NEW at EPT Barcelona 2024: A rule inspired by the WSOP affair

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The Barcelona festival started under the banner of the European Poker Tour, where the organizers decided to introduce a brand new rule!

Photo: Manuel Kovsca/PokerStars

After the WSOP “laptopgate” case, a tournament rule has been added to EPT Barcelona 2024

The jubilee twentieth season of the European Poker Tour, which has recently arrived at Casino Barcelona, ​​brings with it, in addition to a rich portion of tournament poker, a rather revolutionary novelty.

The scandal that resonated in the poker community after the final of the WSOP 2024 Main Event, in which Jonathan Tamayo drew information from cheering friends with an open laptop between his hands, has now been responded to by the organizers of the EPT in Barcelona!

You can read more about the July WSOP “laptopgate” case in this article. In short, it was a potential advantage for reigning champion Tamayo thanks to the GTO solvers on Dominik Nitsche’s rail-bound laptop.

Photo: PokerGO.com

As Daniel Negreanu stated in a recent interview, as a result of these events, in his opinion, any assistive software that optimizes poker decisions should be completely eradicated at the next WSOP.

However, the tournament rules have already been modified in this spirit for the ongoing EPT Barcelona 2024 poker event, as the 9th paragraph has been added in the following wording:

“Players may not use game theory optimal solution (GTO) software, GTO charts (whether used on an electronic device or otherwise) or any AI tool or similar algorithmic software capable of giving the user a competitive advantage at the table or anywhere in the tournament room area in the tournament. We also do not allow any spectators to use electronic devices with solvers in the poker tournament area.”

This new EPT clause will most likely be a precedent that other global or even domestic poker festivals can be inspired by in the future. In any case, it is a positive signal towards the protection of recreational or less experienced players, who could be demotivated by similar advantageous practices.

Other changes to the EPT: Shorter shot clock, end of redraws and in the future also free handing

To speed up play, EPT tournaments will also see a shorter decision reaction time from 30 seconds to 15 seconds (the 30-second timebanks remain), and instead of the traditional redraw on the last two or three tables, table dissolves will take place in random order starting from five tables.

The plan is also safe distribution cards by the dealer, who will no longer throw cards in the air, but move them across the table to individual players. This rule should apply to the EPT in the future!

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