Online Poker Qualifiers Still Running

While much of the poker world seems to be in a state of entrenchment thanks to recent changes in the United States' legislation on the industry, evidence that it is business as usual in some areas is easy to find. The European Poker Tour, a series of big buy in events that take place in Barcelona, Vienna, London, Dublin and more cities across Europe, has still been getting their fair share of online qualifiers, such as Bedford resident James Reid. Reid won his spot into the EPT via an online satellite played on PokerStars.com, and thus gets to sidestep the 5,000 Euro entry fee, a practice that is largely responsible for the huge playing fields in today's big poker events. The most noteworthy such qualifiers were in 2003, when Chris Moneymaker put down $40 and won a spot in the WSOP Main Event, which he went on to win.