POKERSTARS MONTE CARLO POKER TOURNAMENT CONCLUDES WITH MORE THAN $27 MILLION IN PRIZES AND 1,900 UNIQUE PLAYERS
TORONTO – May 9, 2018 – The Stars Group Inc. today announced the successful results of the Monte Carlo stop on the European Poker Tour (EPT), a major live poker tournament series sponsored by The Stars Group’s flagship PokerStars brand, with a total prize pool of $27.2 million. The event attracted 1,915 unique players from 83 different countries, generating a total of 8,170 entries across 42 tournaments.
The €5,300 buy-in EPT Main Event had a field of 777 players and paid out €712,000 to the event winner. The €100,000 buy-in Super High Roller event generated a total prize pool of €4,462,920, with the winner taking home €1,520,000.
PokerStars sponsors live events to, among other things, promote the game globally, brand awareness, and its online poker offerings, where players compete online to win packages to attend these events. At EPT Monte Carlo, PokerStars awarded seven Platinum Passes to the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship (PSPC), a $25,000 buy-in tournament which takes place in the Bahamas in January 2019, were awarded to EPT Monte Carlo participants. Each Platinum Pass is worth $30,000 and includes the buy-in, accommodation at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort and approximately $2,000 for travel and expenses. A further three standard PSPC packages, which include a single $25,000 buy-in to the PSPC only, were won through a qualifying tournament live at the event.
The EPT, which is regarded in the industry as one of the world’s most iconic live poker tours, has already stopped in the Bahamas and Sochi in 2018 and is due to stop in Barcelona and Prague later this year.
Following EPT Monte Carlo, poker players have turned their attention online for the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), which began last Sunday, May 6. The online tournament series is celebrating its 10th anniversary by offering $65 million in guaranteed prizes, PokerStars’ largest online series guarantee ever, and five Platinum Passes to the main event winners across each buy-in level, the first-placed player on the SCOOP series leader board and the winner of an All-In Shootout Challenge. Last year, PokerStars awarded an overall industry record payout of approximately $94 million across the entire series.
About The Stars Group
The Stars Group is a leading provider of technology-based product offerings in the global gaming and interactive entertainment industries. The Stars Group directly or indirectly, including through its Stars Interactive Group division, owns gaming and related consumer businesses and brands, such as PokerStars, PokerStars Casino, BetStars, Full Tilt, and the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship, European Poker Tour, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Latin American Poker Tour, Asia Pacific Poker Tour, PokerStars Festival and PokerStars MEGASTACK live poker tour and event brands. These brands together have millions of registered customers globally and collectively form the largest poker business in the world, comprising online poker games and tournaments, sponsored live poker competitions, marketing arrangements for branded poker rooms in popular casinos in major cities around the world, and poker programming and content created for television and online audiences. The Stars Group, through certain of these and other brands, also offers non-poker gaming products, including casino and sportsbook. The Stars Group, through certain of its subsidiaries, is licensed or approved to offer, or offers under third party licenses or approvals, its products and services in various jurisdictions throughout the world, including in Europe, both within and outside of the European Union, Australia, the Americas and elsewhere. In particular, PokerStars is the world’s most licensed online gaming brand, holding licenses or related operating approvals in 17 jurisdictions.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements and Other Information
This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements can, but may not always, be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "could", "might", "would", "should", "believe", and similar references to future periods or the negatives of these words and expressions. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements. Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. Please refer to The Stars Group’s most recent annual information form and annual and interim financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis for more information about the factors, assumptions and risks that may apply to The Star’s Group’s forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date hereof, and The Stars Group undertakes no obligation to correct or update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
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