Battle of the poker tours: The EPT vs. The WPT

Aside from the World Series of Poker there are two behemoths in the world of tournament poker, The World Poker Tour and The European Poker Tour; interestingly both tours are owned by competing online poker rooms with the EPT a subsidiary of PokerStars while the WPT can claim Party Gaming as its parent company.

Initially the WPT was the king of the poker tours, and was able to build a strong following for two years before the EPT hit the scene. The EPT struggled to get off the ground initially, and was mainly a local European tournament series, but then around Season 5 the EPT suddenly started looking superior to the WPT, in terms of attendance and prestige.

However over the last year the WPT has seen a resurgence (no doubt due to Party Gaming purchasing the at-the-time struggling entity) finally making headway in Europe as well as branching out to new locales in the US like Florida.

So which tour is superior? Here is my tale of the tape on the matter:

• The WPT is the only poker tour that has managed to maintain a core group of tournaments with $10k buy-ins (as well as the $25k Championship each year).
• The EPT is the boss in Europe, which has far more room to expand than in the US.
• The WPT is the undisputed king in the US, and has a strong foothold in Europe -as well as a small footprint in Africa. And with the name PokerStars attached to the EPT they have ZERO chance of gaining ground in the US market -evidenced by the short-lived PokerStars NAPT.
• Europe is the new stomping ground of most of the young tournament pros, giving the EPT the leg-up when it comes to high-profile names. Furthermore, Europe’s pros are gaining more and more notoriety as the game goes global and with poker sites switching their marketing focus to European markets.
• The EPT has a far more developed “Feeder” circuit. With the UKIPT, LAPT, Eureka Poker Tour, and a number of other tours, the EPT has a solid breeding ground for up-and-coming players. On the flip-side, the WPT only recently developed a “Minor League” system.
• In terms of prestigious tournaments it seems to be a wash: the WPT has tournaments like the Borgata Poker Open, the World Poker Finals, and the Legends of Poker while the EPT has EPT London, EPT San Remo, and other prestigious stops. Both have one really prestigious stop: The EPT has the PCA while the WPT has the $25k Championship at the Bellagio.