Paris has been getting harder to ignore on the European poker map. The French capital has always had a poker scene, of course. But over the last few years, something has clearly been happening. More festivals, more regular action, more international attention and a growing number of reasons for poker players to put Paris on the travel calendar. Me included. I haven’t been around much of it myself, so, naturally, the best solution is to go back and have a look.
In November, I’ll be heading to Paris to collaborate with the European Poker Series, bringing photography and editorial content t the festival and, at the same time, documenting the trip for the PokerExclusive audience.
The timing is particularly interesting. From November 6 to 15, EPS Paris 2026 will take over Club Circus Paris for ten days and 29 events. The Main Event comes with a €550 buy-in and eight starting flights, while the schedule also includes Mystery Bounty events, a €1,000 High Roller, a €2,000 Super High Roller, satellites and a selection of side events.
The tournament schedule is only part of the reason I’m going.
Paris poker has changed I was told
One of the things I enjoy about poker travel is coming back to a place after some time away. You remember what it was like. Then you return and discover that the poker ecosystem has quietly moved on. Paris is a good example. The city has become a regular stop for major international poker, with the European Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker Circuit returning but the interesting part isn’t only the big festivals.
Club Circus itself now has a substantial year-round tournament and cash-game operation, with regular events throughout the week. The club describes itself as having more than 30 gaming tables, including poker, and its 2026 calendar is packed with recurring tournaments and festivals.
That gives Paris something more important than a single big poker week: continuity and that is what I want to see.
Going there with a camera
My role with EPS means I’ll obviously be looking at the festival through a photographer’s eyes. Poker tournaments are easy to photograph badly. One can spend ten hours taking pictures of people looking at cards. My. plan is a little more elaborate than that.
The players arriving, the tables filling up, dealers working, the community meeting up, short breaks, exhausted faces, celebrations, disappointments, the strange little conversations that happen around tournaments and everything happening outside the official action are usually where the better stories are hiding.
That’s the material I’m interested in bringing back. Not just who won, but what the place felt like. Cool plus: Paris should give us plenty to work with away from the tables too.
A French poker scene I haven’t seen enough of
I’ve spent plenty of time around poker in other parts of Europe, and obviously Las Vegas has become a recurring part of my poker life. France, however, hasn’t received quite the same amount of attention from me in recent years. That makes this trip particularly interesting.
I don’t want to arrive in Paris pretending to already know exactly what the current French poker scene looks like. I’d rather find out and everybody is welcome to join to find out what Paris feels like as a poker destination today.
EPS Paris 2026
For players considering the trip, the headline numbers are fairly straightforward.
The European Poker Series runs from November 6 to 15, 2026, at Club Circus Paris and there are several routes into the Main Event via various partners before the festival begins. Club Circus is also running €50 satellites every Wednesday in October, with three Main Event tickets guaranteed each week.
More than just tournament reporting
This won’t be my first time taking poker photos in Paris. The legendary Aviation Club de France was of my first regular grinding spots back in the day and I used to collaborate with the Winamax media team. It will still be a good chance to look at the city, the players and the French poker ecosystem with fresh eyes after roughly 10 years of absence.
I’ll be working with the European Poker Series during the festival, while also bringing the trip back to Poker Exclusive and THE-ROUNDER.net. Enjoy one of the attractive offers available online on the website as well as on social media and, with a bit of luck one might come home with a story and a little bit of French Euros.
All structures and info: https://european-pokerseries.com/eps-paris-2026-le-guide-technique-complet-des-tournois-et-des-structures/
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