Moscow kicks off world’s richest tour season

JOHN DUTHIE, chief executive of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour, has announced the first half of the schedule for the EPT Season Six.

The EPT is now the world's richest poker tour for both players and prize pools.

"The new EPT season includes many events which have made the past five seasons such a triumph with world record-breaking fields and prize pools across Europe," said Duthie.

Last year's EPT season overtook the World Poker Tour in player numbers and prize pools. Season Five generated a total prize pool of almost €55 million with 7,980 players from 97 countries.

The EPT's Grand Final in Monte Carlo generated a €9.3 million prizepool, the biggest for a European event.

Grand Final win: Pieter De Korver

  PICTURE: Poker Stars  

The winner was Holland's Peter de Korver, a 26-year-old poker pro who overcame a record field of 935 players to win the first prize of €2.3m.

Duthie said: "This year's EPT kicks off in August in one of our new scheduled destinations, magnificent Moscow.

The tour will visit an unprecedented 13 countries, including Portugal and others to be announced shortly."

Word Seris of Poker Update:

EPT founder John Duthie just missed out on claiming a WSOP bracelet of his own this week. Duthie, 47, made the final of event 29, the $10,000 Heads Up Championship against American Leo Wolpert.

The Englishman won the first of the three-match final in 96 hands. But his 26-year-old opponent quickly drew level in the second. However it took a marathon 191 hands for Wolpert to land the decisive third match and a prize of $625,682.

Duthie, who has now finished runner up three times in a major heads up tournament, takes home $386,636.