Poker News

Doyle Brunson joins PartyPoker Premier League

Doyle Brunson is the final pro to be added to the PartyPoker Premier IV event that takes place in Las Vegas next month.

Cake Network Explodes with Unabomber Poker

With his trademark sweatshirt and sunglasses Laak is one of the most recognizable poker players in the world but has rarely had a major poker room sponsorship deal.

He mentioned he was thrilled to start Unabomber Poker.

“We knew we wanted to launch the sickest poker site possible," stated Laak.

"By joining a network that focuses on player rewards and accepts players world-wide we knew we would be starting out on the right track. I love getting involved from the ground up.”

Laak burst onto the poker scene by winning the WPT Celebrity Invitational in 2004 and has since made big scores at the WSOP, WPT and Poker After Dark.

The Irish-American most recently outlasted Luke “Full Flush” Schwartz, Mike Sexton and Andy Black to win the PartyPoker.com World Open V for $250,000.

Laak will blog regularly on the Unabomber Poker website.

“The addition for of Unabomber Poker to the Cake Network is cause for great excitement,” said a Cake Network spokesperson. “Phil’s enthusiasm for the game is infectious and brings great energy to the network.”

Cake Poker also launched seven other partner sites including 7Win Poker, Redback Poker, Amsterdams Poker, Safari Poker, Dime Line Sports, Rags2Riches and Burro Poker.

 

Visit PokerListings.com

David Benyamine signs up for Premier League

David Benyamine may be best known as a high stakes cash player but he’ll get the chance to show his tournament mettle after signing up for PartyPoker.com’s Premier League series next month.

Negreanu and Rousso to play in next month’s PartyPoker’s Premier League

PartyPoker has revealed that the latest additions to the Premier League Poker IV line up will be Daniel Negreanu and Vanessa Rousso.

Antanas “Tony G” Guoga Joins Team PartyPoker

Continuing to add to an already impressive lineup, it was announced early Thursday that top poker professional Antanas “Tony G” Guoga has signed a sponsorship deal with PartyPoker.

Guoga, who has been at the forefront of the international poker scene for the past decade, will make his first showing for Team PartyPoker at the Aussie Millions, which began today and is one of the top non-U.S. tournaments on the poker schedule. According to Guoga’s new blog at PartyPoker, he will be participating in the $100,000 Challenge tournament scheduled to start on January 23rd, which draws some of the toughest competition in the game today and features defending champion Howard Lederer. Tony G will also join fellow Team PartyPoker members Bodo Sbrzesny and defending Aussie Millions champion Stewart Scott along with 43 qualifiers from PartyPoker for the Aussie Millions Main Event. The AUD $10,000 tournament will feature three starting days that begin on January 24th and will be broadcasted on Fox Sports Net.

As a part of the new sponsorship deal, Guoga will also be part of one of PartyPoker’s upcoming special events, the PartyPoker.com Premier League IV. This invitation-only tournament is scheduled to take place in February in Las Vegas and includes a formidable lineup. Such players as former World Champion and 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, current World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship winner Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko, poker Triple Crown winner Roland De Wolfe, noted poker “bad boy” Luke ‘FullFlush’ Schwartz, and dangerous tournament pro J. C. Tran are scheduled to take to the felt, presenting Tony G with tremendously difficult opposition.

Guoga’s own online poker site, TonyGPoker.com, has been merged into the PartyPoker family. Those players who are a part of TonyGPoker.com will be moved to Noble Poker. Guoga will continue to be an integral part of his online promotions, such as the Sunday Bike Ride (moving to Noble Poker), and will play on PartyPoker under the name “TonyG.”

“We’re delighted to welcome Tony to Team PartyPoker,” a PartyGaming spokesman commented about the newest arrival to the organization. “Tony is undoubtedly one of poker’s biggest characters in the game and a personal deal for him made huge sense. We are also happy to have acquired the assets of TonyGPoker.com and look forward to welcoming his players on board.”

Guoga isn’t called “The Mouth From Down Under” for nothing. Known to dismiss his beaten opponents from the table with a curt “On Yer Bike!” Guoga has already issued a challenge for those PartyPoker members playing in the Aussie Millions. “If one of the Party qualifiers knocks me out of the Main Event, I will buy them a bike,” Guoga stated. “First of all, however, I will ride it out myself… I know when it is bike time!”

In his first blog entry on PartyPoker, Guoga also throws down the gauntlet against one of his Premier League IV foes. After speaking glowingly of Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton and “High Stakes Poker” announcer Kara Scott, Tony G dropped the hammer on Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz: “He’s rude, obnoxious and I cannot wait to bust him up. This kid is not the kind of player you feel you can learn from – you just want to bust him.”

Guoga certainly has the ability to bust up many players at the table. His lifetime earnings at the tournament poker tables total nearly $4 million and include the WPT Bad Boys of Poker II championship in 2006. He was also the runner-up in the 2006 PartyPoker Intercontinental Poker Championship in Las Vegas and has cashed 15 times at the WSOP.

Famous for his mouth, it is Guoga’s philanthropic efforts that have earned him a great deal of respect from players and fans. After he won the first ever Asian Poker Tour (APT) event in Singapore in 2006, Tony G donated half the prize money to charity and, after taking down over $200,000 in a Moscow poker tournament in 2007, he turned over the entirety of his winnings to Russian orphanages.

