Zona de Azar Canada – Welcome to PokerStars European Poker Tour Sochi 2018

Canada.- March 21, 2018 www.zonadeazar.com The legendary PokerStars sponsored European Poker Tour (EPT) marks its return to the world’s top-shelf live poker event calendar with the inaugural EPT Sochi running March 20-29, 2018 at the spectacular Casino Sochi, located in Krasnaya Polyana near the Russian Black Sea coast.

Team PokerStars Pro Mikhail Shalamov will be in attendance at the inaugural EPT Sochi

“With 17 tournaments in different formats, big prize pools and a variety of entertainment for players and guests away from the tables, I’m looking forward to play at the first EPT Sochi,” said Russian poker legend and PokerStars ambassador Mikhail Shalamov. “There will also be four Platinum Passes, each worth $30,000 up for grabs. The Platinum Pass winners of the four headline events will be taking a trip to the Bahamas for the PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold’em Championship next January.”

Since its debut in 2004, the EPT has grown into the world’s most prestigious poker tour, awarding over €1 billion in prize money through the first 13 seasons. The players’ and fan-favourite brand is now set for a comeback, kicking off this year’s campaign with the tour’s first visit to Russia, making it the 19th country to host an EPT festival.

EPT Sochi boasts 17 tournaments including four majors which will reward the champions with a Platinum Pass to the 2019 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold’em Championship (PSPC), valued at $30,000; the RUB 66,000 EPT National (March 20-23), the RUB 192,000 EPT Main Event (March 23-29), the RUB 617,000 EPT High Roller (March 27-29), and the RUB 19,000 EPT Cup (March 27-29).

PokerStars TV will be present on the ground to bring a five-day broadcast of the EPT Sochi Main Event to your couches. The live streaming kicks off from Day 2 (March 25) and then continues every day through to the final table. All action will be broadcast on a delay with the hole cards up. If you are attending the event, don’t publish any spoilers until the action has appeared on the stream.

The stream will be available in a wide number of languages, on desktop and mobile on PokerStars.tv, Facebook, YouTube and Twitch channels. Click here for a full schedule or see below for the details.

EPT Sochi live streaming schedule:
March 25 at 12:30 MSK (11:30 CET) – EPT Main Event Day 2
March 26 at 12:30 MSK (11:30 CET) – EPT Main Event Day 3
March 27 at 12:30 MSK (11:30 CET) – EPT Main Event Day 4
March 28 at 12:30 MSK (11:30 CET) – EPT Main Event Day 5
March 29 at 12:30 MSK (11:30 CET) – EPT Main Event final table

EPT SOCHI KEY EVENTS
– March 20-23, 2018: EPT NL Hold’em National – Unlimited Re-Entries: RUB 66,000 (approx. $1,142)
– March 23-29, 2018: EPT NL Hold’em Main Event – Single Re-Entry Per Starting Day – RUB 192,000 (approx. $3,322) – RUB 150,000,000 guaranteed (approx. $2,600,000)
– March 27-29, 2018: EPT NL Hold’em High Roller – Single Re-Entry: RUB 617,000 (approx. $10,674)
– March 27-29, 2018: EPT NL Hold’em Cup – Unlimited Re-Entries – RUB 19,000 (approx. $329)

MORE THAN 370 QUALIFY TO RUB 150,000,000 GUARANTEED EPT SOCHI MAIN EVENT
The highly anticipated RUB 192,000 EPT NL Hold’em Main Event features a juicy RUB 150,000,000 guaranteed prize pool (approximately $2.6 million), making it a spectacular opener to the spring season. The winner will walk away with a huge chunk of money along with a package to the aforementioned 2019 PSPC.

For the first time ever, the EPT Main Event will let the runners re-enter the competition. There are three starting days scheduled for the Main Event with a single re-entry per flight allowed. Registration will remain open until the start of Day 2. The starting flights are listed below:

Day 1a: March 23 at 12:00 MSK (60-minute levels)
Day 1b: March 24 at 12:00 MSK (60-minute levels)
Day 1c: March 24 at 20:00 MSK (30-minute levels).

Ten levels will be played on Day 1 and the survivors will unite in Day 2 to continue in 90-minute levels.

More than 370 players secured their EPT Sochi Main Event tickets through various online satellites at PokerStars. Well-known players among the qualifiers include Andrey Kotelnikov, Denis Timofeev, Ihar Soika, and Vladimir Troyanovskiy who finished runner-up to Pavel Shirshikov in the PokerStars Championship Sochi Main Event back in 2017.

