2007 was a bumper year for poker in Europe with more venues opening, more festivals being staged than ever before, several poker tours operating, and online poker still legal and booming. Although some countries, such as Norway, are considering a more hard line stance against Internet poker, the vast majority can look forward to a 2008 without interference from governments meddling in things they don't understand.
However, UK gaming operators are concerned over possible new tax measures. New premier Gordon Brown has already stamped his mark on the UK gambling industry by reversing plans made under Tony Blair for a Vegas style super casino. He has also hit the bingo industry with increased taxation measures and a nationwide smoking ban, that's threatening to kill off this favourite pastime of many of the UK's housewives.
It remains to be seen whether poker will be the next to be hit, but until then, online poker continues to become more and more popular in the UK. This has helped increase the popularity of live poker and both the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) and Gala Casinos Great Britain Poker Tour (GBPT) are set to return this year with bigger and better schedules than in 2007. Stanley Casinos, another of the UK's major operators, is jumping on the poker bandwagon by launching the National Poker Championships.
The National Poker Championships will take place in late March with festivals taking place simultaneously in three of the chain's casinos-one in the north, one in the south, and one in the middle of the country. The main events at each of the locations will be £500 and with no fee to enter and no deductions from the prize pools.
It will represent great value to players. The GUKPT resumes in January at Brighton, on the south coast of England, and with £200,000 in added value contributed by tour sponsor Blue Square, it seems likely that all events will be well attended this year with 300-400 players expected in the nine £1,000 main events. The winners of all the main events will face off at the end of the year in a £3,000 buy-in grand final, won last year by Londoner Michael Ellis. The GBPT is due to resume in February with at least seven £500 events, and with the EPT expected to return this year as well, the UK is likely to continue as the best place in Europe to play live poker.
Other notable events taking place during the first quarter of the year include the European Deep Stack Championships in the Irish town of Drogheda. Sponsored and run by Green Joker Poker, a relatively new but up and coming online poker site, the events all feature great structures with huge numbers of starting chips. The =C1,500 main event will see players start with 50,000 chips and an opening blind level of 25-50, and even I might be able to make it to day two of the four day event. Even if I don't turn up until day two, I will still have almost 80 percent of my original chips.
The Irish Open in Dublin in March also promises to be as good a tournament as it has always been. Sponsor Paddy Power bookmakers is guaranteeing the prize pool at Ð3,000,000 for this Ð4,000 event that set the record for the highest number of participants in a major European event last year. This year they are expected to break it once again. Happy pokering New Year to one and all!
