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PokerStars has announced the pending retirement of the European Poker Tour [EPT] brand name as part of a sweeping makeover of the entire family of PokerStars-related live poker offerings.  The changes, which debut later this year but arrive in full in 2017, will create two separate live-poker tours, PokerStars Championship and PokerStars Festival.

The changes are designed to enhance PokerStars’ core brand recognition around the globe while seemingly borrowing from a successful blueprint employed by rival live tours such as the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour, both of which have launched successful satellite tours (WSOP Circuit; WPT DeepStacks, WPT National, etc.).

The press release says

"PokerStars Championship events will take place in major cities, organised by the most prestigious casinos across the globe, and are designed to deliver the best poker experience on the planet for players of all levels. A PokerStars Championship event will typically last 10-11 days and feature extensive schedules of up to 100 tournaments, including a €/$5,000 Main Event and a variety of cash games. The first PokerStars Championship event, the PokerStars Championship Bahamas, will kick off on January 6 until January 14 in the Bahamas, previously known as the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Other confirmed PokerStars Championship stops are Barcelona, Monte-Carlo, Macau and Panama, with more stops to be announced in the coming months. The PokerStars Championship will feature a revamped Player of the Year competition, featuring a tournament leaderboard for each stop. The player who tops each individual leaderboard will win a VIP package, including accommodation and PokerStars Championship Main Event buy-in for the first PokerStars Championship the following year, plus entry into a special invitational tournament featuring $100,000 winner-takes-all first priz"

Here’s the top-line description for the new “PokerStars Festival” series:

PokerStars Festival events are shorter live events lasting 6-7 days with a fun, holiday feel and a variety of events, mainly tailored for recreational players. The events will feature a more concise schedule of tournaments, including a Main Event with a buy-in in the range of $1,000-$1,500. Confirmed PokerStars Festival stops so far are New Jersey and London, with more stops to be announced in the coming months.


thoughts welcome

Doesn't seem like the smartest move to tarnish your brand for a couple of years before renaming some of the more popular marketing tools. It is just a name to me anyway but it might take a while to build up the prestige. Winning an EPT was a big deal (kinda I couldn't really name many winners from the last 3 years).

 I think the Pokerstars Festival idea is good although what does this mean for all the "local" tours such as the IPT/FPS/UKIPT. They will be running way too many events under one banner if they put them all in. Certain ones have been highlighted for a few years anyway by combining with the EPTs, for example London/Deauville or just by combining two tours like Marabella.

Poker stars core brand recognition is pretty darn obvious throughout the ept and pca if you ask me.

Yes, but not necessarily in the media, & via search engines.

You'd be surprised how many have not realized that EPT & PokerStars are the same thing. Using "Pokerstars" right across the estate means the impressions are more valuable & more efficient.   

Seems sensible to clear up some of the inconsistencies. It was always a bit strange that the PCA was technically an EPT stop and that some of the places on the tour(s) were less prestigious than other simply because they didn't bear the EPT name. APT/LAPT winners were kind of anonymous even in poker media compared to the EPT stops. Now that they're all under the same banner they should all get a decent number of column inches.

I remember when Opal Fruits changed to Starburst. That was news.

I don't really care about this. What does it matter? Probably just a way of trying to pay royalties to John Ruthie.

Duthie!

The significant thing is it is becoming two tiers of events. The high rollers will no longer have to mix with the great unwashed. Stars also won't have to come up with a full tour for each region anymore. They were already struggling anyway on some tours. So prob less overall events as they are likely a loss leader and Amaya doesn't like that. But national 1k stops will probably be a bit longer and bigger.

Blog by Dara O'Kearney on the subject.
http://dokearney.blogspot.de/2016/08/a-tale-of-two-tours.html

Personally, I'm wondering if they will use the new branding of the new 'tour' to up the rake...

Since I started playing poker one of my life goals has been to play an EPT at some point.

I can honestly say that even though it's basically the same thing I have absolutely zero interest in playing a 'Pokerstars Festival'. How dull.

Pretty terrible bit of brand removal in my opinion but I'm sure there's a pretty solid financial reason behind it.

PokerStars Festival London features Roulette, Craps and Blackjack tournaments

(http://i.gyazo.com/80fe3fe8dfa05024d263fbf1dcc4cab8.png)

I'm so used to the EPT events that the new Championship and Festival branding may be appropriate as far as global recognition but will cause it to be more far-removed from Europe. I mean, everybody recognizes the EPT name and respects it and to change it would be like changing the name Pepsi to just Soda. EPT sounds so much better than a festival IMO. I guess it comes down to it being more simplified.