Poker players in the United Kingdom have ready access to satellite events which feed into major British and European live tournaments. The best online poker games for UK players are those where you can win all-expense paid trips inside and outside the country. When you win a seat at a major stop on the European Poker Tour or UK poker tours, you’re getting a holiday and a chance to compete against some of the best poker players in the world.
I’ve found a number of satellite tournaments online that feed into casinos in the UK and on the continent. Most of these satellite events are found in the British home isles, but a couple take you onto the continent to see the sights and try to win a big prize. Most every UK online casino has some type of connection to a poker tournament, so you can find satellite games online at UK casinos like 888poker, Everest Poker, Ladbrokes, and Titan Poker.
Best Online Satellite Events for UK Players
One way to take advantage of your residence in the United Kingdom is to sign up for satellite events that channel into live British Isles tournaments. Those who might hear about the European Poker Tour or World Poker Tour only might be surprised to learn about all the events that take place in the United Kingdom and Ireland every year. Most of these poker tour tournaments have online satellite events where you can win a free seat to the live tournament.
Not all of these satellites have all-expense paid trips, but if you can win your way into a big event with a big prize pool, you’ll have a paid seat to compete with top professionals and a wide field of players like yourself. Win one of the poker tour events (or at least the final table) and you’ll win big money. Some satellite events not only pay your entry fee, but hotel, accommodations, and meals. Even if they don’t, you’ll have a perfect excuse for an excursion somewhere else in the islands. Below are some of the best online poker events for players in the United Kingdom to win their way into live poker tournaments.
Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Satellites
The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour is the United Kingdom’s largest poker tour at the moment. The GUKPT was started in 2007 as a combination of an online poker and land-based poker festival tour. The tour culminates every year in the grand final tournament held in the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London. The summer series of mini festivals are a fun excursion for British poker players and Titan Poker holds online satellites for the GUKPT. Simply go to the Titanpoker Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (http://www.titanpoker.com/tournaments/grosvenor) page to learn how to sign up for a satellite. Play poker online and pay for your summer vacation at the same time.
Super Poker Event of Europe – 888poker Satellite
The €1,200,000 Super Poker Events of Europe held in Dublin every year is a €3,000 entry fee with a 4000-player field. The Super Poker Event of Europe is held in the Citywest Conference Center in Dublin, Irleand and has four side events. Players at 888poker can enter a Super Poker Event of Europe satellite event for a mere $22, so you can win an all-expense paid trip to Ireland if you win the satellite event. If you are a UK player and you’re going to playing an online poker tournament anyway, you might as well play in an event where you can win a trip inside the British Islands.
Irish Poker Open Satellites
The Irish Poker Tour is an 8-stop poker tour found throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. For this reason, the tour is often called the UKIPT or UK & Ireland Poker Tour. The tour has stops in Dublin, Galway, and Cork in Ireland, Edinburgh in Scotland, and London, Swansea, Nottingham, and Newscastle in England. The tour is in its third season right now, but it’s a well-organized tour that satellite events both on PokerStars.
Irish Poker Open Satellites
The Irish Poker Open has been around since 1981, when a famous Irish bookmaker named Terry Rogers decided to organize his own event. Over the past three decades, the Irish Poker Open has become the oldest No Limit Texas holdem event in Europe. Only the World Series of Poker is an older annual poker event for Texas hold’em. Satellite events for the Irish Open are held on Paddy Poker these days.
Celtic Poker Tour Final Satellites
Ladbrokes has satellite events for the €100,000 Celtic Poker Tour Final. This event is held in the Dolmen Hotel in County Carlow, Ireland. These days, the event takes place in late-April. For instance, the 2012 event takes place on April 22nd through April 25th every year. Any UK poker player should know that Ladbrokes is a 100-year old gambling establishment in England, but it’s also one of the biggest online poker rooms in the UK.
Satellite Events for Trips to Europe
If you’d rather take a trip out of the United Kingdom, here are a couple of poker satellite tournaments where you can win free entry into big international tournaments in tourist locations on the European continent. Everest Poker offers trips to Monte Carlo, while Poker770 offers a trip to Vienna, Austria.
Everest Poker One Monte-Carlo €1,000,000 Satellite
The Everest Poker One Monte-Carlo €1,000,000 Guaranteed is a tournament held in the Salle des Palmiers at the Sporting Club Monte-Carlo between April 21st through April 24th. The standard entry fee is €5,000 + €300, but you can win satellite events online at Everest Poker. Everest Poker isn’t a UK casino, but it caters to players in the United Kingdom with pay options and Great Britain pounds as a primary currency.
Vienna MegaPokerSeries by Poker 770
Poker770 sponsors the Vienna Mega Poker Series, which takes place over a four-day period in Vienna, Austria. Vienna was the capital of one of the major European empires for centuries, so it’s one of the great tourist destinations in the world. The estimated prize pool given away for winning the event at the Montesino Casino is €200,000.