Life was pretty good for Max Lykov last year. He played nearly all off the EPT main events, and more than a few side events, too. He actually won the tournament in Kyiv which set him off on a year that ended with him earning one of the tour's biggest honors: EPT Player of the Year.

Now, all EPT players have their chance to be like Lykov. The European Poker Tour Awards are back and there are a ton of great prizes and honors up for grabs.

After a successful run during Season 6, the EPT is bringing back the awards for Season 7 (yes, the one that just started this week in Tallin).

This year, the EPT will be presenting eight awards. That's one more than last year and now includes the Heads Up Player of the Year. Like Season 6, most of the awards are based on points earned in main events and side events. Two of the honors (EPT Achievement and Players' Choice) will be decided by vote.

The EPT Awards offer more than mere trophies and laurels. Individual award winners in seven categories will get a prize package to the first event of Season 8. Season 7 EPT players who cashed and live in the Best EPT Country will get a to play a live €10k freeroll.

Here are the awards up for grabs and the people who currently hold them:

To learn more about all of it, visit the EPT Awards page.

What month is this? It's June, right? It's WSOP time, summer cookouts, trips to the beach time. So, what's this about January 2011?

Ohhhhh.

Well, isn't this fantastic. PokerStars, in the earliest such move in history, has already started satellites for next year's PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

That's right. Six months from now the PCA will be running and PokerStars is already planning to have more than...wait for it...2,000 players in the main event. So, it's best they start qualifying people now, eh?

Now, you and everybody else can get there for as as little as 20 Frequent Player Points. The Mega-Path Qualifiers, a nine-step series of events, could send you all the way to main event. It's not unheard of. Last year, Canadian Darren Keyes took 75 FPPs and turned them into $150,000 worth of real money ay the PCA.

As always, a PCA winners package is worth more than just a tourney buy-in. Qualifiers will receive travel cash, nine nights of accommodation at Atlantis, plus the main event buy-in--a package worth $15,570 in all. If you need any inspiration to get started, just check out the picture below. That's last year's winner, Harrison Gimbel, the youngest man to ever win a PCA (he became a millionaire before he was 20!).

For complete information, just check out the PCA website.

But, wait! There's more.

Satellites fo the first event of the European Poker Tour's seventh season have already started. This will be the first time the EPT has gone to Tallinn, Estonia. The €4,250 buy-in tournament will go off August 11-16 at the Swissôtel right in the middle of Tallinn.

Qualify on PokerStars and you'll earn a €6,000 prize package including a main event buy-in, hotel accommodations, and €770 in spending money. Satellites start at €5.45 or 250 Frequent Player Points under the Events/EPT tab.

While this will be the the EPT's first visit to Estonia, PokerStars has already been there. It first visited last autum for the PokerStars Baltic Festival where Thomas Partridge main event for €76,750.

If you'd like to get a taste of Tallinn before the EPT event, take a look at the second PokerStars Baltic Festival next week, June 16-19.

That should keep you busy for a while. Enjoy!

EPT selection for Mixed Game Player of the Year. As reported by Brad Willis a few days ago, such a selection was too difficult to obtain, so the eight finalist are joined here today for a Sit and Go to determine the award's rightful owner. What better way to test their skill than to play in the 8-game rotation:

Limit Triple Draw Deuce to Seven
Limit Hold Em'
Limit Omaha Eight or Better
Limit Razz
Limit Stud
Limit Stud Eight or Better
No Limit Hold Em'
Pot Limit Omaha

Our lineup with half of them patched up as Team PokerStars Pros:
Katja Thater (Team Germany)
Ben Kang (Team Germany)
Joe Hachem (Team Australia)
Alex Kravchenko (Team Russia)

And the other foursome looking to snag that Mixed Game Player of Year trophy stuffed with a package to the EPT Season 7's Tallinn, Estonia event:

