia Pacific Poker Tour brand will be retired at the end of the year as they restructure their live poker tour portfolio.

After some confusion on the APPT’s status, CalvinAyre.com obtained an official statement from a representative of PokerStars as they sought to clarify the changes. The PokerStars rep said:

"PokerStars Championship and Festival events represent PokerStars’ efforts to continue sponsoring high-quality events with our partners in the Asia & Pacific region. This includes continuing to offer a wider range of tournaments and cash games in our branded poker rooms in Macau and Manila. The APPT brand is being retired, but we see this as an opportunity to grow a high-quality global poker tour that supports the growth of poker throughout the region. Asia is an important region for the future growth of poker, and we will ensure that our events reflect and support the future evolution of important poker markets throughout the area.”

There are more tours that will be cut than the APPT. The United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT), France Poker Series (FPS), Estrelles Poker Tour and the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) are also being retired. From 2017, the entire PokerStars portfolio of branded poker tours and championships will be amalgamated into the new Pokerstars Championships and Festivals. This is the biggest shake-up of live poker tours we have ever seen and a real statement of intent from PokerStars as they shape their future live poker tournament plans.

Initially the Pokerstars Championships and Pokerstars Festivals seemed like an addition to the other tours. Unfortunately, although there may well be a like-for-like replacement of all the aforementioned tours, we will lose some of our favourite tour stops and the Championships and Festivals will be the entire live poker offering. It is a further example of the dominance of PokerStars in the poker world as they have already announced plans for tour stops in the Bahamas, Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Macau and Panama. The new Main Events for both versions of the tour championships will be coveted by all poker pros, perhaps eventually becoming part of a new “Triple Crown”, previously acknowledged when a player won a WSOP, WPT and EPT bracelet.

Comments made by Edgar Stuchley, Pokerstars Director of Live Events, should encourage poker fans that PokerStars are building and not retracing on the standard of live poker when he said;

"The PokerStars Championship and PokerStars Festival events are an enhancement of the existing PokerStars sponsored live tours, helping to take our vision for live poker to a whole new level."

This is a brave new era for PokerStars live tours. We hope it is better than before and I hope PokerStars not that the “before” was pretty damn good.