PMU to sponsor European Football Poker Tour
Live poker tournament with charity element is being backed by footballers Jean-Pierre Papin and Samuel Eto'o.
Power 50 operator Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) has been announced as one of the lead sponsors of the European Football Poker Tour, a live event set to take place in France from 30 May.
The event will be held at the Aviation Club de France (ACF), with the venue also acting as a primary sponsor, while online qualifying tournaments will be held at PMU and ACF’s dot.fr sites on the PartyPoker.fr network.
In addition to its 1,000 buy-in main event, the EFPT will hold a 500 ‘legends tournament’ plus charity gala on 1 June with profits from the latter being shared between six charities including Fundación Privada Samuel Eto’o – an organisation set up by Champions League winning footballer Eto’o (pictured) and whose projects focus predominantly on the welfare of children in Africa.
Another charity involved is Neuf de Coeur (Nine of Hearts), a charity set up by Ballon d’Or winning footballer Jean-Pierre Papin to support families of children with brain damage.
EFPT was set up by Philippe Gauthier and Rodrigue Boumsong-Somkong (the brother of French international footballer Jean-Alain Boumsong), and the pair were joined at a press conference at ACF yesterday by ambassadors including former France football manager Raymond Domenech and Team PMU poker pro Philippe Ktorza.
The tournament is set to coincide with the International Stadiums Poker Tour, whose live element will begin on 31 May at Wembley Stadium in London.
(Photo via Vladimir Mayorov under Creative Commons licence)