PokerStars first tournament of the new European Poker Tour season started today in the Casino de Barcelona. Howard Swains reports from the event.


Hello and a very warm welcome to beautiful, balmy, beach-side Barcelona and the beginning of season four of the European Poker Tour.

The success story for the EPT continues, with 550 players pre-registered for this €8,000 ($10,900 approx) event. To put that into perspective, when the first EPT event began in this very casino in September 2004, a grand total of 229 players parted with €1,000 to generate a €229,000 prize pool. Alexander Stevic, of Sweden, took the €80,000 first prize.

This time, Stevic's payout is the equivalent of just ten times the buy-in. And we're looking at a pool of nearer to €4 million. And there are about as many members of the press corps as there were players in that inaugural event.

Also dotted around Barcelona this week are some of the leading lights of the international poker scene. Representing Team PokerStars in Barcelona, we have Greg Raymer, Daniel Negreanu, Humberto Brenes, Katja Thater, Isabelle Mercier, Luca Pagano, Noah Boeken and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier. We'll follow all their progress closely here.

And that's not all. In fact, that's barely the start of it. As ever, there are a host of PokerStars qualifiers from across the globe hoping to make a name for themselves. Some have qualified for as little as, well, nothing, instead cashing in their frequent player points (FPPs) for a taste of the high-life. Check back here throughout the week to hear their stories and watch their rise or demise.

Day 1A of the tournament will play until 4am, central European time, and then we'll start again with our second contingent tomorrow. Day Two proper begins on Thursday, day three on Friday and a final table of eight will convene on Saturday to play for the big, big money.

Even as the Catalonian sun continues to beat down outside, the stars are out in the Grand Casino Barcelona.

Among today's 263 contenders, cramming the cardroom to bursting point, are the following names, faces and, indeed, bodies:

Rob Hollink (Holland) - winner of the first EPT Grand Final
Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke (USA) - PokerStars qualifier, second in Aussie Millions 2007
Brandon Shaefer (USA) - winner of EPT France in season one and Grand Final runner up; ninth in all-time EPT rankings
Ram Vaswani (England) - Hendon Mobster, WSOP bracelet winner and leader of EPT rankings
Noah Boeken (Holland) - winner of EPT Copenhagen, season one, among five EPT cashes. Team PokerStars player


Mickey Wernick (England) - former European No 1
Paul Wasicka (USA) - WSOP main event 2006 runner up
Phil Gordon (USA) - multiple WSOP final tablist and WPT champion
Mats Iremark (Sweden) - EPT Deauville champion, season two - PokerStars qualifier



Sverre Sundbo (Norway) - Team PokerStars player
Thomas Brolin (Sweden) - former international soccer player
Julian Thew (England) - six cashes on EPT, including two final tables
Mark Naalden (Holland) - third in EPT Copenhagen, season two
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (France) - Team PokerStars player, second in EPT Copenhagen, season three
Andreas Hoivold (Norway) - winner EPT German Open, season three
Johnny Lodden (Norway) - Internet legend, four cashes in EPT
Roland De Wolfe - EPT Dublin winner, season three. WPT winner.


William Thorsson (Sweden) - Third in EPT Dublin, season three
Katja Thater - Team PokerStars player. Winner of WSOP bracelet 2007.