Poker News

Poker News in Brief Jan. 18-24, 2010

The 2010 Aussie Millions main event kicked Sunday with hundreds of players looking to strike Australian gold.

You can read all about the tournament in our news section or live tournaments area, but as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature we’re going to take a look at a few lesser-known poker stories below.

This week we’ll look at Annette Obrestad crushing an Aussie Millions prelim, David Singer falling fourth on the Heartland Poker Tour, Phil Galfond doing some TV work and more.

Obrestad Wins Aussie Millions Pot-Limit Omaha Event

Annette Obrestad wasted no time getting busy at the 2010 Aussie Millions.

The former World Series of Poker Europe Main Event winner won the $1,000(AUD) buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha event for $40,000(AUD) this week.

Obrestad outlasted 159 players including a couple of veteran rounders in Emad Tahtouh and Tony Bloom.

Although Obrestad continues to find success online, the win in the Aussie Millions was actually her first live victory since winning the WSOPE.

Obrestad did, however, finish second at EPT Dublin in 2007 for €297,800.

This year, Obrestad will make her first appearance at the WSOP after finally turning 21 this past September.

Alec Torelli Moves to Victory Poker

Online star Alec “traheho” Torelli has parted ways with Doyles Room to sign a sponsorship deal with the up-and-coming Victory Poker.

Torelli was hand-picked by Doyle Brunson this summer to be a member of the Brunson 10.

The team has never come close to approaching 10 players, however, and currently Chris “Moorman1” Moorman, Zachary Clark, Amit Makhija and Dani “anksy” Stern are its only members.

Victory Poker has yet to be released, but it will be a part of the Everleaf Gaming network, which includes Red Cherry Poker and Poker Royale.

Torelli will join a Victory Poker team that is rumored to include Antonio Esfandiari, Brian Rast and Paul Wasicka.

Rousing Final to HPT Vegas

The blue-collar Heartland Poker Tour ventured into Vegas for the second time this week and the final table did not disappoint.

It included a bona fide pro in Full Tilt’s David Singer, an HPT veteran in Theodore Kearly and an inspirational story in unemployed Cambodian refugee Kimbo Ung.

Ung managed to outlast all five opponents at the final table and take down a first place prize of $125,901.

Singer finished fourth for $29,377, which brings his lifetime tournament winnings up to just over $4.3 million.

The event, which drew 433 players, was an overwhelming success according to organizers.

“We didn’t how the Vegas market would respond to our brand,” said HPT President Todd Anderson. “It turns out we blew the roof off.”

PKR TV Showcases Phil Galfond

Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond does not have a major poker room sponsor, but will be doing some work for PKR TV.

Galfond will be doing commentary on some of the best ring game action on PKR.com and footage from the special “Galfond TV Cash Game,” which saw some of the elite PKR players take him on.

“We are thrilled to have Phil in the studio to become a PKR TV commentator,” said PKR marketing manager Erika Schwartz. “It will be fantastic for our players to get someone of his reputation watching the action and giving some advice on their play.”

PKR TV and the Galfond TV Cash Game will be broadcast on The Poker Channel in 13 countries across Europe. Air dates have yet to be confirmed.

Police Raid South Carolina Poker Game

Police busted yet another poker game in South Carolina last week.

Officers confiscated more than $64,000 in cash, chips and tables from a Greenville County home.

Twenty-seven people were charged for unlawful betting after a citizen’s tip led deputies to the house.

The raid is nothing new for the region. In 2007, a game was busted in neighboring North Carolina that included noted poker pros Mike Gracz and Chris Bell.

Poker News in Brief: Dec. 21-27, 2009

This week the front page of PokerListing was slammed with huge stories like Brian Townsend getting suspended by Full Tilt Poker, Tom “durrrr” Dwan making a desperate charge to get even for the year and Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler finally finding a structure he likes.

Of course, like every week, there were still a few lesser-known stories that threatened to get lost in the shuffle. Fortunately, on PokerListings.com we compile all those stories in our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature.

This week we’re going to take a look at Poker2Nite heading to Europe, new poker chip technology, a new PokerStars rewards program and more.

The Poker Channel Europe Airs Poker2Night

It’s already a hit in North America but the Joe Sebok and Scott Huff hosted Poker2Nite made its debut in Europe last week on the Poker Channel Europe.