With the addition of Guoga, Team PartyPoker is becoming a formidable challenge in the tournament poker world. After not sponsoring pros for much of its existence, PartyPoker has certainly drawn top talent to its roster. Along with Guoga, Sexton, Sbrzesny, and the two Scotts, other members of Team PartyPoker include France’s Remy Biechel, England’s Ian “The Raiser” Frazer, and Brazil’s Felipe "Mojave" Ramos.

Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz Added to PartyPoker.com Premier League IV Roster

As the PartyPoker.com Premier League IV draws closer, the field of 12 continues to take shape.  On Tuesday, PartyPoker.com announced that poker's newest bad boy, Luke "FullFlush" Schwartz, has been confirmed as the fifth player for the February contest.  Schwartz joins Premier League III winner J.C. Tran, 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, World Poker Tour (WPT) Season 7 world champion Yevgeniy "Jovial Gent" Timoshenko, and "Triple Crown" winner Roland de Wolfe in the exclusive event, which will take place February 11th to 18th in Las Vegas.

Schwartz caught the attention of the poker world in 2009 by racking up seven-figure profits online, all the while beating an impressive list of players.  Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond, Brad Booth, Tom "durrrr" Dwan, and David "Raptor" Benefield were among his victims.  Perhaps more than his poker skill, it was his "in your face" personality that really turned heads.  Known to trash talk to his heart's content, Schwartz cemented himself as one of online poker's most controversial figures when he called Dwan and Di "Urindanger" Dang "gay" in a public interview.

In October 2009, Schwartz took his behavior to another level, stealing a sandwich from a food stand after busting out of the European Poker Tour (EPT) London event.  Having been previously banned from Grosvenor Casino properties for not obeying the dress code only to have the ban lifted in time for EPT London, he was banned once again for his actions.

Schwartz may be young, but he is far from intimidated by the already strong field.  "For sure there are some big names playing but I have to be a huge favorite," he told PartyPoker.com.  "They need to know that I’m coming with my sharky hat on and it's gonna be a whole week of soul owning from Full Flush."

"He is poker's new villain, no question about that," Daniel Negreanu once wrote in his blog.

Seven players are yet to be determined and all but one will be hand picked by PartyPoker.com.  The final competitor will be a PartyPoker.com online qualifier.  A total of 16 qualifiers will square off in Las Vegas, battling it out in a series of sit and go tournaments to determine which skilled player will receive the final (and free) seat in the PartyPoker.com Premier League IV.  In addition, PartyPoker.com will evaluate each of the 16 qualifiers and select one to receive a $100,000 sponsorship deal from the site.  While one would assume that the winner will have a leg up on the competition, PartyPoker.com will also consider personality and marketability in addition to poker skill, so even those who do not win the 12th seat will have a chance at the sponsorship deal.

The PartyPoker.com Premier League has a unique format.  The 12 players will compete in a series of six-handed sit and gos, or "heats," with points awarded based on the order of finish.  Once all the heats are completed, the top four point winners will advance to the six-handed Grand Final.  The next four players will face off in heads-up matches to determine the fifth and sixth members of the final table.

With a $100,000 buy-in and $300,000 added by PartyPoker.com, the prize pool for the Premier League IV will be a whopping $1.5 million.  The action, including the battle for the 12th seat, will be televised in Europe, with Team Party's newest member, Kara Scott, serving as host.

Schwartz Joins Premier League IV Lineup

 “I can’t wait to get to Vegas and crush the field in the PartyPoker.com Premier League,” said Schwartz.

Schwartz will join the already announced Phil Hellmuth, J.C. Tran, Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Roland De Wolfe in the $100,000 buy-in tournament. This is the first time the shootout-style event has been held in Vegas.

Despite the number of skilled poker players, Schwartz likes his chances in the event.

“For sure there are some big names playing but I have to be a huge favorite,” he said. “They need to know that I’m coming with my sharky hat and it’s gonna be a whole week of soul owning from Full Flush.

Schwartz made a name for himself playing online as Full Flush on Full Tilt Poker and beating some of the best online players, including Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond for over a million.

He was perhaps most well-known for his tirades where he would refer to Dwan as “durrrr-balls” and the entire online high stakes community as “OMGweNerds” in the chatbox.

He made the final table of another well-known PartyPoker tournament last year – the World Open V – but was eventually ousted in fourth when his A-T failed against Austrian qualifier Jan Veit’s K-J.

According to PartyPoker officials they were reluctant to add the controversial young player.

“We did a lot of soul searching rather than soul owning before deciding to invite Luke into the Premier League,” said a PartyPoker spokesperson. “The fact is that he is a great player and he will certainly ignite the line-up and we haven’t even completed it yet.”

More players will be announced to the Premier League IV in the coming weeks.

Visit PokerListings.com

Hellmuth and Schwartz added to PartyPoker Premier League IV line up

Players competing in the fourth season of the PartyPoker.com Premier League could be forgiven for asking for a set of earplugs as part of their buy-in after the news that ‘Poker Brat’ Phil Hellmuth and Luke ‘_FullFlush_’ Schwartz will both be taking part in the $1.5m event.

