Throughout the poker world many would say that the European Poker Tour has been slowly coming in front of the World Poker Tour during the past years and that it has actually surpassed it. I believe this statement is a good excuse to ask around the poker world what makes a tournament better and if the EPT has actually surpassed the WPT.

It was an article in Poker News Daily that brought me to write this story. When comparing both tournaments, the writer (I believe it was Earl Burton) made several valid points. First thing to compare was location, the WPT began as a huge tournament series visiting some of the most glamorous stops world-wide. When the WPT kicked off it included stops like Las Vegas, Costa Rica, Aruba, the Bahamas and Paris, France. During the last season the WPT had stops in Las Vegas (four times), Los Angeles, Atlantic City and Connecticut (twice) and once each in Canada, Biloxi, MS and San Jose, CA, not reaching outside the American continent. In contrast, the EPT began with seven tournaments but it has grown throughout the years and is now making stops in places like Barcelona, London, Budapest, Copenhagen and San Remo and with the Grand Final played in Monte Carlo. 

The next thing to put in the line is the organization of tournaments. In conclusion, we can say that both series are very organized and that both of them have facilities for the players and a fair prize distribution; but still figures report that the player fields for WPT have decreased whereas the EPT has expanded. And then we come to the question, why is the EPT attracting more players than the WPT? We can answer this by blaming the WPT organizers for not having a world-wide reach and staying in America, but again the EPT only happens in Europe. When we come to look at the matter closely we can realize why American, especially United States stops, are less attractive to players. Reports say that numbers have gone down since the UIGEA was enforced in 2006 and stopped many poker rooms from sending their players to the tournament and hosting satellites. In my opinion this is one of the main factors that have affected not only these tournaments, but the whole poker world.

In Europe, it is legal to gamble when you are 18 years old (16 if you are in Malta) whereas in the US it is legal to gamble when you are 21. So all players in the age range 18-20 who were interested in playing at the WPT cannot attend and they find it easier to do so in Europe.

It is still prestigious to win a WPT title but the numbers are going down from year to year and I believe that it is mainly due to the legal complication that the US rulings have put on poker players. Once again I am very happy that we have seen 3 victories for poker in the US in the past couple of weeks, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Colorado. I am also one of those who believe that Obama has poker in his agenda (maybe during the crisis it may not be his main concern, but I'm sure it is somewhere there) and that he will do something good about it. In the meantime, it is a shame to watch prestigious events such as the WPT have their numbers go down but at the same time it is good to see growth at the EPT. So for now I would say yes, the EPT is surpassing the WPT.