International news

    On August 27, 2026, PokerStars Ambassador David Lappin was interviewed by PokerNews during the EPT Barcelona, discussing the recent adjustments to this classic European poker series, the significant milestone of The Chip Race Podcast reaching its 200th episode, and his views on the regulation and ethical issues of the online poker industry. While Lappin described his individual performance at this year's EPT Barcelona as rather disappointing, he is only one prize-winning finish away from breaking the $1 million mark in his live tournament career. More than individual results, he is concerned about how the Barcelona event can improve the player experience amidst its continued high popularity. The EPT Barcelona's continued popularity presents a new challenge: capacity. The EPT Barcelona has long been one of the most popular stops on the European Poker Tour. The 2026 series also maintained strong entry numbers, including the PokerStars Open Main Event attracting over 4,000 players, and the €825 buy-in Cup event setting a new record. Lappin believes that this popularity also brings another problem: venue capacity and operational resources are beginning to be strained. In previous tournaments, the large number of participants led to waiting lists and the need for some tables to be set up with 10 players. The 2026 schedule addresses this by adjusting buy-ins and tournament structures to create more space. For the PokerStars live tournament team, the biggest challenge isn't simply pursuing more participants, but rather striking a balance between scale and player experience. Lappin points out that if a large number of participants leads to long queues, increased waiting times, or even players having to wait in the hallways, then even impressive tournament numbers don't necessarily indicate a successful event. Therefore, slightly raising the buy-in threshold for some tournaments is, to some extent, a way to control the flow of players. The cost might be that some players who progress from lower buy-ins will be deterred, but the benefit is that it allows for a more reasonable table density and registration process. He specifically mentioned team members like Toby Stone, Nick O'Hara, and Kenny Hallaert, believing that arranging different price ranges and schedules to maintain high table utilization without overloading the venue is one of the most crucial aspects of the entire tournament design. The €825 price range was a highlight, with the Cup event setting a new record. One of the noteworthy phenomena at this year's Barcelona event was the record-breaking entry for the €825 Cup. Lappin believes this buy-in price may be within an ideal range between player acceptance and tournament size, making PokerStars' future use of this price range a key area to observe. This also reflects the core issue currently facing EPT Barcelona: people.