The EPT 2027 schedule is out, and the headline is not a new city but a new price. PokerStars has confirmed five European Poker Tour stops for next year and, for the first time in more than 15 years, changed the buy-in for the EPT Main Event. The flagship event drops from €5,300 to €5,000, while the PokerStars Open Main Event that runs alongside each EPT falls from €1,650 to €1,250. EPT Malta also returns to the calendar after sitting out 2026.
Below we break down the full 2027 calendar, every buy-in change PokerStars has announced, what is still unknown about the rake, and what the move means for players planning their live poker year.
The Full EPT 2027 Schedule
According to the announcement reported by PokerNews, the 2027 European Poker Tour visits five cities:
| Stop | Dates (2027) |
|---|---|
| EPT Paris | February 9-20 |
| EPT Monte-Carlo | April 21 - May 2 |
| EPT Barcelona | August 15-28 |
| EPT Malta | September 28 - October 9 |
| EPT Prague | November 28 - December 9 |
PokerStars has also slotted three standalone PokerStars-branded festivals around the EPT stops:
- PokerStars Open Campione: January 8-17, on Lake Lugano
- Irish Open, sponsored by PokerStars: March 18-29
- PokerStars Open Namur: May 26 - June 6
The shape of the year is familiar. Paris opens the EPT season in February, Monte-Carlo holds its traditional spring slot, Barcelona remains the summer giant, and Prague closes the year in December. The meaningful addition is Malta, which returns in the autumn window after being dropped for 2026. For players who build a European schedule around the tour, Malta in late September gives a natural follow-up to Barcelona in August without the long gap that existed this year.
If you are mapping out a full live calendar, our tournaments guide and our coverage of the Irish Open 2027 dates and PokerStars Open Campione fill in the detail on the non-EPT stops.
Every Buy-In Change Announced
The schedule matters, but the pricing is the real story. Here is what PokerStars has changed:
| Event | Previous Buy-In | 2027 Buy-In |
|---|---|---|
| EPT Main Event | €5,300 | €5,000 |
| PokerStars Open Main Event (at EPT stops) | €1,650 | €1,250 |
| PokerStars Open Main Event (Campione, Namur) | €1,100 | €1,250 |
| PokerStars Open High Roller (at EPT festivals) | €2,200 (Prague figure) | €2,500 |
Two things stand out. First, PokerStars is moving to round numbers across the board. The odd €5,300 and €1,650 figures were the product of a prize pool contribution plus separate fees bolted on top; the new figures are cleaner and easier for players to budget around.
Second, not every price is going down. The standalone PokerStars Open Main Events in Campione and Namur actually rise from €1,100 to €1,250, aligning them with the PokerStars Open Main Event at EPT stops. The High Roller, which the source table lists at €2,200 for Prague, is set at €2,500 for 2027. That means the standardisation cuts both ways: the mid-tier Main Event becomes a single, consistent product at every PokerStars festival, but players who targeted the cheaper standalone versions will pay slightly more.
Why PokerStars Made the Change
Cedric Billot, PokerStars' Associate Director of Live Events, gave a direct explanation, saying players had told the company that the PokerStars Open at EPT stops "had become too expensive." He also signalled that more changes may follow, saying "this is only the start."
That admission is notable. The PokerStars Open Main Event sits in a crucial spot in the live ecosystem. It is the event that recreational players, online qualifiers and grinders moving up from local circuits use as their stepping stone. At €1,650 it was drifting toward the price of a mid-stakes high roller at many regional festivals. Cutting it by €400 is a 24% reduction, a much larger move in percentage terms than the 5.7% trim to the EPT Main Event.
The direction mirrors a wider trend across live poker in 2026. Tours have been competing hard for recreational traffic, and value has become the main battleground. We have seen this play out in different ways, from the guarantee-heavy approach of WSOP Paradise to the low-buy-in focus of regional tours. PokerStars' answer is simpler pricing and a lower entry point.
The Rake Question Nobody Can Answer Yet
Here is the caveat every serious player should note: PokerStars has not yet published the fee breakdown for the new buy-ins. The company says full fee details will be released with each festival's schedule.
For context, the current €5,300 EPT Prague Main Event was split into €4,850 to the prize pool, a €300 house fee and a €150 staff charge, meaning roughly 8.5% of each buy-in did not go into the prize pool. Whether the new €5,000 figure keeps the same €4,850 contribution with lower fees, or reduces the prize pool contribution, makes a significant difference to the value of the event.
If the prize pool contribution stays at €4,850, the effective rake falls to 3%, which would be one of the best deals in major live poker. If PokerStars instead reduces the prize pool contribution proportionally, the change is mostly cosmetic. Until the breakdown appears, the honest assessment is that the headline price is lower but the true value is unconfirmed. Understanding how fees eat into your expected return is central to sound bankroll management, and live tournament rake is often overlooked compared to online.
Power Path and Online Qualifiers
PokerStars also confirmed a useful conversion rule: four PokerStars Open entries won through Power Path can be exchanged for one EPT Main Event entry. With the new pricing (4 x €1,250 = €5,000), the maths now lines up exactly, which looks deliberate. That makes it easier for online qualifiers to decide whether to play four mid-tier events or take one shot at the EPT Main Event.
Satellites for PokerStars Open Campione and the Irish Open are already running on the PokerStars client. Feeders for EPT Paris began on announcement day, with direct online qualifiers launching on Sunday, November 15.
Historical Context: 15 Years at €5,300
PokerStars says this is the first change to the EPT Main Event buy-in in more than 15 years. That is a long time in poker economics. Over that span the tour has moved through the boom of the late 2000s, the post-Black Friday reshaping of the online market, the pandemic pause and the rise of the high roller calendar. Throughout, the €5,300 Main Event was a fixed reference point, partly because the tour's identity was built around it.
Holding a price steady for 15 years technically means it got cheaper in real terms because of inflation. So why cut now? The most likely answer is competition. The live calendar is far more crowded than it was in 2011. Players with a €5,000 budget can choose between multiple tours across Europe, Asia and the Americas, and many festivals now offer guarantees and side events designed to pull exactly the player who used to treat the EPT as automatic.
What This Means for Players
For recreational players and online qualifiers, the new PokerStars Open price is the most important change. A €1,250 Main Event at the same venue and in the same festival atmosphere as the EPT is a far easier sell than €1,650, and it should mean bigger fields. Larger fields bring more variance, so plan your tournament strategy accordingly: deeper fields reward patience, and they make understanding ICM at the business end more valuable.
For regulars who play the EPT Main Event every stop, the saving is €300 per event, or €1,500 across all five stops. That is meaningful, but the real value depends on the rake breakdown still to come.
For players outside Europe, it is a reminder that the major tours are actively competing for your buy-ins. If you prefer to build your skills and bankroll online first, our guide to real money poker sites and our tournaments hub are good starting points.
The Bottom Line
The EPT 2027 schedule is familiar in shape but different in tone. PokerStars has listened to complaints about cost, standardised its pricing and opened a cleaner route from online satellites to the Main Event. The return of Malta adds a fifth stop that fits neatly into the autumn calendar. The open question is the rake. Once PokerStars publishes the fee breakdown, we will know whether the €5,000 EPT Main Event is a genuine value upgrade or simply a rounder number. Either way, the comment from Billot that "this is only the start" suggests more changes are coming to Europe's best-known poker tour.