The channel is airing episodes of the show every Wednesday at 22:00 CET for the entire run of the first season. Repeats will run Thursdays and Saturdays at 16:00 CET. The channel is Europe’s largest dedicated gaming TV network and shown in more than 18 million European homes.

Poker2Nite is now its fifth week of operation in North America, where it appears on Fox Sports West on Wednesday at 23:00 EST.

To celebrate the show’s success, UB is also currently running a Poker2Nite Pro Challenge promotion, awarding two WSOP packages.

Nicole Rowe Applies for Million Dollar Challenge

Cancer victim Nicole Rowe will be trying out for a spot on the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge.

Rowe is perhaps most well-known in the poker world for finishing second to Abraham Korotki, a man, in the 2009 Borgata Ladies Event.

Inspired by witnessing a taping of the Million Dollar Challenge, Rowe decided to enter a 10,000 player tournament on PokerStars just for the chance to audition for the show. She won the tournament and has since posted her audition video on YouTube.com.

“My plan is to come out and beat Daniel Negreanu for the $1 million and use that money for breast cancer awareness and donate a portion of my winnings to breast cancer foundations such as the Susan G Komen,” said Rowe in the video.

Earlier this week 911 Veteran Mike Kosowski became the first player in the show’s history to win all his heads-up matches and take home the $1 million first place prize.

PokerStars Introduces VIP Stellar Rewards

PokerStars upgraded its VIP program this week with the announcement of VIP Stellar Rewards.

Starting Jan. 1, 2010, PokerStars players who earn 750 VIP player points will be able to go to the PokerStars store and spend 1 frequent player point (FPP) to receive $10.

It doesn’t stop there as players will have the opportunity for 18 cash bonuses as they journey from 750 VIP points all the way up to 90,000 Supernova status.

In total, players will receive an extra $1,000 if they make it all the way to Supernova thanks to the VIP Stellar Rewards program.

To learn more go to PokerStars.com.

GPI to Unveil New Poker Chip Technology

Gaming Partners International Corporation will present a dramatic new approach to the construction of poker chips at the 2010 International Gaming Expo in London on Jan. 26-28.

At the Expo, GPI will introduce RFIDPoker, which is being developed to improve accuracy and increase the speed of various actions at the poker table.

Easily fitted to any poker table the technology sees every chip outfitted with a small RFID chip, which makes calculating a pot size error free. The system can also calculate pot-size in real time, while a hand is being played out.

According to GPI’s studies, RFIDPoker has the potential to increase hands per hour by as much as 30%.

Titan Launches 2010 Irish Open Promo

The 2010 Irish Open doesn’t start until April, but Titan Poker is already running satellites to the tournament.

Titan Poker will run a weekly Super Satellite on Sundays that will award a $7,200 package, which includes the €3,500 buy-in. It’s possible to qualify for these weekly satellites for just $2.20.

The Irish Poker Open is the longest running No-Limit Hold’em tournament in Europe and it typically takes place over Easter weekend in Dublin.

Last year Christer Johansson beat Kara Scott heads-up to claim the €600,000 first place prize.

Titan Poker generally has a large presence at the Irish Open and last year sent 32 players to represent the brand.

Click here to learn more about Titan Poker’s Irish Open promotions.

2010 Paddy Power Irish Poker Open Schedule Announced

As the curtain falls on the 2009 with the World Poker Tour’s Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, the 2010 tournament season is preparing to take shape.

While January, with the Aussie Millions, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, and the L.A. Poker Classic, is drawing immediate attention for poker’s elite players, there are other tournaments in the first half of 2010 that also are making their preparations. On Wednesday, PaddyPowerPoker.com announced the full schedule of events that will make up the 2010 Irish Open.

The 2010 Irish Open will be held in Dublin from April 1st to the 5th, continuing its tradition as the oldest poker tournament in Europe. Contested every year since 1980 and created by the late poker legend Terry Rogers, the Irish Open has grown in importance over the years. In 2005, PaddyPowerPoker.com picked up the sponsorship rights to the tournament. Since that time, it has expanded to not only include the best the European poker world has to offer, but also the elite from the American side of the Atlantic, including former World Series of Poker Main Event champions Dan Harrington and Doyle Brunson.

