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European Poker Tour |
 Begun in 2004, the European Poker Tour (EPT) is another example of the worldwide popularity of Texas Hold ‘Em. Like the World Poker Tour (WPT), the EPT televises a series of poker tournaments. However, the difference between the tours is that the EPT has buy-ins roughly half the size of those in the WPT, which affects the prize pool. Also, the final tables of the EPT are comprised of 8, as opposed to 6 players, as is typical in the WPT. The end results are that the EPT doesn’t have as much in the way of "star power" and offers its players lower cash prizes. Despite these raw backs, winners of the first two EPT events managed to walk off with prizes somewhere in the range of $100,000, making the tour lucrative enough to attract top drawer players.
The EPT is the brainchild of John Duthie, successful director of such primetime UK serial dramas as Silent Witness, As If and Clocking Off. Duthie has been an avid high stakes poker player for many years, having won the 2000 Poker Million live on TV, earning £1,000,000 and helping to popularize the game in the UK. The Tournament Director is Thomas Kremser, CEO of the International Poker Federation. He was the tournament director for Channel 4’s Late Night Poker and several other televised tournaments and is heavily involved with promoting the game around the world.
The EPT is sponsored by the online poker site PokerStars.com and taped for television broadcast in the United Kingdom by Sunset & Vine, a leading sports program company that also produces Channel 4’s cricket coverage in the UK.
Tournament events have been held in Austria, Denmark, England, France, Ireland, Monaco and Spain.
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