EPT MAIN EVENT HISTORY
The EPT Main Event has been a crown jewel on the live poker felt. The title is one of the three wins required for entering the exclusive Triple Crown club. More than €432 million has been awarded in EPT Main Events so far.

Through 115 stops, Victoria Coren-Mitchell remains the only player ever to win two EPT Main Event titles. Coren-Mitchell completed her double with a victory at EPT10 Sanremo, pairing her notch from EPT3 London.

Three Russian players have emerged victorious; Max Lykov (EPT6 Kiev), Vladimir Geshkenbein (EPT7 Snowfest), and Andrey Pateychuk (EPT8 Sanremo). While it has been well over six years since Pateychuk’s triumph, Russian players will now have the home-field advantage for the first time.

Click here for the breakdown of all EPT Main Event champions and further historical stats from the iconic poker tournament.

OFF THE FELT ACTIVITIES
Whilst poker will take centre stage during EPT Sochi, there will be no shortage of entertainment with a host of fun activities on offer throughout. Players can enjoy a breathtaking night spent skiing or snowboarding, including with EPT provided gear. Other highlights include an unmissable PokerStars karaoke battle on March 25, where prizes and a PokerStars trophy await the winner.

TOURNAMENT LOCATION
Casino Sochi
51 Estonskaya Street, Estosadok Villache
Sochi, Krasnodar region
Russian Federation

ABOUT CASINO SOCHI
Casino Sochi is the first world-scale entertainment complex launched on January 5, 2017 in Sochi, the year-round mountain resort Gorky Gorod. It is one of the largest casinos in Eastern Europe with the capacity of 2,000 people. The complex includes the casino, the Baffet and Brunello restaurants managed by young and talented brand-chef Ilya Zakharov, the Royal bar, a conference hall and the Velvet theatre. There are 470 slot terminals, 70 gaming tables and a poker club for Texas Hold’em. Blackjack, American roulette, Russian poker, Oasis poker and other games are available for the guests of Casino Sochi.

INFORMATION FOR MEDIA
Media need to register with the casino upon arrival and get a Casino card. You need to bring your passport together with the slip given in migration at the airport. Once registered, media can enter the casino to collect their badge. Media passes can be collected from the staff room or welcome desk upstairs on floor 2.

When writing about the tournament’s location, please ensure you say the event is taking place at the Casino Sochi.

Full media guidelines can be found here. Any media infringing these and our published media guidelines risk losing their media accreditation.

FURTHER POKERSTARS LIVE EVENTS
Following EPT Sochi, PokerStars and Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT will take place from April 24 to May 4 at the glamorous Monte Carlo Bay Casino Hotel & Resort. Some of poker’s best players will compete over 11 days of high-octane competition. Satellites for this event are currently running on PokerStars and can be found in the lobby under ‘Events’ > ‘Live’.

For full details on all live events, including the PokerStars NL Hold’em Players Championship, European Poker Tour (EPT), Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), PokerStars Festival, and PokerStars MEGASTACK, visit PokerStarslive.com.

Future PokerStars LIVE events announced so far:
– APPT Korea (April 6-15, 2018)
– MEGASTACK Dublin (April 19-22, 2018)
– PokerStars And Monte-Carlo©Casino EPT (April 24-May 4, 2018)
– Manila Megastack (April 27-May 6, 2018)
– MEGASTACK London (April 27-29, 2018)
– PokerStars Festival Marbella (June 4-10, 2018)
– MEGASTACK Gujan-Mestras (June 27-July 1, 2018)
– PokerStars Festival Lille (July 16-22, 2018)
– EPT Barcelona (August 21-September 2, 2018)
– EPT Prague (December 6-17, 2018)

HOW TO APPLY FOR MEDIA CREDENTIALS FOR FUTURE STOPS
Media who wish to apply for any future PokerStars LIVE stops can do so via the PokerStars media application form: http://www.pokerstarslive.com/about/media-application/

BLOG REPORTS AND VIDEOS
Please see the PokerStars blog and video blogs on PokerStars.tv for full reports on the event, further updates can be found on the PokerStars LIVE Facebook page.

For social media see:
Twitter.com/PokerStarsLIVE (@PokerStarsLIVE)
Hashtag is #EPTSochi
http://www.facebook.com/PokerStarsLIVE/

Editó: @_fonta   www.zonadeazar.com