The Burlington Hotel will once again play host to the PaddyPowerPoker.com Irish Open, as it has since 2007. On April 1st, a satellite tournament, which costs €200 + €20, will be held to usher in the final few players for the championship event that begins the next day. The Irish Open Main Event, which will be a €3,200 + €300 No Limit Hold’em affair, brought a record-setting field of 700 players last time out. Veteran poker player Christer Johannson will be back to defend his title after defeating “High Stakes Poker” hostess Kara Scott in heads-up play.

“The Irish Open festival is shaping up very nicely, with all the preparatory work really paying off,” Eric Booth, the head of poker operations at PaddyPowerPoker.com, stated. There are also other events on the schedule that, Booth said, “will make some players upset there are not enough hours in the weekend to play them all.”

After Day One is completed in the Irish Open, side tournaments like the Pot Limit Omaha Championship, a €1,500 + €150 No Limit Hold’em tournament, a Ladies’ Championship, and a “Scalps” (bounty) tournament will be held. These events should provide plenty of action for players in attendance.

The full schedule of the 2010 Irish Open, presented by PaddyPowerPoker.com, looks like this:

April 1st
Satellite Tournament: €200 + €20, 7:00pm

April 2nd
Championship Event: €3,200 + €300, 3:30pm

April 3rd
Championship Event Day 2, 2:00pm
Pot Limit Omaha: €750 + €75, 6:00pm

April 4th
Championship Event Day 3, 2:00pm
Pot Limit Omaha Championship Day 2, 2:30pm
Ladies’ Championship: €300 + €30, 3:00pm
No Limit Hold’em: €1,500 + €150, 5:00pm

April 5th
Championship Event Day 4, 2:00pm
Ladies’ Championship Day 2, 2:30pm
No Limit Hold’em Day 2, 2:30pm
No Limit Hold’em Scalps Event, €270 + €30 + €30, 3:00pm

In addition to being the sponsor of the tournament, PaddyPowerPoker.com has introduced an online registration method for the Main Event that will allow players to buy in with credit cards, bank transfers, and checks. “We are delighted to launch the online registration facility for the Irish Open so that players eager to secure their seat at Europe’s longest running poker tournament can do so months in advance,” Booth said.

2010 Irish Open Festival schedule confirmed

PokerStars UKIPT Kicks Off

The four-day tournament, running until Dec. 14, drew players from 22 countries, including 104 online qualifiers.

“Given it's the first event of a brand new tour, it is really exciting that so many players have qualified for the event and from so many countries,” said newly named UKIPT host and veteran European Poker Tour commentator Nick Wealthall.

“As the tour becomes established and builds its reputation, we look forward to welcoming more and more new players to big time live poker.”

Team PokerStars Pros John Duthie, J.P. Kelly, and Jude Ainsworth joined a field that included 147 players from Ireland and a total of 52 from the United Kingdom.

The group is vying for a piece of a €471,400 prize pool, including €125k for first.

Galway is the first of eight stops on the newly launched UKIPT. The tour will also visit Manchester, Nottingham, Killarney, Brighton, a city yet to be named in Scotland, Dublin and London, where the PokerStars EPT London main event will act as the Grand Final next October.

More on the tour can be found on the UKIPT website.

The PokerStars UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) kicked off in Galway, Ireland Friday, drawing 259 players for its €2,000 Main Event.

The four-day tournament, running until Dec. 14, drew players from 22 countries, including 104 online qualifiers.

“Given it's the first event of a brand new tour, it is really exciting that so many players have qualified for the event and from so many countries,” said newly named UKIPT host and veteran European Poker Tour commentator Nick Wealthall.

“As the tour becomes established and builds its reputation, we look forward to welcoming more and more new players to big time live poker.”

Team PokerStars Pros John Duthie, J.P. Kelly, and Jude Ainsworth joined a field that included 147 players from Ireland and a total of 52 from the United Kingdom.

The group is vying for a piece of a €471,400 prize pool, including €125k for first.

Galway is the first of eight stops on the newly launched UKIPT. The tour will also visit Manchester, Nottingham, Killarney, Brighton, a city yet to be named in Scotland, Dublin and London, where the PokerStars EPT London main event will act as the Grand Final next October.

