The European Poker Tour (EPT) announced Wednesday that it has made a change to its current season, Season 10, replacing the sixth stop with a different city and venue. What was EPT Berlin is now EPT Vienna, hosted by the Hofburg Palace in the middle of the city.
“Due to a unique opportunity in Vienna, we have decided to change the location of the sixth EPT stop this year,” said EPT President Edgar Stuchly in a statement on the EPT website. “The Hofburg Palace is a spectacular venue with a grand history, and moving the EPT there enables us to offer a great player experience. The venue can fit over 100 tables and we will be able to provide an amazing tournament schedule with a wide variety of games including cash games in the Hofburg.”
Mr. Stuchly was right in saying it is a spectacular venue. The Hofburg Palace is a sprawling, magnificent property, currently home to the President of Austria. The oldest portions of the palace date back to the 13th century; other parts were last updated just a few years ago. Kings and emperors have lived there and it now houses multiple museums, the Austrian National Library, and the Imperial Treasury.
The European Poker Tour website does not detail exactly where in the palace the poker will take place, but it may be in the expansive Conference Center.
EPT Vienna will run March 19th through March 29th, 2014. The exact schedule has yet to be posted publicly.
The last time the European Poker Tour visited Vienna was in October 2010 during Season 7. 587 players paid the €5,300 buy-in, producing a €2,935,000 prize pool. Germany’s Michael Eiler came out on top, winning €700,000. The EPT has grown in popularity since then and expects more than 1,000 players for the 2014 edition of WPT Vienna.
The next stop on the European Poker Tour is Prague, Czech Republic. Players will have to wait a while for it though (plenty of time for the World Series of Poker glow to wear off), as it will not start for another month. Golden Prague Poker at the Hilton Prague Hotel will serve as host starting December 8th, 2013 and running through December 18th. The Main Event begins December 12th.