Kara Scott signs with PartyPoker

For someone with such presence in the poker community, Kara Scott has taken a while to find herself a sponsorship deal. However, PartyPoker have now stepped in and taken the leggy Canadian on board – hopefully boyfriend and Full Tilt Pro Brian “sbrugby” Townsend won’t get too upset at her signing with a rival site.

Kara Scott Joins PartyPoker

The Canadian will join Mike Sexton, Remy Biechel, Ian Frazer, Felipe “Mojave” Ramos, Stewart Scott and Bodo Sbrzesny as a full-fledged member of Team Party.

“I’ve had such a positive experience in poker and have been incredibly lucky as well,” she said. “Being asked to be a part of Team Party is a real rush and I’m so honored. I just hope I can do them proud.”

Although she was born in Alberta, Canada, Scott rose to fame in England where she became one of the main hosts of the award-winning show Poker Night Live.

She went on to host the popular PokerStars European Poker Tour and most recently provided the commentary on the latest season of High Stakes Poker on GSN, which is set to air later this year.

While she will play tournaments patched by PartyPoker, Scott will continue her television work as well.

“They understand that while I absolutely love playing poker and am really stoked about playing more big live events and working on improving my game, my actual job is TV presenting,” she explained. “It was really gratifying that they feel I’ll bring value to their team as both a player and a TV presenter.”

Ironically, it was a PartyPoker event that gave Scott one of her first big breaks when it came to actually playing the game.

“When I started playing poker a few years ago I was lucky to get asked to be on a couple of Party Poker’s UK TV tournaments and had my first big cash, and win, with their Sports Stars Challenge III,” she said. “It seemed like a natural progression for me to get involved with them now, particularly as I’ll be spending a lot of time in Canada.”

After winning the Sports Star Challenge III, Scott went on to make deep runs at the WSOP Main Event in back to back years. She finished 104^th for $41,816 in 2008 and 238^th for $32,963 in 2009.

In 2009, she also had her biggest score ever at the Irish Open where she outlasted 798 players before eventually falling to Christer Johansson heads-up. She earned €312,600 for second place.

In her relatively short span of playing high buy-in events, Scott has won $557,902, which places her 24^th on the all-time women’s tournament money list.

“Kara is a great signing and we are really looking forward to working with her,” said a PartyPoker spokesman.

“She has historic links with PartyPoker.com after taking down the Sports Stars Challenge III and we have been super impressed by her progress since then. As well as being a great presenter, Kara is also a fantastic player with great results and the potential to go even further. We are excited about this new relationship.”

As part of the deal, Scott will play tournaments around the world and act as a presenter for the Premier League when it moves to Vegas for the first time in February. She will also represent PartyPoker at a number of Canadian Poker Tour events.

Visit PokerListings.com

Kara Scott Joins PartyPoker

The Canadian will join Mike Sexton, Remy Biechel, Ian Frazer, Felipe “Mojave” Ramos, Stewart Scott and Bodo Sbrzesny as a full-fledged member of Team Party.

“I’ve had such a positive experience in poker and have been incredibly lucky as well,” she said. “Being asked to be a part of Team Party is a real rush and I’m so honored. I just hope I can do them proud.”

Although she was born in Alberta, Canada, Scott rose to fame in England where she became one of the main hosts of the award-winning show Poker Night Live.

She went on to host the popular PokerStars European Poker Tour and most recently provided the commentary on the latest season of High Stakes Poker on GSN, which is set to air later this year.

While she will play tournaments patched by PartyPoker, Scott will continue her television work as well.

“They understand that while I absolutely love playing poker and am really stoked about playing more big live events and working on improving my game, my actual job is TV presenting,” she explained. “It was really gratifying that they feel I’ll bring value to their team as both a player and a TV presenter.”

Ironically, it was a PartyPoker event that gave Scott one of her first big breaks when it came to actually playing the game.

“When I started playing poker a few years ago I was lucky to get asked to be on a couple of Party Poker’s UK TV tournaments and had my first big cash, and win, with their Sports Stars Challenge III,” she said. “It seemed like a natural progression for me to get involved with them now, particularly as I’ll be spending a lot of time in Canada.”

After winning the Sports Star Challenge III, Scott went on to make deep runs at the WSOP Main Event in back to back years. She finished 104^th for $41,816 in 2008 and 238^th for $32,963 in 2009.

In 2009, she also had her biggest score ever at the Irish Open where she outlasted 798 players before eventually falling to Christer Johansson heads-up. She earned €312,600 for second place.

In her relatively short span of playing high buy-in events, Scott has won $557,902, which places her 24^th on the all-time women’s tournament money list.

“Kara is a great signing and we are really looking forward to working with her,” said a PartyPoker spokesman.

“She has historic links with PartyPoker.com after taking down the Sports Stars Challenge III and we have been super impressed by her progress since then. As well as being a great presenter, Kara is also a fantastic player with great results and the potential to go even further. We are excited about this new relationship.”

As part of the deal, Scott will play tournaments around the world and act as a presenter for the Premier League when it moves to Vegas for the first time in February. She will also represent PartyPoker at a number of Canadian Poker Tour events.

Visit PokerListings.com

PartyPoker Starts 2010 LAPC Qualifiers

The main $750 buy-in weekly qualifiers take place every Sunday at 14:15 ET with a $14,000 package up for grabs.

