The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour (EPT) has announced details of the second half of its sixth season of action featuring a new stop in March for the Austrian Alps.

Last year’s EPT season was a success as it overtook the rival World Poker Tour in terms of player numbers and prize pools. Its fifth instalment generated an overall prize pool of almost $77 million and saw 7,980 players from 97 countries compete.

The second half of the sixth season begins in France on January 20 with a €5,300 buy-in six-day tournament from the picturesque town of Deauville. This will be followed from February 16 to 21 with a stop in Copenhagen for a €5,005 buy-in event before an as yet unannounced German location plays host later that month.

The EPT has featured in Kiev, Barcelona, London and Warsaw so far in 2009 and will move to the small mountainous municipality of Saalbach Hinterglem near Salzburg in Austria from March 21 26 for a tournament being called Snowfest. This event is scheduled to be a €3,750 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament and will also feature a number of skiing and snowboarding activities to keep players entertained.

The sixth season of the EPT will then move on to the Italian resort of San Remo from April 15 to 21 for a €5,300 buy-in event before the traditional showpiece €10,600 buy-in Grand Final takes place in Monte Carlo from April 25 to 30. Last year, Dutchman Pieter De Korver outlasted 935 other players to take the Grand Final title and its €2.3 million prize, the first win in the showpiece event by a Europe-born player since Rob Hollink won in the EPT’s inaugural 2005 season.

PokerStars.com is set to run a series of online qualification tournaments offering seats into the various EPT events for as little as $2.22 or 111 frequent player points.