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PokerStars Ambassador David Lappin, who is closing in on $1,000,000 in career live earnings, spoke to PokerNews during the EPT Barcelona festival about recent changes to the event and other industry topics.
Despite describing his own results at the festival as “diabolical,” Lappin noted that Barcelona remains one of the most popular stops on the European Poker Tour, with the PokerStars Open Main Event drawing more than 4,000 entrants this year.
He explained that organizers have adjusted the schedule and buy-ins to address capacity issues that arose from the event’s popularity in previous years. According to Lappin, a slightly higher buy-in at €825 helped set a record in the Cup event, while easing overcrowding problems such as alternate lists and 10-handed tables seen in past editions.
Lappin credited PokerStars’ live events team, including Toby Stone, Nick O’Hara, and Kenny Hallaert, for balancing attendance numbers with player experience when building the schedule.
On the podcast front, Lappin discussed reaching the 200th episode of The Chip Race, a project he co-hosts with Dara O’Kearney. He reflected on the organic growth of the show, noting it has produced close to 1,000 interviews with figures across the poker world since its inception.
Lappin also addressed criticism regarding compensation for content creators, defending the natural progression from passion project to paid work. He further voiced concerns about unregulated offshore poker operators, arguing that companies ignoring regulations gain an unfair advantage over compliant ones, though he was hesitant to judge individual players who use such platforms.
