Poker Pros Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Playing EPT Barcelona

The European Poker Tour (EPT) kicks off Season 13 with its first stop next week. The Catalonian capital of Barcelona will once again be the season opener with huge fields again expected. Last year a record-breaking field of 1,694 players ponied up the €5,300 EPT Barcelona Main Event buy in, and none other than John Juanda took down the €1,022,593 first-place prize. The schedule is once again action packed with a total of 64 different tournaments, ranging from €120 hyper turbo events to a €50,000 Super High Roller.

Barcelona is one of the most popular stops on the tour, and Casino Barcelona is expected to be packed with eager poker players. EPT Grand Final champion Adrian Mateos will play the festival for the fourth time. Despite never cashing in the Main Event yet, Barcelona is a favorite for the high roller sharing that, “Barcelona is without doubt one my favorite cities in the summer. It has all ingredients to be the best city; the parties, the food, the weather is fantastic, the beach is right there. There’s a lot of activities to do, and an amazing schedule of tournaments. Marvelous!”

Spanish player Sergio Aido, known online as “zcedrick” and currently the fifth-ranked player on the Spanish All Time Money List according to The Hendon Mob, is a fan of the stop as well with this year being the fifth consecutive time he’s competing.

“Barcelona has sites and buildings that really deserve to be seen, besides the beaches, parties, and food,” Aldo shared. “The truth is that it’s difficult to spend hours playing poker in a city like this that offers so many things to do in your free time.”

Matthias De Meulder has cashed in the EPT Barcelona Main Event a record-breaking four times. No wonder the stop is locked in his schedule for months; “The timing and setting of the event are perfect. Summer time in Barcelona alone is great, then on top of it there are poker tournaments all day every day taking place for ten plus days straight. Now tell me a poker player who doesn’t like the sound of that? Oh, and if you bust, it takes you roughly a minute or two to make it to the beach. Need more? The tournaments are big and known to be less tough than similar events elsewhere. I have been making pretty good money there.”

Jason Wheeler, who has been coming to the event since 2010, has some tips for first time goers: “Going to EPT Barcelona for the first time is quite intimidating. Everything is huge. Registration lines are long and there’s less table space this year so utilize online registration wherever possible. Also, register and pick up your tickets at non-peak hours such as late the night before or when the casino opens. If getting a payout in cash the process and line are brutal. Come back later at night when there’s no line. Also due to the likelihood of caps on entrants register for tournaments, you really want to register way in advance if possible.”

How the Spanish Play Poker

Besides the sunshine, nearby beach, and action-packed schedule, his constant success push Matthias De Meulder to come back every single year. “As we all know, a lot of success or failure can be due to variance, so that’s definitely a factor,” De Meulder explained. “However, I do think the Spanish playing style suits me. …

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