The package includes the $10,000 buy-in, seven nights' accomodation and $2,500 in spending money.

If a PartyPoker player wins the LAPC, the company will award $500,000 to that player and $500,000 spread between the players who qualified on PartyPoker, no matter where they finished.

“The PartyPoker.com packages are amazingly appealing to anybody who wants to attend the LA Poker Classic,” said PartyPoker.com spokesman Mike Sexton.

“The $1 million payout if an online qualifier takes down the main event offers superb extra value. Imagine if you bust out really early and then one of your fellow qualifiers went on to win, you’d still go home with your share of $500,000.”

The promotion marks one of the first collaborations between PartyPoker and the WPT since it was announced PartyGaming would buy the tour late last year.

The LAPC is the most prestigious poker tournament in L.A. and former winners include Phil Ivey, Michael Mizrachi and Antonio Esfandiari. Last year Cornel Cimpan outlasted 695 players and a final table that included Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers to win $1.6 million.

The $10,000 main event of the 2010 WPT LAPC will take place Feb. 26-March 4.

Visit the PartyPoker website to learn more about the LAPC promotion.

Visit PokerListings.com

PartyPoker Turns ATM

From Jan. 4-31 PartyPoker players who earn at least 10 PartyPoints for a minimum of 10 days will once again be able to use the Cash Machine to convert those points into cash.

At the end of the promotion, PartyPoker will look at the PartyPoints collected by every player on their 10 highest-earning days, then match the number of points accumulated on the lowest days with $1 for every point earned.

There are up to 28 qualifying days and no limit to the amount of points a player can earn. 

Players who get more than one point on 10 qualifying days, but not up to 10 points will also be entered into the $25,000 Cash Machine freeroll, set for 3 p.m. ET Feb. 3.

"We’ve also added an extra incentive for the most serious players,” a PartyPoker spokesman said. “Earn a minimum of 1,000 PartyPoints per day on 20 of the 28 days and we’ll award a special Cash Machine Booster Bonus in addition to the standard cash machine payout.”

For more information check out PartyPoker's Cash Machine web page.

Visit PokerListings.com

Poker News in Brief: Dec. 14-20, 2009

There were a few other big poker stories with Harrah’s releasing the official 2010 WSOP schedule and Mangas Gaming acquiring Everest Poker but for the most part the poker world has started to get quiet as the lead up to Christmas begins.

Fortunately there are always a few stories that don’t make the front page here at PokerListings and we compile them for you every week in our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature.

This week we’ll look at a PokerListings player winning a trip to Australia, another World Series of Poker Circuit winner, the Aria Poker Room opening its doors and more.

PokerListings Player Wins PartyPoker Aussie Millions Package

PokerListings player gimeyoursbr capitalized on an exclusive PartyPoker freeroll in a big way last week.

The 35-year-old Brazilian won a $15,000 package to the biggest tournament in the Southern Hemisphere – the 2010 Aussie Millions.

“I will try my best and see where it takes me,” he said after winning. “I am very excited about getting to know Melbourne and the nearby cities but once I am playing at the Aussie Millions I will be 100% concentrated on it.”

gimeyoursbr has been playing poker professionally for three years now and once hit the jackpot on PartyPoker for a large score. Suffice to say he’s a fan of the site.

“They are pretty good and getting big again,” he said. “That is terrific.”

PartyPoker is making a huge push to send players to the Aussie Millions this year with more than 27 packages already awarded.

Chris Klodnicki wins WSOPC Harrah’s AC

Poker pro Chris Klodnicki finally found the tournament victory he’d been looking for at the 2009 World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City main event this week.

Klodnicki outlasted 194 players to win $215,915 and a WSOPC ring.

“I feel great,” said Klodnicki. “I was having a pretty off year and this ended the year on a great note. I was starting to lose my confidence and this picked it up a lot.”

Noted online player Kyle Bowker finished in second place for $128,357.

Outside of a Borgata side event win, Kodnicki’s list of career cashes is full of second place and third place finishes. Klodnicki is perhaps most well known for coming in 12^th place in the 2008 WSOP Main Event for nearly $600,000.

Aria Poker Room Opens

Poker players have yet another place to frequent in Las Vegas as the multi-billion CityCenter development opened its doors for business this week.

The 61-story ARIA holds the development’s casino and poker room. The poker room offers 24 tables complete with a closed off high limits room. Players will find limits of $1-3, $2-5, $5-10 on a daily basis although the room will spread higher ones based on demand.

Other hotels at CityCenter include the 400-room Mandarin Oriental resort and the upscale non-gaming hotel Vdara with Harman boutique hotel opening late next year.

Bonus Blizzard coming to Pacific Poker

Pacific Poker is giving its players a reason to be jolly over the Christmas season.

The online room will be running its “Bonus Blizzard” promotion during certain hours from Dec. 16-22.

If players are at the Pacific Poker tables during the right hours they could potentially receive a bonus of $8 all the way up to $888 just for being there.

Players can keep an eye out for Bonus Blizzards in a countdown timer in the main lobby. There’s no limit to the amount of bonuses that players can win and players who are multi-tabling will have an even better chance at taking home a hefty bonus.

