EPT Sochi officially cancelled

The rescheduled event will no longer take place in October and has officially been cancelled after a turbulent week in the Ukraine conflict.

Earlier this week we brought you the news that EPT Sochi had been postponed to October 10 because of the invasion of Ukraine. At the time we remarked this was a curious decision to commit to a rescheduled date because nobody knows how long the conflict will last. 

It has now been confirmed that the event will not take place at all, in a statement from PokerStars they said:

PokerStars can confirm that EPT Sochi has been cancelled. An event will not be held in Sochi until such time that it is safe for staff and players, and appropriate to do so. Qualifiers can contact live@pokerstarslive.com with any queries.

PokerStars have already confirmed that qualifiers will be able to exchange their package for cash instead. 

The original decision to postpone may have been wishful thinking but with the conflict currently showing no signs of stopping such an event now looks near impossible. It may also have been due to pressure from the poker world as many poker players are doing charitable work to support Ukraine while pressure groups have been formed to ban poker events in Russia until the conflict ends. 

It may also have been due to the current state of the Russian economy after sanctions have disrupted Russian liquidity and the value of the rouble has plummeted against the dollar. EPT Sochi, which had several High Roller events, used roubles for the buy-ins. Now some of the high stakes events look like low stakes events from a global poker perspective. 

The European Poker Tour is still back in action, however, as EPT Prague has its long awaited return starting tomorrow.