The European Poker Tour Prague stop originally scheduled for this month that was postponed due to increased COVID-19 restrictions has been rescheduled by the EPT and will run in the spring of 2022. According to the PokerStars Blog, which published an update, the restored EPT Prague series will run for 12 days, March 5-16, 2022, and will be held at the Hilton Hotel Prague.
The rescheduling involves a change in venue for the stop. Before its postponement, the EPT stop had been slated for December 8-19, 2021 at the adjoining King's Casino Prague. Though not clarified by PokerStars, and likely due to the heightened Czech restrictions on attendance at public gatherings, the restored stop appears as though it will be held entirely at the Hilton property.
The increased Czech restrictions include a 1,000-person occupancy cap on public venues such as casinos. Holding the series within the casino would have severely impacted King's Casino Prague's other gaming offerings. Other than the slight shift in venue, there are no other noticeable changes. The March stop's schedule of events will recreate the event offerings as they existed in December, but with the revised dates.
Concerns over a new surge in reported COVID-19 cases prompted Czech Republic officials to tighten the rules governing public gatherings and events. A vaccination mandate also remains in effect, barring unvaccinated people from attending events such as EPT Prague, or even such activities as dining in public restaurants.
Current EPT Online series helps plug December schedule hole
PokerStars also reacted to the hole the December Prague postponement by quickly adding an EPT Online series to the Stars' online schedule. That series of online events began yesterday, December 8, and runs through December 20. It's a twin series, with "regular" and "mini" EPT Online events on tap.
The series includes an additional tie-in to the postponed Prague stop. Since the December postponement caused a loss of income for the EPT's live-event staff, Stars will allocate $100,000 from the online series' net proceeds to those impacted workers.
“I am pleased that we have been able to adapt so quickly to the ever-changing situation and provide our players with new dates for EPT Prague already, as well as some EPT online fun and value in the meantime,” said Severin Rasset, Managing Director and Commercial Officer of Poker at PokerStars.
“We know that there is a huge demand from the PokerStars community to see our live events return in full and we are excitedly working towards that, but we must be flexible along the way to ensure our players stay safe and healthy, and the experience is an unforgettable one for all the right reasons.
Featured image source: Victor Porof, Wikimedia Commons