Scott "BigRiskky" Clements (Runner up and 3rd place in Omaha Eight or Better at $10,000 and $5,000 buy-in events at last year's World Series of Poker)
Mike "gordo16" Gorodinsky (winner of the NAPT Carribean Poker Adventure 8-Game tourney for $105,540)
Matthias "mattes123" Kuerschner
Ilari "Fabahaba" Tahkokallio (Runner-up at EPT Germany stop for $817,417 and won the PLH/PLO side event at 2009 EPT London for almost $48K)

The eight would start on two tables since 8-Game is played six handed here's how the players looked all fresh with their 8,000 chip stacks and six minute rotations between the games:

Table one's lineup:

Table two's lineup:

The second round of NLHE (blinds 150/300 ante 40) proved to be deadly for two of our elite eight. First, Matthias "mattes123" Kuerschner down to just 1,845 chips looked at [Ah][9d] on the button and shoved into Ilari "Fabahaba" Tahkokallio's big blind who covered and made the call with [Qs][Jd]. A jack would hit the end of the flop [Kd [8d] [Jc] [7d] [4c] and beat out Kuerschner's ace-high for the 4,000 chip pot reducing our field to seven.

Germany vs. Russia

Two hands later Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko tried to make a move in a blind vs. blind battle with fellow PokerStars Pro Ben Kang. A short-stacked Kravchenko tried to shove for 3,306 chips holding [Th][Jd] but the well-stocked Kang had plenty of chips to spare and a decent [Ac][Ts] in his hand to make the call. Both players would flop their kickers [Ah] [7s] [Jh], but Kravchenko couldn't find trips on the turn and river [3c] [5c] finishing in seventh place sending everyone to one table.

Here's how our final six stacked up after combining the two tables:

Seat 1: JoeHachem (11700 in chips)
Seat 2: BigRiskky (8225 in chips)
Seat 3: Katja Thater (6002 in chips)
Seat 4: gordo16 (6073 in chips)
Seat 5: BenKang (22694 in chips)
Seat 6: Fabahaba (9306 in chips)

Big Risk, Big Reward

Ben Kang fell on hard times quickly after coming to the final table of six with a third of the chips in play. While in the third round of Deuce to Seven and bets at 1000/2000, Kang would three-bet all-in for 740 over BigRiskky's raise for less than the full raise amount as Clements made the call. Kang drew two the first draw as Clements took one. One card for Kang on the second draw as Clements stood pat, same action on the third draw as Clements flipped up a nine [9s] [6c] [4c] [3s] [2d] beating out Kang's draw to an eight that ended with a pair [8d] [3h] [8h] [5d] [7c] also ending Ben's game in sixth place.

Nines are easy to find

Check out Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem's search for a nine while knotted up with Mike "gordo16" Gorodinsky who is all-in preflop:

Hachem's [9d][Ks] would find the winning nine on the turn [3h] [6c] [Ts] [9s] [As] overcoming the preflop disadvantage to Gorodinsky's [Jc][Kh] and taking down the 8,298 chip pot.

Sevens, Sevens, Sevens, Oi, Oi, Oi

While still in the Limit Hold Em' section and blinds at 1200/2400, Hachem would open for a raise from the button as Clements three-bet from the small blind and Hachem called to see a [9d] [7d] [5s] flop. Clements led out as Joe Hachem raised, Clements three-bet, as Hachem capped and Clements made the call all-in for less.

BigRiskky: [As] [Ah]
JoeHachem: [7c] [7s]

No getting away from rockets at this point, but the former Main Event champ had flopped a set of sevens which would take down the 16,250 chip pot after an ace failed to hit the [3c] turn and [Th] river.

One less World Series bracelet holder left

The former world champ's chip leading stack would take a turn for the worse during Omaha Hi/Lo after not being able to catch much and with blinds 800/1600 catching a worth while hand early was crucial. Unfortunately, Joe Hachem was left with just 2,610 chips after the game moved on to Razz and was nearly forced to call Katja Thater's completion showing a [6s] to the World Series of Poker Razz champ's [5c]. Thater would show a seven [3s] [Ad] / [5c] [Kd] [2d] [7d] / [3c] to take out Hachem's ten [4c] [8c] / [6s] [9d] [4s] [Th] / [9h] and take the 5,620 setting up heads-up play.

