Online poker players in the new shared liquidity markets of Spain, France, and Portugal received some good news on Thursday as PokerStars announced a new poker series in those countries. With €15 million in total guaranteed prize pools, the new Galactic Series offers plenty of bang for the buck and runs Aug. 26 to Sept. 13.
PokerStars says the new addition will offer “two and a half weeks of Southern Europe’s biggest ever tournament series.”
Players in Spain, France in Portugal will have 186 events on the Galactic Series menu to choose from as part of the PokerStars Europe network. Spain and France entered the shared liquidity world in January and Portugal joined up in May. The moves have meant larger numbers of players and bigger prize pools.
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The original goal of shared liquidity has been to link much of Europe with Italy among the early countries that expected to get on board. So far that hasn’t happened and players within Italy are only allowed to play cash games and tournaments on sites within that country’s borders, including PokerStars’ Italian brand – certainly a frustration for players there seeking bigger action. The country, in fact, seems to be going backward when it comes to online poker, even moving to ban advertising from operators. That could severely limit operators attracting new players and publicizing events.
PokerStars was the first operator offering legal online poker with shared liquidity among all three countries. The group is collectively known as PokerStars Europe and has seen impressive numbers in the TRIO and SCOOP events. TRIO drew 40,816 entries in its 78 events. SCOOP, which was only available for Spanish and French players, attracted more than 30,000 entries and awarded over €11.7 million. The Galactic Series should even top those numbers.
Much of the Galactic Series will run at the same time as the site’s popular World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) series, which is available in many of the rest of PokerStars’ markets Sept. 2-17. The new PokerStars Europe series will offer tournaments for every bankroll with no lack of big money available. Some of the Galactic highlights include:
- Aug. 26 – €5 NLHE Rebuy with €50,000 guaranteed
- Aug. 26, Sept. 2 and 9 – €10 Classico PKO with €150,000 guaranteed
- Aug. 26 – Sept. 5 – The €20 Hercules Flighted Event with €300,000 guaranteed
Small bankroll? No problem. The company is offering players a chance to get in on the action by giving away 400 Main Event tickets, each worth €250. Players can win a ticket as part of the €100,000 Main Event Depositor Freeroll.
PokerStars is also offering other ways for players to get into a tournament field at a fraction of the cost. A total of over €200,000 worth of tournament tickets will be given away from Aug. 27 to Sept. 13 in the Main Event Depositor Freeroll, Galactic Daily Challenge, and Second Chance Freerolls.
Multi-table satellites have already begun at PokerStars Europe and run daily beginning at just €0.50. Spin & Go’s with €2.50 and €12.50 buy-ins will begin Aug. 20 and run daily – awarding €50, €100, and €250 tickets for the series as well as cash prizes up to €75.
Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese players have a lot to look forward to with this opportunity – galactic fields and paydays, and a great way to wrap up the summer.
Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas. His work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions. He is also the host of the True Gambling Stories podcast, available on iTunes, Google Play, TuneIn Radio, Spotify, Stitcher, PokerNews.com, HoldemRadio.com, and other platforms.