Even though there has already been a series event for UKIPT players to get their teeth into, the excitement is really starting to build for the proper opener of the season and the rest of the campaign. Season 4 looks set to be the biggest and best United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour yet and PokerStars are once again fully behind the tour. The Series 1 event held in April at the Hippodrome got things off to a handsome start but most poker players are now turning their thoughts towards Marbella.
The idea of getting a great sunshine break in June is definitely going to appeal to people but for many poker players, there will not be too much of a chance to grab sunshine and a tan. Then again, if the poker games are played late at night, there is nothing to stop the poker players from grabbing an al fresco snooze during the day helping them to top up their tan while getting some proper rest before the poker action begins again. The PokerStars Marbella Festival is the setting for the first not UK or Irish event in the United Kingdom and Irish Poker Tour and the action begins at midday on Wednesday the 12th of June. It is also best to stay out of the sunshine at midday so this could be the best time to start playing poker. It is also going to be the first time that the new style of Main Event at UKIPT events, the €1,000 +€100 buy-in will take place.
After the Marbella jaunts, there is another series event with Series 2 taking place at the Hippodrome yet again with the last few days of June being the relevant dates for this event. The next proper event on the tour takes place in Galway with a guaranteed €500,000 on offer between the 8th and 12th of August. The Galway event could be the biggest event of the tour as this is the one with the highest possible capacity. At the moment the Galway leg is being listed as having a capacity of 1,200 whereas the next highest capacity available is 1,000. There is a huge passion and drive for poker events in Ireland so there should be no real surprise that there would be a high level of interest for this event. The buy-in for this event stands at €1,000 +€100 which means that there is going to be a great deal of money floating about if the capacity target is reached.
Plenty of poker events to look forward to
There is then another series event at the Hippodrome at the end of September but the 2nd to the 6th of October welcomes a London event at Connaught. Again there will be a guaranteed €500,000 on offer but this time the buy-in will be £1,000+£100, which is actually dearer than the buy-in events for the Main Events in Ireland or Europe. Then again, this all depends on the exchange rate and given the current economic outlook, is anyone going to be so confident to predict what the exchange rate and economies will be like by the time October 2013 rolls around!
Halloween sees the event shift to the Isle of Man for the first ever time in the Villa Marina and then the 28th of November to the 2nd of December sees the famous Dusk Till Dawn club in Nottingham host the premier six-man UKIPT Main Event.
There may be some folk that get annoyed about the fact that the UKIPT is heading out of the United Kingdom and Ireland for this tour but to be honest, most poker players will welcome the chance to get around a bit more. A trip to Marbella in the height of summer is never going to be a bad thing and if you can combine it with a bit of poker, all the better!