Details of third European Deepstack Poker Championships announced

2010 Irish Open venue confirmed

Jude Ainsworth joins Team PokerStars Pro

Ainsworth will represent PokerStars in the new UK & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT), which will see him play a tournament on his home turf of Galway from Dec. 11-14, 2009.

"I'm really looking forward to competing in the UKIPT and being part of such an exciting tour," said Ainsworth. "Undoubtedly the event I'm looking forward to is the return to my hometown Galway."

Ainsworth catapulted to poker fame ilast year when he won the Irish Poker Championship in Galway for €145,000.

This year Ainsworth, who plays as j.thaddeus online, went on to win the 2009 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker $10,300 main event for $963,338, outlasting 501 players and a final table that included Jon "PearlJammer" Turner and Chris "Moorman1" Moorman.

After its launch in Galway, the UKIPT will move on to stops in Manchester, Nottingham, Killarney, Brighton, Scotland and Dublin with a grand final scheduled to take place in London.

Other notable players to take part in the UKIPT include Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren and former English soccer player Teddy Sheringham.

Visit the UKIPT website for the complete schedule.

Win your seat at the Irish Open with Titan Poker

Europe’s longest running tournament is taking place once again and this is your chance to get your hands on a share of the multimillion Euro prize pool. The Irish Open combines excellent poker with the legendary Irish hospitality and has proved to be a firm favourite amongst both the pro and amateur poker players.

The next Irish Open will take place April 1st to 5th 2010 at the Burlington Hotel in the heart of Dublin City. When you are not playing your best poker at the tables you can sample the friendly atmosphere and party vibe that Dublin is famous for.

Get ready for the time of your life in Dublin, Ireland with Titan Poker!

The Irish Open 2010 prize package is worth $7,200 (approx €4,800) and includes:

• €3,500 buy in to the Main Event
• €350 for 5 nights B & B at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin – March 31st to April 6th 2010
• €800 for expenses
• €50 fee for handling
• €100 for official party

How excellent! If you only play to go to one live event, then make it this one! The satellites are running now from just $2.20 so get a move on and secure your seat at the Irish Poker Open.

If you have not yet got yourself a Titan Poker Account you are in for a treat, we have negotiated a top of the range sign up package just for you which includes, amongst a host of treats, a VIP sign up bonus of 150% up to $500. To ensure you get the full benefit of this sign up deal you must use the Titan Poker Bonus code VIPTITAN.

To see the full package - and learn just how ace Titan Poker is – take a look at our Titan Poker Review and Titan Poker Bonus Code page.

Bookmark to:

Poker Pro got robbed

British poker pro, Neil Channing, updated his blog on blackbeltpoker. His trip to Dublin didn’t go as planned - he got robbed.

Channing was going to get back to UK, but changed his mind in the last minutes. During his earlier visits to Dublin he had stayed in the Citywest hotel and decided to book a room from there again.

Channing bought into a MTT tournament the next day and according to his words, he was playing the best poker he had played the whole year. On the last break Channing headed to his room to get some cash. Channing had planned to leave his cash at the hotel safe, but had left his money to his room for the time being.

Well, he didn’t have to worry about leaving his cash to the hotel safe anymore as someone had cleaned his room empty. Channing says that he feels to be a complete fool when he left all his cash to the room.

You can read the whole blog entry on Blackbeltpoker.

Source: Blackbeltpoker

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

Poker Pro got robbed

Neil Channing gets robbed

PokerStars Announces UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT)

PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, has introduced the UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT). A total of nine events will play out beginning in Galway on December 11th.

The first UK-based event will be held in Manchester on February 11th at the Grosvenor G Casino. The Galway event, which serves as the kickoff tournament of the inaugural UKIPT series, will be part of the Irish Poker Championships. Players will descend upon the Radisson Hotel for the €2,000 buy-in event and the tournament crowns a champion on December 14th. In 2009, The Irish Poker Championship was brought to you by PartyPoker and saw 24 year-old Rory Rees Brennan bank €160,000 for the win in its Main Event. Seven out of the top ten finishers were Irish.