PartyPoker Introduces $25/$50 PLO Table

PartyPoker launched a $25/$50 Pot-Limit Omaha table this week in an effort to kick-start the high stakes games on the site.

The gamble seems to have paid off as the room has since added several other high limit tables to keep up with player's requests.

“Demand meant we recently introduced a new $25/$50 Pot Limit Omaha table but since then we have had to open up more tables for high stakes action,” said a PartyPoker spokesperson.

“We used to have big limit games but this is the biggest game we have had at PartyPoker.com for a long time. The high stakes action has picked up.”

UB.com Set to Run Bubble Buster Promo

Players who make the money in UB.com’s upcoming Ultimate Bet Online Championship 4 will have the opportunity to win up to $1 million in extra cash.

As part of the Bubble Buster promotion any player that cashes at least twice in UBOC 4 will have shot at winning anything from a seat in a $10,000 freeroll all the way up to a $1 million cash giveaway to a player who makes 11 cashes in UBOC 4.

With over $4 million guaranteed, UBOC 4 is the biggest online tournament series available on UB.com. The series will run Jan. 20-31 with the $1 million guaranteed $1,050 buy-in main event is scheduled for Jan. 31.

PKR Teams Up with Nuts and Loaded

PKR poker announced a partnership with IPC Media, publisher of mainstream UK men’s magazines Nuts and Loaded, this week.

Players on PKR poker will now have the option of playing their favorite games while being surrounded by images of women in the popular magazines.

Players will also have the opportunity to customize their avatars with Nuts or Loaded t-shirts.

Meanwhile magazine readers will benefit from poker trips from Team PKR Pro as well as trip reports from high stakes tournaments around the globe.

"We think that the collaboration with IPC Media is a perfect matchup of brands,” said PKR marketing director Simon Prodger. “Nuts and Loaded readers are spot on for us, and by having branded environments within our game, we offer them a unique poker experience."

Visit PokerListings.com

Join JC Tran in the PartyPoker.com Premier League

PartyPoker.com has announced details of qualifiers for next February’s Premier League IV. The tournament will be heading to Las Vegas for the first time and defending champion JC Tran will be back to defend his title.

PartyPoker Offering 25 Aussie Milllions Prize Packages

Ever since the popular online poker room PartyPoker signed 2009 Aussie Millions Main Event winner Stewart Scott as one of its sponsored pros, it has gone out of its way to promote both online and brick and mortar poker in Australia.

This weekend, PartyPoker is offering players a chance to win one of 25 seats in the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event for just $600.  On Sunday, December 13th, the site will host two separate online satellites, one for citizens of Australia and New Zealand and one that is open to the rest of the PartyPoker customer base.  Both will feature a $600 + $40 buy-in, although many players will have won their way into the tournaments for much less since the site has been running micro-satellites.

The Aussie-only tournament will give away five tournament packages, each valued at $12,000.  The package includes buy-in to the AUD $10,000 Aussie Millions Main Event, hotel accommodations at the Crown Promenade in Melbourne, and $500 to be put towards travel expenses.  The tournament will begin at 2:45am ET.

The open field tournament will get underway a little later in the day at 2:30pm ET.  It will reward seats to the top 20 finishers and offer a slightly more lucrative version of the Aussie Millions prize package.  In addition to the buy-in and the hotel accommodations, the package will also include $3,500 to cover travel expenses.  Should a non-Aussie take part in the early tournament, PartyPoker will not offer any additional money to cover travel expenses.  Conversely, if a player from Australia or New Zealand wins one of the $15,000 packages, they will still receive the full $3,500 to cover travel.

Stewart Scott commented on the satellite tournaments in an official statement from PartyPoker: “I’ve been playing at PartyPoker.com for five years. These great packages are an amazing opportunity for other players to play in this huge tournament. Claiming the Aussie Millions title has been the highlight of my career and I’d love to see another PartyPoker.com player take the title.”

PartyPoker gave away 96 seats to the Aussie Millions in November as part of the site’s Gladiator promotion.  The players who earned at least 1,000 PartyPoints each day in November won their way into the event and the site doled out even more seats as part of a series of online tournaments featuring Scott.

Scott is the reigning Aussie Millions Champion and the first local player to win the tournament since it took on its new moniker and became one of the premiere events on the international tournament circuit.  In January, Scott defeated a field of 681 players to take down the AUD $2 million first place prize.  Peter Rho of Las Vegas finished in second place and earned AUD $1 million.  Other past winners of the Aussie Millions include Alexander Kostritsyn of Russia and Team Full Tilt member Gus Hansen.  Last year’s event also played home to one of the biggest live cash games in history with a minimum buy-in of AUD $1 million.

The previous Aussie Millions event boasted a guaranteed first place prize of AUD $2 million.  The Crown Casino is expecting an even larger turnout than 2009 and the tournament’s official website is predicting more than 800 runners in the upcoming Main Event.  There will also be a host of side events, including an AUD $100,000 buy-in High Rollers Event, a Heads-Up Event, and several Pot Limit Omaha events.  In total, the Crown will offer 20 different tournaments from January 14th to 31st, including the Main Event, which will run from January 24th to 30th.

PartyPoker Giving Away 25 Aussie Millions Seats

It’s the last chance to qualify on PartyPoker for the southern hemisphere’s biggest poker tournament and the site is planning two $600+40 satellites Sunday Dec. 13.