Heads-up for the trophy

With nether player holding more than nine big bets, it would take some timely bets and a little luck to take home the EPT Mixed Game POY trophy today.

Katja Thater (27,234 in chips)
Ilari "Fabahaba" Tahkokallio (36,766 in chips)

Studly Ladies

After taking down a huge 40,800 chip pot in Razz (what else?) Thater maintained the lead going into the final hand in Stud Eight or Better (limits 3000/6000). With a 47,834 to 16,166 chip lead both player would cap third street Thater showing [8d] and Tahkoallio a [Js]. Fourth street brought a [4d] to Thater and [3c] to Ilari as after a few raises Tahkokallio was all-in holding split jacks [Ts][Jd] to Thater's low draw and an ace [7s][Ah]. Thater would pair up on fifth [4s] as Ilari missed with the [2c]. [Qc] for Thater on sixth missed the low draw again as Tahkokallio still led with the jacks [6h]. But, a lady for the lady on the river [Qs] gave Thater two pair as Tahkokallio missed hitting trips [Qd] sending the 32,332 chip pot and the EPT Mixed Game Player of the Year award to Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater.

Congratulations to the German pro who wins the EPT Mixed Game Player of the Year trophy and will be freerolling the first EPT Season Seven event in Tallinn.

It was if it was an eight-handed game that went on for 10 months and left everybody with the exact same number of chips. Now it's time to settle the score.

At the end of the European Poker Tour's sixth season, there was a curious eight-way tie that included: Katja Thater, Benjamin Kang, Alex Kravchenko, Joe Hachem, Scott Clements, Mike Gorodinsky, Matthias Kuerschner, and Ilari Tahkokallio.

During Season 6, each of the above players won a mixed game event on the EPT. When the season was over, there was an eight-way tie for Mixed Game Player of the Year.

Now, they will face each other on PokerStars in a tough online Deep Stack 8-game tournament. Sunday under Tournament ID 274402666, the eight players will face off at 2pm EST to determine the champion.

The EPT Mixed Game Award acknowledges the achievement of players with talents stretching across a variety of disciplines. PokerStars began offering its 8-Game mix online more than 18 months ago and now has numerous daily tournaments as well as cash games ranging from play money to $400/$800.

Whoever comes up with the title will win a an EPT Awards trophy and a free seat into the first Main Event of EPT Season 7 in Tallinn, Estonia. Satellites for Season 7 start on PokerStars in June.

Good luck to the eight players in this weekend's 8-Game showdown.

With Season 6 of the EPT still just a recent memory, the European Poker Tour has released a fantastic and surprising schedule for Season 7.

The seventh year of the EPT will add brand new cities and a few unexpected stops along the way.

The new season launches with a €4,250 debut event in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, from August 11-16. Tallinn proved to be a big hit last year when more than 300 played the first PokerStars Baltic Festival.

Season 7 will also see the EPT make return visits to Vilamoura, Portugal (August 28-September 2) and the ski destination tournament 'EPT Snowfest' in Austria (March 20-25). The EPT will also be going back to Germany's capital city of Berlin (April 5-10).

As always, new season will include many events of the events you've come to expect like Barcelona, Prague, Deauville, San Remo and Copenhagen, not to mention the flagship 'Festival of Poker' events in London and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Online satellites for EPT Tallinn will launch on in mid-June.

For a complete look at what's to come, see the EPT Season 7 schedule page.

The European Poker Tour has just released its schedule for the April 25-30 Grand Final, and among the events is one of the more interesting formats to come out of poker in recent years: the €25,000 High Roller Bounty Shootout tournament

Made famous across the Atlantic during the North American Poker Tour event at The Venetian, the Bounty Shootout format puts a bounty on every player's head. Players must win their single table tournaments to win any money beyond the bounties. When they reach the final table, the remainder of the prize pool is winner-take-all.

