PokerStars just announced that Europe’s biggest poker tournament, the EPT 2015 is going to be held in the Portomaso Casino, in the heart of St. Julian’s, Malta’s liveliest and most popular town. The EPT will last 11 days, from March 18-28 2015, and host between 40 and 45 events in that time. The organiser joins forces with the IPT, the Italian Poker Tour, and will offer two main events next year: the €5,300 EPT and €1,100 IPT main event.
The EPT was launched in 2004, and has since paid out €643 million in tournament prize pools. Aside from the tournaments, there will also be cash games offered, including Pot Limit Omaha, No Limit Hold’em and Open Face Chinese Poker. The organisers expect strong participation numbers, and also pointed out the great location of Malta with regards to the climate, sights and the Mediterranean cuisine.
The Portomaso Casino is one of the largest and most popular casinos on the island. The General Manager, Eros Ganzina, is very happy about the event being held in Malta, and his collaboration with EPT and PokerStars. The company PokerStars.eu is also based in Malta. In recent years the island has become more and more popular with gaming events, and many of them were hosted in the Portomaso Casino or the Dragonara. This event will be good for Malta’s reputation as a growing gaming location.
The Gaming industry in Malta is a large contributor to the GDP, but it is not just land-based casinos, there are also over 300 iGaming companies licensed in the country, offering gambling services and sports betting to an international audience. The Malta Remote Gaming licence has become one of the most popular licenses for operators to hold, as it has a great reputation and is trusted by players.
