PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, announced a new live tour dubbed the France Poker Series. There will be seven stops as part of the series, each with €1,200 buy-in events and culminating in the Grand Final in Paris, which will be a €2,500 buy-in tournament. Players can log onto PokerStars to qualify for a France Poker Series event through freerolls and cash satellites.
The first season of the France Poker Series is being touted as the most exciting live poker events ever to hit the European country. Tournaments will take place all over France with a buy-in of €1,200 and each boasts a guaranteed prize pool of €300,000. The person who wins the Main Event at each stop on the France Poker Series also receives a package for the Grand Final in Paris.
The opportunity to play in France promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for recreational players, who can play poker in some of the most beautiful cities in the world. The Morocco event, which takes place outside of France in the North African country, also promises to be a destination not to miss. The details surrounding the Morocco event have yet to be announced.
The France Poker Series will feature a leaderboard to qualify players for the Grand Final in Paris. Players will win points by registering for events and recording in the money finishes. The players ranked first through fifth on the leaderboard will win entry to the Grand Final.
Satellite qualifiers are already running on PokerStars, allowing players to win a prize package that consists of the buy-in, hotel accommodations, and other expenses. Cash satellites are only available to players in Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The freeroll qualifiers are only open to players in mainland France. This means that players in the United States are not eligible to participate in the freerolls or satellite qualifiers.
Freerolls and cash satellites for the Beaulieu-sur-Mer stop are running now and start at €5.50. Players can find the satellites from within the PokerStars lobby by clicking on “Tourney” and then “Regional.”
Beaulieu-ser-Mer is the first event of the series and will kick off on May 1st from Casino Partouche. The next event is Divonne-les-Bains, which will take place from September 25th to 26th at Casino Partouche. The third event scheduled is Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, which begins on October 17th and wraps up the next day at Casino Partouche. The fourth event, Lyon, will run from November 13th to 14th at Casino Partouche Lyon Vert. The fifth stop is Forges-les-Eaux, which runs from December 18th to 19th at the Casino Partouche. The Grand Final of the France Poker Series will take place at the Cercle Haussmann in Paris next February.
Members of Team PokerStars France include GoDaddy spokesperson Vanessa Rousso, Arnaud Mattern, World Poker Tour (WPT) Cyprus winner Thomas Bichon, and sports hero Sebastien Chabal. Rousso is a French-American dual citizen who was born in New York, attended Duke University, and graduated with honors. Arguably the most accomplished member of Team PokerStars France is Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, who has won millions of dollars playing online and live. Most of these players appear on the France Poker Series landing page on the PokerStars website, building hype that they might be in attendance on the circuit of events.
The France Poker Series is the latest in live tour for PokerStars, following such successful ventures as the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), European Poker Tour (EPT), and the recently launched North American Poker Tour (NAPT). The next stop on the NAPT is Mohegan Sun, whose Main Event will start on April 7th and air on ESPN2.
