One of the most pleasing aspects about joining a poker site such as Sky Poker is that once you start to regularly play in tournaments, cash table games and sit and go matches, you will start to recognise a few other players.
If you then decide to use the popular (and very useful) Sky Poker Community section of the site and engage in the banter with other players, you will find that you can quickly become part of the Sky Poker Community.
The Sky Poker Tour aims to bring players from the Sky Poker Community together in the real world, rather than simply as an online presence. These real-world casino events are arranged each year and allow Sky Poker players to satellite or buy their way into an event and compete for the top prize in each leg and then for the grand final event at the end of the year.
In this article, we’ll examine a little more about the Sky Poker Tour, how it originated and why it remains a popular aspect of the site. We’ll also look at the different ways you can earn yourself a seat at any of the events that will be scheduled for 2014.
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What is the Sky Poker Tour series of events?
The Sky Poker Tour runs each year from around March/April through to October/November. There is no standard format to the event and each year, there may be different ‘Legs’ played in different cities (and therefore different casinos) around the UK and Ireland.
Most of the preliminary events (that is, the ‘legs’ that offer players a chance to qualify for the Grand Final) have a buy in of around £200 + £20 per player, although some are cheaper at around £100 + £10 per player. This depends very much on where the event is being held and more to the point, the amount of prize money guaranteed for the leg in question.
At the end of the series of ‘legs’, there is one final Sky Poker Tour event, which is usually held at the same venue each year, the Dusk ‘til Dawn Casino in Nottingham. This final event is the Sky Poker Tour Grand Final and features the largest guaranteed prize pool (in 2013 for example, £60,000 was guaranteed) and as such, it is also the most expensive event to directly buy in to (for 2013, it was £300 + £30 per player).
There are only a stated number of places available in each event and once the event has been sold out, then no more players can join. However, Sky Poker will often divide up seats so that they can offer players the chance to satellite into events from their website in the weeks and months leading up to an event.
For example, if one event has a maximum number of seats of 180, then Sky Poker may make 120 available for direct buy in, but keep 60 back to allocate to winners from the Sky Poker site who manage to satellite their way into the event.
Each event receives extensive coverage on Sky Sports and the Sky Poker channel with highlights of each event and live play televised by both channels.
However, there is more to the Sky Poker Tour than simply another poker event. There is a very strong social element to these meetings, with Sky Poker players encouraged to participate in the events to foster new friendships with players from the site.
In addition to meeting ‘virtual’ players in the flesh, the sky Poker Tour also allows players to meet the presenters of the Sky Poker Channel in an informal setting and the emphasis of the event is very much on fun and enjoyment, as well as great poker. You can even take on some of the resident Sky Poker professionals at the tables.
Where are the Sky Poker Tour events held?
In the 2013 Sky Poker Tour, there were six events held throughout the year, five legs and one final event. The five legs were held in London, Dublin, Birmingham, Nottingham and Newcastle with the Sky Poker Tour Final held back in Nottingham.
In other years, events have been held at plenty of other locations across the UK and Ireland including Luton, Glasgow, Brighton, Cardiff, Blackpool and Stratford.
Currently, Sky Poker are focusing all their attention on another event, the Sky Poker UK Poker Championships in February and as yet the new Sky Poker Tour 2014 has not been scheduled, though the webmaster on the Community has confirmed that there will be a 2014 Tour and that the details are currently being arranged with casinos across the UK.
Details of the 2014 tour will be released nearer the time with the first event expected to take place around March/April 2014.
The 2013 Sky Poker Tour Grand Final in Nottingham was won by Mark Chantler (who plays under the alias 14985 at Sky Poker).
Will the same events be scheduled for 2014?
It is unlikely that the exact same events for the 2014 Sky Poker Tour will be scheduled for the 2014 event. In the years that Sky Poker have run this series of real world events, the venues at which the tournaments have run have always changed from year to year.
Last year, there was some consternation on the website that Sky Poker had decided not to run an Sky Poker Tour event in Scotland or Wales in 2013, when in previous years both countries had been included on the roster.
At the moment, Sky Poker Tour organisers are currently working a schedule for the 2014 tour, which we will bring to you when the full details are announced, but if the tour follows the same pattern as previous years, it seems likely there will be a Sky Poker Tour event in both London (which is also held in Stratford) as well as the final (and perhaps one other leg) taking place in Nottingham.
How can I gain entry into the Sky Poker Tour events?
There are three ways you can gain entry into the Sky Poker Tour events:
The first and cheapest way is to satellite your way into an event from any number of satellite tournaments that the Sky Poker website will host in the weeks prior to a tournament. The satellite structure for each event has changed over the years, but there always is an option to pay just a couple of pounds to try and satellite your way through a stage 1 satellite, a quarter final and semi final to try and play your way into the big tournament.
Of course, another alternative is to buy directly into a tournament. Buy ins cost from around £100 + £10, to £200 + £20 depending on the location of the event and how much is guaranteed by Sky Poker. These costs may alter for 2014, but in the past years of the event almost all legs of the Sky Poker Tour (bar the Grand Final) have seen buy ins costing this much.
The final option which Sky Poker tend to keep quiet is that casinos hosting the events may keep back a few seats for their patrons to play for at the casino. Of course, you’d need to be a member of that casino and aware that a Sky Poker Tour qualifier was taking place (this is not broadcast on the Sky Poker site), so you’d have to do a little extra research to try and earn your place in the event this way.
The Sky Poker Tour has grown in popularity over the years and the 2014 version of the event should be another opportunity for Sky Poker players to put down their mice and head for some real world poker, if they can earn themselves one of the much sought after qualifying spots.
When further details are available for the Sky Poker Tour 2014 are available, we will bring them to you right here.
Want to learn more about the Sky Poker Community? Check out our guide to Sky Poker’s Community Double Your Money Challenge.