Team PokerStars Pro member Vicky Coren, a Brit, discussed the newest poker tour in a press release distributed this week: “This is an incredibly exciting addition to the range of PokerStars live events. Here is our own local British and Irish tour, nicely accessible for those who can’t travel abroad very often or who save their foreign travel for larger international events.” Champions of UKIPT events will take home an entry into the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) London Main Event next October. PokerStars officials noted that EPT London will also serve as the UKIPT Championship Event.

Here is the schedule for the first-ever running of the UKIPT:

UKIPT Galway (Ireland): December 11th to 14th
Radisson Hotel
€2,000 buy-in (9% juice)

UKIPT Manchester (United Kingdom): February 11th to 14th
Grosvenor G Casino
£500+50 buy-in

UKIPT Coventry (United Kingdom): April 8th to 11th
Grosvenor G Casino
£500+50 buy-in

UKIPT Nottingham (United Kingdom): May 13th to 16th
Dusk Till Dawn
£500+50 buy-in

UKIPT Killarney (Ireland): June 24th to 27th
Gleneagles
€1,000+100 buy-in

UKIPT Brighton (United Kingdom): July 15th to 18th
Rendezvous
£1,000+100 buy-in

UKIPT Scotland: TBA
Venue is TBA
£1,000+100 buy-in

UKIPT Dublin (Ireland): September 9th to 12th
Burlington Hotel
€1,000+100 buy-in

UKIPT London (United Kingdom): October 1st to 10th
Hilton Metropole
£5,000+250 buy-in

UKIPT tournaments are expected to attract some of the top names in the poker industry, including PokerStars sponsored pros Coren and Teddy Sheringham. The former added that the presence of the UKIPT in Northern Europe will continue to grow the game: “The buy-ins are great: big enough to make chunky prize pools, not so big that they’re a huge drain on resources. It’s about time there was a serious, respected tournament with a £500 buy-in, like the new ones in Manchester, Coventry, and Nottingham.”

Ireland has laid claim to a crop of accomplished poker players, including Andy Black, who finished fifth in the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $1.75 million, a tournament ultimately won by Joe Hachem. Black finished seventh in the 2007 EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final for nearly $320,000 and won an event during the PartyPoker Premier League in London in early 2008 for $250,000. Other top-tier Irish players include Liam Flood, bracelet winner Noel Furlong, Ciarán O’Leary, Marty Smyth, and Padraig Parkinson.

PokerStars also sponsors the EPT, Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), Russian Poker Tour (RPT), Czech-Slovak Poker Tour (CSPT), and Italian Poker Tour (IPT). Its marquee land-based event is the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, which takes place each January at the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas. In 2010, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is a stop on the LAPT and EPT circuits.

PokerStars will host a £10,000 freeroll for the top 100 players on the UKIPT leaderboard at the end of its first season. The top three players will also receive sponsorship opportunities to play in the second UKIPT season. Visit PokerStars for satellite information.

PokerStars Announces UK & Ireland Poker Tour

The UKIPT will kick off from Galway, Ireland, and the tour consists total of nine stops in both countries. The first tournament will be held at Radisson Hotel in Galway on 11th to 14th of December.

Compared to the EPT or the WPT, UKIPT is aimed for players who can’t afford to play in big buy-in tournaments, as the smallest tournaments of the UKIPT have only £500 + £50 buy-ins.

PokerStars has also added money to the prize pools of the UKIPT as all three events with a £500 + £50 buy-in (Manchester, Coventry and Nottingham) have a guaranteed prize pool of£100,000. In addition to that, Irish events with a €1,000 + €100 buy-in in Killarney and Dublin will have a €250,000 guarantee. The winner of each leg will also be awarded with a seat at the London Grand Final.

Also, players will be playing for UKIPT leader board points at every event. Winner of the leader board will receive a main event buy-in and money for the hotel for all UKIPT Season 2 events.

The full schedule of the UKIPT and the buyins of the tournaments:

UKIPT Galway December 11-14 Radisson Hotel €2,000*
UKIPT Manchester February 11-14, 2010 G Casino £500 + 50
UKIPT Coventry April 8-11, 2010 G Casino £500 + 50
UKIPT Nottingham May 13-16, 2010 Dusk Till Dawn £500 + 50
UKIPT Killarney June 24-27, 2010 Gleneagle Hotel €1,000 + 100
UKIPT Brighton July 15-18, 2010 Rendezvous Casino £1,000 + 100
UKIPT Scotland TBC TBC TBC
UKIPT Dublin September 9-12, 2010 Burlington Hotel €1,000 + 100
UKIPT London October 2-8, 2010 Metropole Hotel £5,000 + 300
* 9% of the tournament prize pool will be withheld to cover the cost of dealers and floor staff.

