| Tournament name | European Series |
|---|---|
| Country | Various European countries (majority within United Kingdom, Germany, and Gibraltar) |
| Establishment | 2019 |
| Organisation | World Snooker Tour |
| Format | 8 ranking events |
| Prizefund | £150,000 |
| Final year | 2024 |
| Final champion | Judd Trump (England) |
The European Series (as BetVictor European Series or simply BetVictor Series due to sponsorship reasons) was a snooker tournament series established in 2019.[1] It was expanded from four tournaments in the 2019–20 season to six tournaments in the 2020–21 season and then to eight tournaments from the 2021–22 season.[2] The player who wins the most cumulative prize money in European Series events each season receives a bonus prize of £150,000;[3] Judd Trump won the bonus prize in the first two and the fifth seasons, while John Higgins took the bonus in the third season, and Robert Milkins claimed it in the fourth. It was discontinued as the European Masters was dropped for the 2024-25 season, and the BetVictor Bonus was awarded to the player who earned the most across the Home Nations Series instead.[4]
Events
The BetVictor European Series was established in 2019, and initially consisted of four tournaments: European Masters, German Masters, Shoot Out, and Gibraltar Open.[1]
For the 2020–21 season, the Championship League and Welsh Open were included.[3]
For the 2021–22 season, the other three Home Nations Series events (Northern Ireland Open, English Open, Scottish Open) were added, while the Championship League was removed, bringing the total number of events in the series to eight.[3]
For the 2022–23 season, the European Series has been renamed to the BetVictor Series. The Championship League has been re-added to the series, whereas the Gibraltar Open has been removed.[5]
The series' sponsor, BetVictor, downsized its sponsorship for the 2024-25 season, leaving only the Home Nations Series events and the Championship League to its name, but retained the BetVictor Bonus prize for the best-performing player across the Home Nation Series.[4] Snooker Shoot Out was taken up by 9club, another online gambling platform; German Masters by Machineseeker, in which the European Series title can still be seen on WST's promotional material; whereas the European Masters was discontinued since.
Series winners
In the first two years of the bonus being awarded, Judd Trump was the only player to collect it. He won the series in the 2019–20 season after winning the 2020 Gibraltar Open in March,[6] and then again in the 2020–21 season after Mark Selby, the only other contender to win the series at the time, lost in the third round of the 2021 Gibraltar Open.[7]
In the 2021–22 season, eleven players remained in contention for the bonus at the outset of the series' final tournament, the 2022 Gibraltar Open. John Higgins was top of the list, ahead of Mark Allen on countback. Higgins won the £150,000 prize after the last remaining contender Ricky Walden, who needed to win the tournament to claim the bonus, lost in the semi-finals.[8]
Eleven players were also in contention for the bonus in the 2022–23 snooker season at the outset of the series' final event, the 2023 Welsh Open. Robert Milkins won the series by winning the tournament, edging over Ali Carter who was the series' leader at the beginning of the tournament.[9][10]
In the 2023–24 season, Judd Trump claimed the bonus for a third time with an event, the 2024 Welsh Open to spare, as he won the 2023 English and Northern Ireland Opens, as well as the 2024 German Masters, and was the runner-up of the 2023 European Masters.[11]
| Season | Winner | Bonus prize | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–20 | Judd Trump (England) | £150,000 | [6] |
| 2020–21 | Judd Trump (England) | £150,000 | [7] |
| 2021–22 | John Higgins (Scotland) | £150,000 | [8] |
| 2022–23 | Robert Milkins (England) | £150,000 | [9] |
| 2023–24 | Judd Trump (England) | £150,000 | [11] |
| Bonus awarded to the Home Nation Series winner from the 2024-25 season | |||
Results
Statistics
Tournament winners
| Player | Total | Winning span | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Judd Trump (England) | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2020–2024 |
| Mark Allen (Northern Ireland) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2021–2023 |
| Gary Wilson (England) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2022–2024 |
| Neil Robertson (Australia) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2020–2021 |
| Luca Brecel (Belgium) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2021–2022 |
| Kyren Wilson (England) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2020–2022 |
| Mark Selby (England) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2020–2022 |
| Robert Milkins (England) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2022–2023 |
| Michael Holt (England) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2020 |
| Ryan Day (Wales) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2021 |
| Jordan Brown (Northern Ireland) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2021 |
| Hossein Vafaei (Iran) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2022 |
| Zhao Xintong (China) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2022 |
| Fan Zhengyi (China) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2022 |
| Joe Perry (England) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2022 |
| Chris Wakelin (England) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2023 |
| Ali Carter (England) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2023 |
| Shaun Murphy (England) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2023 |
| Barry Hawkins (England) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2023 |
| Total | 32 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2020–2024 |
References
- ^ "BetVictor European Series Takes World Snooker Tour's Overall Prize Money To Record Level". World Snooker. 26 September 2019. Archived from the original on January 9, 2020.
- ^ García, Jerome (20 June 2023). "BetVictor and World Snooker Tour Renew Sponsorship Agreement". Gambling News. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ^ "BetVictor extends involvement with WST". World Snooker. 28 June 2021. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021.
- ^ "Neil Robertson wins Home Nations Series BetVictor Bonus prize and collects £150,000". Totally Snookered. 2025-02-15. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
- ^ "BetVictor Continues Partnership with World Snooker Tour". World Snooker Tour. 1 July 2022. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
- ^ "Six Of The Best – Trump Sets New Record". World Snooker Tour. 15 March 2020. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020.
- ^ "Selby Loss Hands Trump Series Bonus". World Snooker Tour. 5 March 2021.
- ^ "BetVictor £150,000 Bonus Goes To Higgins". World Snooker Tour. 26 March 2022.
- ^ "Bob Bonanza: Milkins Wins Title And Bonus". World Snooker Tour. 19 February 2023.
- ^ "BetVictor Bonus Battle Live Blog". wst.tv. 20 February 2023. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023.
- ^ "Trump Lands BV Bonus With Event To Spare". World Snooker Tour. 1 February 2024.