PokerStars Unveils 2019 Live Event Schedule for Spain

PokerStars revealed details of its live events schedule for Spain, including a new event for an old favorite - The EPT Open Madrid.

The new EPT Open stop will be held at Casino Gran Madrid from June 22 to 30, marking it the first EPT event to be held in Madrid since 2011. 

EPT Open events have lower buy-ins than other stops as seen with the EPT Open Sochi, the very first event of its kind. 

After the action in Madrid, the tour moves to EPT Barcelona, which returns to Casino Barcelona from August 20 to the first of September. This event is notable for currently holding the record for the most amount of entrants of any EPT Main Event with 1931 entries, generating a prize pool of over €9.3 million. 

But before EPT Barcelona the city enjoys the Campeonato España de Poker (CEP), Spain Poker Championship, a series of events held throughout the year. The CEP recently gained notoriety after its most recent champion received a Platinum Pass for winning its Main Event. 

That winner, Ramon Colillas, went on to become the first PokerStars Players Champion early this year. February will see the first of many CEP events that Stars has planned for the peninsula, including an August event as a warm-up for the anticipated EPT Barcelona. 

According to PokerStars’ Director of Poker Marketing Eric Hollreiser, Ramon Colillas’  victory is the reason for this push. 

“Ramon Colillas is inspiring a new generation of Spanish players who want to join the poker community and have opportunities to compete with him for potential big wins.”

Time will tell if Hollreiser’s assessment of this is emergent poker market is correct.