The satellites to the first tournament of the UKIPT at Galway are already running at PokerStars.

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

PokerStars Announces UK & Ireland Poker Tour

PokerStars launches new UK and Ireland tour

The events will have a range of buy-ins from £500+£50 to £1,000+£100 for UK based tournaments and €1,000+€100 and €2,000 for events in Ireland.

"This is an incredibly exciting addition to the range of PokerStars live events," said Team PokerStars PRO Vicky Coren. "The buy-ins are great: big enough to make chunky prize pools, not so big that they're a huge drain on resources."

The first UKIPT event will be held in Galway, Ireland from December 11-14, 2009, in the Radisson Hotel. The event will be held as part of the popular Irish Poker Championships.

The first UK based UKIPT event will be held in Manchester from February 11-14, 2010 at the Grosvenor G-Casino.

Events will also be held in Nottingham, Killarney, Brighton, Scotland and Dublin with the Grand Final taking place as part of the PokerStars.com EPT London event next October.

In addition to the UKIPT title and prize money, all winners will earn a seat in the Grand Final.

The UKIPT will also have its own Points Leader Board featuring prizes for the top players at the end of the season, including PokerStars.com sponsorship in UKIPT events during the second season for the top 3 players and a £10,000 freeroll for the top 100.

Daily satellites are already running on PokerStars for as little as $0.25 or 250 FPPs.

Full details of the PokerStars UKIPT schedule can be found below. For more information and updates please see the tour's website.

Paddy Power launches Irish Poker Open 2010

So It Begins- Irish Winter Festival 2009 Coverage.

Live updates from the Irish Winter Festival

Paddy Power Poker confirms Irish Winter Festival Online

Markus Sippe wins Boyle Poker International Poker Open

Records fall on massive cross-pond poker weekend

A total of 1,412 players entered the $345 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, just 20 minutes from downtown Chicago.

"Chicagoland has become one of the WSOP Circuit's most popular destinations for poker players," said WSOP media director Nolan Dalla. "Attendance eclipsed last year's near-record for the same event, which was 1,187 entries."

23-year-old poker pro Josh Shmerl, from Wauconda, Illinois just outside of Chicago, took the title and $79,107 first-place prize in Hammond.

The previous all-time record for attendance at a WSOP Circuit event was 1,345 players at the Tunica Grand Resort and Casino in Mississippi in January 2006.

Meanwhile, across the pond in Ireland, the 2009 Boylepoker International Poker Open set the record for the largest tournament field ever assembled outside of the United States.

The $250 buy-in No-limit Hold'em event drew 1,440 players from more than 18 countries creating prize pool of $350,000, including $27,000 added by the sponsor.

The previous non-U.S. attendance record was set at the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas at 1,347.

Several big names from the ((UK poker scene)) were in attendance at the Regency Airport Hotel in Dublin, including Neil Channing, Padraig Parkinson, Andy Black, Marty Smyth, Surinder Sunar, Fintan Gavin, Simon Trumper and the voice of European poker, Jesse May.

German Markus Sippe took the title and $62,250 first-place prize.

"This year's International Poker Open was another great success, breaking last year's record by a further 140 players," said Boylepoker's Paul Spillane. "The event is proving more and more popular every year, among all levels of players.

"The IPO has become an unmissable event on any poker lover's calendar, and we are already excited about the next one."

Last chance to qualify for Irish Winter Festival

PokerStars sponsoring Irish Poker Championship

The five-day festival will take place in Galway, Ireland at the Radisson Hotel from Dec. 10-14 with the main event carrying a €2,000 buy-in.

"The Irish Poker Championship has become one of the biggest events on the Irish Poker Calendar and we are delighted to be sponsoring it," said PokerStars business development manager for European events Kirsty Thompson.

"Poker players appreciate good hospitality and a good party atmosphere and there is no better city than Galway to provide it."

The main event will take place Dec. 11-14, but there will also be three No Limit Hold'em side events with buy-ins of €550, €350 and €250.