One will be timed to suit Australia and New Zealand-based players at 2:45 a.m. ET with five $12,000 packages guaranteed.

The other is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET giving players from the rest of the world the chance to win one of 20 $15,000 packages.

“I’ve been playing at PartyPoker.com for five years,” said 2009 Aussie Millions champ and PartyPoker spokesperson Stewart Scott.

“These great packages are an amazing opportunity for other players to play in this huge tournament. Claiming the Aussie Millions title has been the highlight of my career and I’d love to see another PartyPoker.com player take the title.”

Visit PokerListings.com

PartyPoker Launches Full House Promotion

Throughout the month of December, PartyPoker will be holding the Full House promotion. The three-pronged promotion covers the worlds of cash games, sit and gos, and multi-table tournaments. PartyPoker does not accept players from the United States.

The first component of PartyPoker’s Full House promotion is the $50,000 Cash Game Race. The site’s Bronze, Silver, and Gold players are eligible for the five-figure purse and the top prize is $3,000. The top 500 players on the points-based leaderboard will walk away with cash, with the minimum payout being $10. The top seven players will earn over $1,000, while the top 200 will take home at least $100. The $50,000 Cash Game Race runs between December 3rd and 23rd and only Party Points earned at ring games will count.

At the time of writing, the top player on the $50,000 Cash Game Race, “luckboxing47,” has luck boxed his way to 6,466 Party Points and, if the promotion ended today, would be in line for a $3,000 payday. The 500th player, “alfie1906,” has 348 points. PartyPoker’s Palladium Lounge members are not eligible to battle in the $50,000 Cash Game Race.

The Jackpot Hunter is geared towards sit and go aficionados on PartyPoker. This part of the promotion, which runs all month long, offers a colossal $160,000 in potential payouts. One $50,000 prize is available for any player who manages to take down not one, not two, not three, not four, but five $55 buy-in or higher sit and gos in a row. Three $20,000 prizes are available for players who can accomplish the feat in $12 to $54 buy-in sit and gos and five $10,000 jackpots are available for sit and gos ranging in buy-in from $3 to $11. All wins must be consecutive.

Jackpot Hunter prizes are awarded on a first come, first served basis. PartyPoker’s website explains the redemption process: “Once you’ve won five consecutive STTs at a particular level, e-mail your account name to info@partypoker.com immediately.” This part of the Full House promotion began on December 1st. Here’s the fine print: all five sit and gos won must be of the exact same buy-in and only 10-seat single-table tournaments are eligible. Double-or-Nothing events do not count and players can claim as many jackpots as they can achieve.

The final part of the Full House promotion on PartyPoker consists of $1 Million Multi-Table Tournament Jackpots. Running all month long, the Multi-Table Jackpots require players to buy into daily $5,000 prize pool tournaments with a price tag of 20 Party Points. The top 200 players in each $5,000 event move on to a $250,000 Grand Final on January 3rd. PartyPoker players who fail to qualify for the Grand Final can pony up 1,000 Party Points to enter. Any player who wins two of the $5,000 events will earn $100,000 and, if a player can snag titles in any three of these tournaments, they’ll earn a life-changing $1 million.

The wins in $5,000 events don’t have to be consecutive and PartyPoker customers must e-mail the site if they’re eligible to win the $100,000 or $1 million prizes. Jackpots are awarded on a first come, first served basis.

PartyPoker is the fourth largest online poker site or network worldwide with a seven-day running average of 4,700 real money ring game players according to PokerScout.com. During its peak hours, which occur in the evening throughout Europe, well north of 7,000 cash game players can be found on its felts. PartyPoker is the second largest site or network to accept U.S. players behind the mammoth iPoker Network, whose family of rooms includes Titan Poker, CelebPoker, Mansion Poker, Paddy Power Poker, and William Hill.

Three ways to win are available this month as part of the PartyPoker Full House promotion. Visit the site for more details.

PartyPoker Awards 96 Aussie Millions Seats

“We added great incentive for the most dedicated players,” said a PartyPoker spokesman. “If they earned 1,000 points every day for the full 30 days a player secured a seat at next year’s Aussie Millions worth $10,500 (AUD).

“Ninety-six fearless warriors proved themselves to be gladiators and are entitled to this fantastic bonus. We are delighted with the popularity of this promotion and would like to congratulate the thousands who were rewarded by it.”

The promo ran for all of November and players who generated at least 10 PartyPoints a day for five days straight received entry into a $5,000 freeroll. PartyPoker also offered a variety of cash prizes for frequent players ranging from $10 to $3,000.

The site now starts its Full House promotion, which will be comprised of three components including a cash game race, jackpots for sit & go players and a $1 million potential jackpot for tournament players.

The cash game race will offer $50,000 in prizes to players who finish 1-500 on the race leaderboard.

The sit & go portion will reward players who win five consecutive single-table tournaments in a row. The site will offer five $10,000 jackpots to players in the $3-$11 buy-in range, three $20,000 jackpots to players in the $12-54 range and one $50,000 jackpot to the first player to win five consecutive sit-in-go tournaments in the $55+ buy-in range.

PartyPoker is also offering players a series of $5,000 guaranteed tournaments for a buy-in of 20 PartyPoints throughout the month. If any player wins two of these tournaments they will win a $250,000 jackpot and if any player manages to win three they will receive a $1 million jackpot.

The Full House promo will run all of December, check the PartyPoker website for complete details.

Visit PokerListings.com

PartyPoker giving away millions

"There's a full house of promotions running on PartyPoker.com throughout December that will be attractive to all kinds of players," said a spokesperson for the site. "For bronze, silver and gold players there is a $50,000 Cash Game Race, while for the Sit & Go specialist there is up to $160,000 to win through the Jackpot Hunter.

"Making up the Full House promotion is the chance to win $1 million through multi-table tournament jackpots with a buy-in of just 20 PartyPoints."

The Cash Game Race runs from Dec. 3-23 for bronze, silver or gold level loyalty members only. PartyPoints earned on cash games will be tracked and the top 500 finishers will receive anywhere from $10 to $3,000.

Running all month, the Jackpot Hunter will award a jackpot worth $10,000 to $50,000, depending on the buy-in level, for players that win five Sit & Go's in a row. There is one $50,000 gold jackpot available for $55+ Sit & Go's, three $20,000 silver jackpots for $12 to $54 Sit & Go's and five $10,000 bronze jackpots for $3 and $11 Sit & Go's.

Finally, the Full House $1 million Multi-Table Tournament Jackpot has the site hosting daily tournaments with a $5,000 prize pool with a buy-in of just 20 PartyPoints.

The top 200 players in each will win entry into the Grand Final Jan. 3 featuring a $250,000 prize pool. Players can also buy in to the Grand Final for 1,000 PartyPoints.

If a player is able to win two of the $5k daily tournaments, they will win a $100,000 bonus and should someone be able to win three, PartyPoker will award them $1 million.

For more on the PartyPoker Full House Promotion click here.

Visit PokerListings.com

Scott hosts Aussie Millions qualifier this weekend

The Stewart Scott High Roller Aussie Millions Invitational is set to take place on PartyPoker this Sunday at 3:05 ET with the winner taking down a $12,000 Aussie Millions package.

PartyPoker will also award a $640 seat in the PartyPoker Aussie Millions final qualifier to whoever manages to knock out Scott.

"I'm excited in the anticipation of the Stewart Scott High Roller Invitational at PartyPoker.com," said defending Aussie Millions champ Scott.

"There will be some of Australia's finest onliners, particularly from Adelaide and New South Wales, competing for an awesome package to the Aussie Millions - the richest tournament in the Southern Hemisphere. It's a great opportunity to qualify and you can almost triple your money by claiming my bounty while you're at it."

Despite the title of the event, registration is open to anyone who buys in for $270.

PartyPoker will have a strong presence at the 2010 Aussie Millions with two more large qualifiers scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009.

One will be timed to suit Australian and New Zealand-based players with five $12,000 Aussie Millions packages guaranteed while the other satellite will give players from the rest of the world a chance to win one of 20 guaranteed packages worth $15,000 each.

In addition, there will be a number of smaller Stewart Scott Aussie Millions special tournaments that take place on a bi-weekly basis.

Click here for the complete schedule of PartyPoker Aussie Millions qualifiers.

Visit PokerListings.com

PartyPoker offering 2010 Aussie Millions seats

The online poker room introduced qualifiers for the 2010 Aussie Millions this week with packages worth $15,000 up for grabs.

The ultimate goal is to emulate the success of PartyPoker Australia Ambassador Scott, who took home $2 million AUD by winning the 2009 Aussie Millions.

"These great packages are an amazing opportunity for other players to play in this huge tournament," said Scott. "The Aussie Millions title has been the highlight of my career and I'd love to see another PartyPoker.com player take the title."

PartyPoker will offer several special qualifiers hosted by Scott himself leading up to the 2010 Aussie Millions.

Players can take part in the Stewart Scott Bounty Hunt with a $70 bounty on Scott, the Stewart Scott Aussie Millions specials, which cost only $6+$1 to enter, and the Stewart Scott Highroller Aussie Millions Invitational, which awards a $12,000 package to the Aussie Millions.

In total, PartyPoker will be giving away 25 seats to the 2010 Aussie Millions with five designated for Australian and New Zealand based players.

The 2010 Aussie Millions will once again take place on the Crown properties in sunny Melbourne. The tournament series is scheduled to run Jan. 14-31, 2010, with 20 events. The $10,500 No-Limit Hold'em main event will run Jan. 24-30.

To view the complete schedule go here.

Visit PokerListings.com

PartyPoker gears up for Gladiator battle

"In this Colosseum you don't have to worry about lions - just sharks, donkeys and fish," said a PartyPoker spokesperson. "This promotion isn't all about maximus PartyPoints; it is about spreading play over a period of time for maximus rewards. It is simple and offers great value and we encourage players to challenge themselves and take a closer look."

The Gladiator promotion, running Nov. 1-30, offers players a number of rewards based on the number of PartyPoints they can collect per day.

The rewards range from entry into a $5,000 freeroll for those who collect just ten PartyPoints a day for five days all the way up to an AUD$10,500 seat in the 2010 Aussie Millions main event for players that earn 1,000 points a day for the full 30 days in November.

There are also seats in a $10,000 freeroll and up to $3,000 cash up for grabs.