At The Venetian, 49 players faced off in the first-ever High Roller Bounty Shootout tournament. Ashton Griffin won nearly half a million bucks for his victory.

The Bounty Shootout is just one of the many highlights on the EPT Grand Final schedule. More than 20 tournaments are slated to go off during the week-long festival.

If you want your action fast, there will be two-table turbo tournaments running all day everyday with buy-ins from €200 to €10,000 or more. In addition to the fast action, there are near-nightly €300 no-limit tourneys, two €1,000 no-limit hold'em turbos, and a no-limit turbo €1,000 six-max event. A three-day six-max €5,250 freezeout event is also scheduled to begin April 28.

If you're among the many poker playing women coming to the Grand Final, the now regular EPT Ladies Event will once again be part of the PokerStars Luxury Ladies Poker Club's five-day extravaganza.

Finally, in addition to the High Roller Bounty Shootout event, on April 26 the EPT will host a special €1,100 turbo tourney. Every player in the event will have a bounty on his head, but a certain number of randomly-chosen people will be secret "jackpot players" who pay a lot more.

For full details, head on over to the EPT Monte Carlo schedule page.

European Poker Tour players have just two events left to stake their claim on some of the most coveted titles on the EPT.

Next month in Monte Carlo the European Poker Tour will honor its top performers from Season 6. The winners of these awards represent the very best the EPT has had to offer over the course of the dozen events leading up to the Grand Final.

Since the start of Season 6, players have earned EPT points for cashing in the main events and side events. It's been a tight race the whole season long and it could come down to the wire in several categories.

As we prepare to head into EPT Snowfest, there is a three-way tie for Player of the Year. That honor goes to the player who collected the most points in all of the Main Events and $1000+ buy-in side events. With two events remaining, Maxim Lykov, Kevin MacPhee, and Martin Kabrhel are all tied for the top spot.

The EPT Awards will also recognize players in individual disciplines, including Omaha Player of the Year and Mixed Game Player of the year.

One of the more interesting ongoing battles is the fight for Online Qualifier of the Year. As of today, the top two performing qualifiers (based on a formula that takes into consideration number of seats won and live tournament performance) are Carter Phillips and Pierre Neuville.

The Czech Republic is currently leading the race for EPT Country of the Year, The country that has the most cashes and points per capita will earn this award. Portugal, Israel, and Norway are still in the hunt.

Finally, there are two awards that will be decided by vote. The EPT Achievement of the Year Award will recognize the player who put on the most impressive performance in the first 12 events of the EPT. The EPT People's Choice Award will go the fans' favorite.

The award ceremony will take place during the EPT Grand Final at the end of April. For full rankings and information, visit the EPT Awards home page.

There was never any secret about whether the EPT would return to Germany. There was hardly a person on tour who didn't like Deutschland. The only question when the Season 6 EPT schedule came out was where in Germany the EPT would end up.

That answer came this week when the EPT announced it will be traveling for the first time ever to the historic city of Berlin.

Indeed, Germany's biggest city will play host to what is expected to be the biggest poker tournament ever held in the country. March 2-7, the EPT will host up to 1,000 players in a brand new facility.

Right in the middle of Berlin, on the prestigious Marlene-Dietrich-Platz at Potsdamer Platz, crews will build a two story glass palace especially for the EPT Berlin event.

Beyond being in a new city and new building, the event will host the glitterati of German poker. Scheduled to appear: tennis legend and Team PokerStars SportStar Boris Becker, the whole of of Team PokerStars Germany, and all the other guests from Germany's top televised poker show "TV Total PokerStars.de Nacht."

As if that's not enough, PokerStars is making a promise (and it's a big one):

The winner of EPT Berlin will win at least one million euros.

That, folks, is quite a guarantee.

In the meantime, the EPT has several more fantastic stops.

We're all headed to the Bahamas in a couple of weeks for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure held from Jan 4 - 14. It's then onto Deauville January 20 - 25, then Copenhagen February 16-21.

For more information on all EPT Season 6 tournaments, head on over to the EPT tournaments web page.