Already confirmed for the main event are Andy Black, Surindar Sunar, Padraig Parkinson, Jon Kalmer, Julian Gardner, Neil Channing, Marty Smyth and Dutch Team PokerStars Pro Marcel Luske.

Dublin's Roy Rees bested 254 players in last year's Irish Poker Championship to secure a first-place prize of €160,000.

The event is capped at 400 players and organizers are predicting first will be worth €250,000 this year.

Satellites start on PokerStars Oct. 15 and players can buy seats in advance online.

There will also be numerous opportunities to qualify in live play at the Eglinton Casino and PokerStars is providing assistance to facilities that wish to run their own satellites.

For more information check out the Irish Poker Championship website here.

Last chance to qualify for Boyle Poker’s International Poker Open

Irish Winter Festival seats up for grabs with William Hill Poker

More seats for the Boylepoker.com International Poker Open

Jamie Gold Charity Tournament at Poker in the Park Sells Out

The Jamie Gold Charity Poker Tournament held during London’s Poker in the Park on Thursday was a sellout. A total of 50 celebrities and poker players from around the world descended upon the Shadow Lounge at the Casino at the Empire for the festivities.

Gold, who won the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event to the tune of a record $12 million, teamed up with fellow World Champion Peter Eastgate to host the London gala. Eastgate, a Danish member of Team PokerStars Pro, holds the title of youngest winner of the prestigious $10,000 buy-in Main Event at age 22, breaking Hellmuth’s longstanding record by two years. Former soccer star Teddy Sheringham, who was a member of the Manchester United in the late 1990s, was in attendance. Joining him was Michael Greco, who took second in the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Dublin event during Season 2 for €39,000. Greco also cashed for $248,000 during the 2009 WSOP.

A fleet of poker pros from the United Kingdom lent their name to the Jamie Gold Charity Poker Tournament. They included Betfair pro John Tabatabai, who finished second to Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad in the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event. For his reward, Tabatabai pocketed a colossal £570,000 for his efforts; Obrestad, also a member of Team Betfair, walked away with £1 million and became the youngest bracelet winner ever. Nick Persaud also made the trek to the Casino at the Empire. He’s fresh off a deep run in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, where he earned $23,000 for a 549th place showing.

Also appearing at the spectacle was J.J. Hazan, the runner-up in the 2006 Master Classics of Poker for €355,000. In that event, Ali Jalali came out on top and earned €700,000 for his efforts. Hazan won a £500 buy-in tournament held as part of the Grosvenor U.K. Poker Tour Grand Final in London two years ago for £23,000. Sam Trickett, who finished fourth in a $5,000 buy-in tournament held as part of the 2008 WSOP for $245,000, flanked Hazan in London this week. Trickett won the £1,000 buy-in Main Event of the Grosvenor U.K. Poker Tour’s Luton leg for £109,000.

2005 888 Pacific Poker Open winner Ian Frazer lent his name to Gold’s efforts in London. Frazer finished fifth in the PartyPoker World Open III in 2007 for $30,000 and took 25th in the European Poker Tour (EPT) London Main Event last year for £13,000. While in Las Vegas for the 2009 WSOP, Frazer won a $1,000 buy-in tournament at the Bellagio for $23,000, defeating a final table that also included Greco. Frazer serves as a poker commentator and ambassador for the game.

Prizes at the Jamie Gold Charity Tournament included a £5,200 EPT seat donated by PokerStars and a £3,000 seat to the Unibet Open. The event featured a £500 buy-in and also gave away a Gresham Blake tailor made suit, a custom Marlow Casino chipset, a high-end Gevril wristwatch, Tag Heuer sunglasses, and a week-long poker training session with David “The Maven” Chicotsky. When the smoke cleared in the 50 player contest, Mikael Gabrielsson, a Swedish pro, emerged as the winner. Four camera crews captured the event on tape.

Today, Greco, Tabatabai, Frazer, and Gold will give lectures as part of the Poker in the Park festivities. Frazer’s talk is entitled “Starting Out in Online Poker” and will undoubtedly attract a crowd. Gold speaks tonight at 20:45 local time. Friday marks the final day of Poker in the Park, which emanates from London’s Leicester Square.

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