PokerStars announces first stop in the U.S. with the PokerStars Festival New Jersey in November
ONCHAN, Isle of Man – August 24, 2016 – PokerStars, an Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand, today announced two new PokerStars sponsored global live tours, the PokerStars Championship and the PokerStars Festival. With the European Poker Tour (EPT) outgrowing its European borders, PokerStars is making its biggest live events even bigger, by encompassing key PokerStars sponsored events from around the world and bringing players worldwide the much-loved EPT experience.
From 2017 onwards (with the exception of New Jersey in 2016), PokerStars sponsored live events will be split into two categories: PokerStars Championship events and PokerStars Festival events, and will visit cities across the globe, such as New Jersey, Barcelona, London, Macau, Monte-Carlo, Nassau and Panama.
POKERSTARS CHAMPIONSHIP
PokerStars Championship events will take place in major cities, organised by the most prestigious casinos across the globe, and are designed to deliver the best poker experience on the planet for players of all levels. A PokerStars Championship event will typically last 10-11 days and feature extensive schedules of up to 100 tournaments, including a €/$5,000 Main Event and a variety of cash games. The first PokerStars Championship event, the PokerStars Championship Bahamas, will kick off on January 6 until January 14 in the Bahamas, previously known as the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Other confirmed PokerStars Championship stops are Barcelona, Monte-Carlo, Macau and Panama, with more stops to be announced in the coming months. The PokerStars Championship will feature a revamped Player of the Year competition, featuring a tournament leaderboard for each stop. The player who tops each individual leaderboard will win a VIP package, including accommodation and PokerStars Championship Main Event buy-in for the first PokerStars Championship the following year, plus entry into a special invitational tournament featuring $100,000 winner-takes-all first prize. More information on PokerStars Championships can be found here: www.pokerstarslive.com/championship.
POKERSTARS FESTIVAL
PokerStars Festival events are shorter live events lasting 6-7 days with
a fun, holiday feel and a variety of events, mainly tailored for recreational players. The events will
feature a more concise schedule of tournaments, including a Main Event with a buy-in in the range of
$1,000-$1,500. Confirmed PokerStars Festival stops so far are New Jersey and London, with more stops to
be announced in the coming months. More information on PokerStars Festival events can be found
here: www.pokerstarslive.com/festival.
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES
The PSLive
registration system has been enhanced with an online platform for players to register for tournaments
prior to events, a new mobile app for all PokerStars Championship events, and self-serve terminals to
streamline the registration process. A new website will be launched providing a single stop for
everything related to PokerStars sponsored live events, while the various live event social media
channels will be merged in January 2017 and renamed @PokerStarsLive.
FULL-THROTTLE GAMING EXPERIENCE
Players can experience the usual innovation and
expertise that comes with a PokerStars-sponsored live event – new formats, packed schedules, high
quality staff and a variety of ways to qualify, such as Spin & Go qualifiers for certain events.
Edgar Stuchly, PokerStars’ Director of Live Events, said: “We are always thinking of how to bring the best experience to players, through the variety of tournaments we sponsor, the ease of finding information, how we communicate to players and media, and the overall experience on and off the felt. The PokerStars Championship and PokerStars Festival events are an enhancement of the existing PokerStars sponsored live tours, helping to take our vision for live poker to a whole new level. The PokerStars Championship will include top-tier events that will visit the most exciting and prestigious destinations worldwide, similar to the much-loved European Poker Tour, while the PokerStars Festival events have a more regional feel, positioned as an action-packed poker vacation.
POKERSTARS COMMITS TO GROWING POKER IN NEW JERSEY
Kicking off the new live poker tours, the
inaugural PokerStars Festival event debuts in New Jersey from October 29 until November 6. The
PokerStars sponsored event will feature more than 50 tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $100 to
$5,000 at Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The Festival will also feature some exciting extras, headlined by a casino festival with blackjack, video poker, slots and roulette tournaments. For action away from the tables there will be a StarsFun skills zone, plus a RunItUp Day with Team PokerStars Pro and Twitch superstar Jason Somerville, and a Survivor “Immunity” Tournament featuring Tyson Apostol and “Boston Rob” Mariano.
Eric Hollreiser, PokerStars’ Director of Corporate Communications, said: “We are committed to growing the poker market in New Jersey and part of this strategy is to help make New Jersey the poker hub of America in November. We invite players from across the globe to pitch up in the Garden State for the best live poker experience available in the world, live and online, with the first ever NJCOOP kicking off ahead of the Festival with plenty of tournaments on offer and big prizes.”
The New Jersey PokerStars Festival highlights will be as follows:
- November 1-5, 2016, $1,100 PokerStars Festival Main Event
- October 30-31, 2016, $340 PokerStars Cup
- November 4-5, 2016, $2,200 PokerStars Festival High Roller
- November 4-6, 2016, $230 PokerStars Open
Team PokerStars Pros set to compete in the New Jersey PokerStars Festival include Jason Somerville, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Jason Mercier, Chris Moneymaker and Vanessa Selbst.
To celebrate the new PokerStars-sponsored global live tours, the promotional video is available online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mCMjmfkl4A&feature=youtu.be
About PokerStars
PokerStars operates the world’s most popular online poker sites, serving the global poker community. Since it launched in 2001, PokerStars has become the first choice of players all over the world, with more daily tournaments than anywhere else and with the best online security. More than 155 billion hands have been dealt on PokerStars, which is more than any other site.
PokerStars.com and PokerStars.eu operate globally under licenses from the Isle of Man and Malta governments, respectively. PokerStars also holds local licenses or approvals to offer services to players in many jurisdictions, including Italy, France, Estonia, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, United Kingdom, Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, Ireland, Romania and New Jersey in the United States of America.
PokerStars is the flagship brand of Rational Group, which operates gaming-related businesses and brands, including PokerStars, Full Tilt, BetStars and PokerStars Casino. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, Rational Group companies in the UK and Isle of Man was recognised as one of the top 25 best places to work by the Great Place to Work Institute’s Best Workplaces – Large category ranking. Rational Group entities in Costa Rica and Dublin also achieved the same accolade in their respective local rankings in 2014. PokerStars is ultimately owned by Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA).