PokerStars have announced that the world's richest and most popular poker tour will be held at the Portomaso Casino, in St. Julian's, in March 2015.
The European Poker Tour will make its first visit to Malta from March 18 to 28, 2015, as part of the Season 11 schedule.
Since 2004, the EPT has paid out over €643 million in tournament prize pools, and hosted successful festivals across Europe.
Joining forces with the regional Italian Poker Tour (IPT), the 11-day EPT Malta poker festival will take place in the popular tourist resort of St Julian's and will feature between 40 and 45 events, including the €5,300 EPT Main Event and the €1,100 IPT Main Event.
A wide variety of EPT-run cash games will also be offered throughout the tournament including No-Limit Hold'em, Pot Limit Omaha and Open Face Chinese Poker. This stop will be the EPT's 22nd different destination since the tour began in 2004.
"After discussions with players and fellow colleagues, we decided it was time to add a fresh and exciting stop to the EPT schedule. Malta is a great destination for an EPT and we expect strong participation numbers. With excellent connections to all major European cities, a warm Mediterranean climate, delicious local cuisine and lots of great tourist activities, Malta is the perfect place for players to come with their friends and family next spring," said Edgar Stuchly, EPT President.
Portomaso Casino has hosted numerous major events, including three Italian Poker Tour stops and the PokerStars-sponsored Swedish and Finnish championships.
Michael Holmberg, PokerStars General Manager in Malta, said that "Malta is where PokerStars.eu is based, so we are very happy to bring the EPT home to what is the perfect combination of a 24/7 poker offering, as well as the chance to escape the grind and discover everything that Malta has to offer."
Eros Ganzina, General Manager of Portomaso Casino, said: "We are delighted and proud to announce our new collaboration with PokerStars and the EPT. Malta is renowned as being a very popular poker destination and in the last five years Portomaso Casino has proved to be more than capable of hosting large-scale events. The EPT is a landmark event for us and we are looking forward to hosting such a prestigious tournament. We are positive that poker players will enjoy the new destination."
Season 11 of the EPT builds on the success of a decade of world-class live poker events, and major poker festivals are being held in Barcelona, London, Prague, and Deauville, with the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final to be held in Monaco.
The EPT also visits the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), which takes place every January in the Bahamas and is the largest poker festival outside of Las Vegas.