2020 is a year of firsts, and in keeping with a year that saw live poker grind to a halt as a result of the global pandemic, the European Poker Tour (EPT) has followed several other marquee events into the virtual world. Kicking off today, the PokerStars EPT Online series features 20 events spread over 10 days culminating in the three-day Main Event starting on November 15th.
The first event on the schedule is EPT Online 01: $1,050 NLHE [Arena Championship]. The four-day starter gives players 250,000 chips to start the game and they'll play 30 minute levels throughout the tournament. Action on Day 1 gets underway at 1:05 p.m. eastern time, and they'll play 15 levels on the first day of play before bagging their virtual stacks for Day 2 action.
Play on Day 1 will end with blinds at 5K/10K(1.25K), and registration is open throughout the first day of play, closing at the start of Day 2. That means players who jump into the game at the last minute will still have 25 big blinds to work with. Additionally, players who lose all their chips before the end of registration can jump back in as many as two extra times.
They'll be playing for at least $1.5 million in guaranteed prizes in the first event, but with with more than 400 in the field well before the start of play, it seems likely that guarantee will be left in the dust. Stay tuned here as PokerNews follows the action throughout the first event, starting with Day 1 shortly, and following through until an Arena Champion is crowned on Wednesday this week. PokerNews will also be following all the other action from EPT Online, so keep checking back for all the action and results from the first ever EPT online series.