While The European Poker Tour (EPT) has been enjoying a successful stop in Prague over the last two weeks this December, they announced some bad news to temper EPT poker fans enthusiasm.
EPT Paris has been officially cancelled. The event was scheduled to be run from February 12-23 at Le Palais des Congres in Paris and be the third successive year that the event was held in February in that location. Unfortunately, players will not have the opportunity to put their tournament strategy to the test in the City of Light.
The PokerStars live events team released the following statement:
“It is with great regret that PokerStars and Club Barrière announce the cancellation of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Paris 2025, originally scheduled for February 2025.
This decision comes as a result of unforeseen changes in French government policies and ongoing regulatory developments in Paris, which are entirely beyond our control.
While we are closely monitoring the evolving legal landscape, the current uncertainty surrounding licensing requirements has left us with no alternative but to cancel the February event. We are, however, exploring the feasibility of rescheduling EPT Paris at a later date.
France / Paris Gaming Law
While casinos have been banned in Paris for over a century (since 1919), there were always allowances for gaming that allowed poker to be played until 2017 when it was shut down. But the renewal in 2019 was meant to be temporary only and the deadline expiration on Dec 31 of 2024 was not renewed.
This type of uncertainty does not allow the EPT to hold the event just two months after the change of the law. There are simply too many questions of how it relates to the law and how the French government will handle it going forward.
What it Means for EPT 2025
The cancellation of EPT Paris 2025 is certainly a blow to the 2025 EPT schedule as a whole as it already lacks the familiar locations of Prague and Cyprus and now also has a big hole to fill in the early part of the year. There is now no EPT event scheduled at all until April 30, a full five months into the year. What will European poker players who follow the EPT to do for that long?
PokerStars said they are working with authorities to see if there is any possibility of moving it to later in the year, but as for now it is just a waiting game for everyone involved.
2024 EPT Paris was a massive hit with 1,224 players entering the main event, so its removal is a disappointing development for anybody who appreciates the EPT series whether as a player or as a poker fan.
The 2025 EPT season is shaping up to be a somewhat unsure one for a tour that is used to being quite stable and prominent in the online poker community. But what you can be sure of is that a solution will be reached and there may be some new locations coming on the horizon.