Will the 2020 PSPC be bigger than the first one?
As long as there are enough Platinum Passes, Barry Carter thinks Barcelona will play host to an even bigger PSPC than in the Bahamas.
Although PokerStars have split opinion on a lot of matters over the last few years, few will disagree that the first PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship was a success. It captured the attention of the poker world, the event had a special atmosphere second only to the WSOP Main Event and it was a PR success for Stars.
So it was exciting to see them announce the second iteration of the event, to be held next August in Barcelona alongside the EPT festival. No word yet on how many there will be overall, but the first batch of Platinum Passes have already been announced and at the time of writing five have already been awarded.
No doubt the poker community is excited, but can PokerStars catch lightning in a bottle twice? Will this event be as big, or bigger, than the first?
How much added value this time?
The answer to that question likely lies in how much added value this event will get. Last time 320 Platinum Passes were awarded, this time there hasn’t been a figure announced. There also has been no mention of added money to the prize pool (last year $1 million was added to the winner’s purse).
This to me suggests one of two scenarios, either it is going to be much bigger or much smaller in terms of added value this time around. If it was going to be the same, that would have surely been mentioned during the event’s announcement? The only reason I can see for not mentioning how many passes will be awarded is either because less Platinum Passes and prizes will be added (and thus they don’t want to draw attention to such a big change on last year) or it is going to be bigger and thus deserving of a separate media announcement later down the line.
One thing I would say is that to replicate the success of the first event, it does not need that added $1 million to the winner. It really was the addition of the Platinum Passes themselves that captured the imagination for this event. It meant life-changing moments for recreational players and the softest High Roller in poker history for the professionals.
Barcelona has more potential
Next year's event has the potential to be bigger than its first outing, which attracted 1,039 entrants. That was in the Bahamas during the PCA, which is an amazing location but hard to get to easily for a lot of players. It’s really an event for American players, who are mostly locked out of PokerStars right now. Barcelona is much easier for more players to get to, especially players who have access to PokerStars in the first place. We’ll likely see more people vying for a Platinum Pass, playing satellites and maybe even selling action for this event because of where it is.
You have to go back to 2014 for the last time the PCA Main Event got over 1,000 runners. EPT Barcelona, however, has routinely broke its own record attendance in recent years. This year it attracted 1,988 entries, breaking the previous year’s record of 1,931. It is the best and a fair comparison of how Barcelona could perform compared to the Bahamas for this event.
It will be very interesting to see what changes are made and what is repeated from the first event. I loved writing about the PSPC last time and the variety of ways to win a Platinum Pass really made it a yearlong event. It will also be taking place very soon after the World Series of Poker Main Event. I have no idea how that will impact things but given the PSPC is the nearest thing we have seen to replicate the ambience of the Main Event, I’m sure it will factor into the narrative of the event somehow.
As long as the number of Platinum Passes awarded is not dramatically lower, I expect a much bigger field and a bigger spectacle than the first event.
How big do you think the PSPC will be nexy year? Let us know in the comments:
