Even though there will still be some people counting the cost of the ISPT event at Wembley, this shouldn’t be taken as an overall sign that the numbers of players interested in poker tournaments is falling. It has to be said that a number of thing went against the ISPT and it may well be that one of the biggest factors that went against it is pure ambition. As the poker tournament promised so much, many poker players disbelieved that they would be able to live up to their promises. This meant that players turned their back on the event, although they may have held an interest in it if there was a more genuine and down to earth mood to the event.
The thing is though, the recent UKIPT event in Marbella has shown that poker players remain keen to appear at these events if the surroundings and set-up are in the right place. It may not be Las Vegas with the WSOP but there was an opportunity for players to get away from their comfort zone, to have a break but still get the chance to take part in a serious poker tournament too. The fact that the number of players taking part in this event exceeded all expectations, which were not uniformly low, indicates that if you give poker players an event that they want to play in, they will still turn out in their droves.
More big events to come for poker fans with UKIPT this season
It may be easy for the UKIPT to sit back and bask in the glory of the success of the event that they brought together in Marbella but thankfully, this is not the option that the company is taking. That overseas event was just the first event of the new UKIPT season and plans are already underway to ensure that poker players have a great time in Galway for the next leg of the event. When it comes to partying, there is not much many people can tell the Irish but with a huge poker party lined up, there is definitely going to be a lot of interest and excitement in what is being lined up for the event which takes place in July and August.
This is not just any event though, this event, taking place between the 27th of July and the 12th of August is lined up to be the biggest poker festival that has ever been held in Europe! This may be placing a lot of pressure on it but given the recent success in Marbella, who would bet against this event? The main poker festival is billed as the Full Tilt Galway Poker Festival, with that online poker site being the main sponsor but the pick of the 60 poker tournaments that are taking place is likely to be the €1,100 UKIPT Main Event! The fact that there are so many poker tournaments taking place is a great thing for the area and UK and Irish poker in general and there will be many people looking forward to visiting the poker village! Yes, there is that much interest in the event there is going to be a poker village for players to come along to and socialise in.
The expectation for the big Main Event of the festival, which carries a guaranteed prize of €1,000,000, is that there will be around 1,200 people coming along to play. This is more than the population of a fair few towns and villages in Ireland so this is definitely going to be a spectacle that is well worth checking out. Some of the other events taking place at the Galway Poker Festival include a Pot Limit Omaha Championship and a UK vs Ireland Heads-Up Championship. This is definitely the sort of event that will bring a competitive edge to the event and if you are in the vicinity for this one, you should do your best to take part or at least watch it all unfold.