PokerStars “saddened” by necessary decision
The spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to impact the poker world, as it has the entire world. This past weekend, PokerStars announced the postponement of two more of its sponsored live events.
our priority is to ensure the safety of our players.”
“We are saddened that we have had to make the decision to postpone some of our events and understand that some may be disappointed,” wrote The Stars Group managing director Severin Rasset on the PokerStars blog, “but our priority is to ensure the safety of our players.”
No part of the globe remains untouched
Two different continents are affected by the latest PokerStars live tournament changes. Up first is the Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) stop in São Paulo. The poker festival was scheduled to begin this Thursday, March 19, and run through Tuesday, March 24. The R$2,600 (US$522) Main Event was scheduled to begin this Friday.
Getting ahead of things to allow players longer lead time to rework their plans, the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo Casino European Poker Tour (EPT) has also been postponed. The EPT stop was not happening for more than a month, slated for April 23 through May 2. The €5,300 ($5,910) Main Event would have started on April 27.
PokerStars is also considering postponing EPT Sochi.
Three European events had already been pushed back
A week prior, PokerStars announced an initial round of live tournament postponements. This included all European events up to April 10. Three events were affected by the decision, including all “Road to PSPC” tournaments: Road to PSPC Hamburg (Germany), Road to PSPC La Grand Motte (France), and Road to PSPC Madrid Gran Via (Spain).
The PSPC is scheduled for August 20-24 in Barcelona and is still on as planned
These tournaments feature lower buy-ins than most live events. The winner of each wins a Platinum Pass for the PokerStars Players NL Hold’em Championship (PSPC). The PSPC is scheduled for August 20-24 in Barcelona and is still on as planned.
At the time, EPT Monte Carlo had yet to be postponed because it was occurring after April 10. Okada Manila Millions, which was scheduled to run through this past weekend, was still on. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp, the country’s gambling regulatory body, suspended all of the nation’s gaming operations as of midnight Sunday; it does not appear that all tournaments were completed.