Players do not have to earn points on consecutive days and points collected during the promotion still count towards Palladium Lounge targets.

In the meantime, PartyPoker's Million Dollar Hand promotion continues on the site until the end of October.

The Million Dollar Hand promotion gives players a card for every 15 points they collect and hands out prizes for every five card hand they've built.

Prizes range from $3 for a pair to $10,000 for a straight flush and $1 million for a royal flush.

While no one has made a royal flush, so far there have been 65,652 pairs, 7,446 two pairs, 3,328 three of a kinds, 625 straights, 398 flushes, 240 full houses, 34 four of a kinds and 4 straight flushes.

For more information on November's Gladiator promotion, click here.

Visit PokerListings.com

Party Poker World Open V TV Coverage starts on Five tomorrow night

If your idea of a good night in after playing poker all day is to watch poker then you’re spoilt for choice this week with another top tournament hitting the screens. Coverage of the PartyPoker.com World Open V begins on Wednesday 28th October/Thursday 29th October at 12.10am on Five.

Bounty tournaments come to PartyPoker

Bounty tournaments allow players to get paid for knocking others out. A part of the buy-in is put aside and reserved to pay out the bounties, which are credited to a player's account immediately.

"We are always listening to customers and consistently striving to improve our product," a PartyPoker spokesperson said. "The introduction of new bounty tournaments add an exciting and fun dimension to play."

The software update also includes the introduction of a 'remember table layout' feature and enhanced players notes.

The 'remember table layout' feature allows players to enable a feature that will remember the layout of tables when closed and open new tables of the same size and in the same position on the screen.

The new enhanced player notes feature allows players to double-click on another player's image to open the 'Notes' section with their name already entered in the 'Select Player' field.

"These changes come on top of the introduction of the hand history replayer and super speed games last month," added the spokesperson. "Coming up in the future is the introduction of RSA tokens and synchronized breaks."

For more information on PartyPoker's latest update, click here.

Visit PokerListings.com

Phil Laak wins Party Poker World Open V

Phil Laak is the PartyPoker.com World Poker Open V champion. The Unabomber started the final slowly, seeing his chips drop from a starting stack of 300,000 to 187,000 at one stage but he fought his way back after getting a bit of luck against Luke ‘_fullflush_’ Schwartz. The Irish-born American pushed all in with AJ. Schawartz instantly called with a dominating AQ but a J on the flop doubled Laak up and he was right back in the contest.

F1 Driver Giancarlo Fisichella New PartyPoker.it Spokesman

The latest sports star to take an interest in the game of poker is Formula One driver Giancarlo Fisichella.  The Italian speedster recently signed on to a sponsorship deal with PartyPoker.it, PartyPoker’s Italian site.

Fisichella, known to his fans as Fisi, gained notoriety in the poker world during the PartyPoker-sponsored Sports Challenge IV earlier this year.  The tournament combined online qualifiers from PartyPoker with celebrities from the world of sports and put them in themed heats.  Fisichella played in the “Racing” heat and impressed commentators and observers alike with his understanding of position and use of aggression.  He ultimately lost to online qualifier and PartyPoker VIP player Scott O’Reilly, but his display of skill impressed PartyPoker enough to keep him in mind for a future sponsorship deal.

Apparently, Fisi has had a hard time getting poker off of his mind.  As he explained in a statement to PartyPoker, he often turns to poker to pass the time while on the racing circuit: “Poker has become a very popular pastime in the paddock in recent months with many of the drivers.  I have joined two new teams recently and am delighted to be in pole position as a new ambassador for PartyPoker.it!”

The other team Fisichella is referring to is Ferrari, which he signed a deal to race for in September of this year.  The longtime driver has been affiliated with several other teams during his storied career, including Jordan, Minardi, Renault, Force India, and Benetton.  The Roman got his start racing go-karts back in the mid-1980s, made a name for himself on several tours, and transitioned to the F1 circuit in 1996.  He won his first F1 race when he took down the Brazil stop in 2003 and also has a 2005 victory in Australia to his credit.

Fisichella will now have to find time to fit poker into his busy schedule, serving as a spokesman for PartyPoker.it both online and at major live poker tournaments.  The site is looking forward to having the driver onboard and a company spokesman commented on Fisi’s potential in the poker world: “Giancarlo is the fantastic new ambassador for PartyPoker.it.  Many commentators have already said that they believe that he is on track to be one the best ‘celebrity’ players on the poker circuit.”

In celebration of Fisi joining the PartyPoker team, PartyPoker.it is hosting a series of freerolls with Fisichella-themed prizes.  The daily freerolls will give out €500 in cash prizes as well as a specially designed F1 shirt autographed by Fisi.  The free tournaments will run daily through the end of the month.

The promotion is exclusive to PartyPoker.it and cannot be accessed by PartyPoker.com customers.  PartyPoker’s Italian-only poker site launched earlier this year and has already established itself as one of the most popular online poker sites in Italy.  The country has gone back and forth on the issue of online gambling and, at one point, even outlawed online poker entirely.  Italy passed new laws regulating and licensing online poker in 2008 and, ever since then, sites have had to create online poker rooms specific to Italy and only open to Italian customers.

Fisichella is the first sponsored player for the Italian site, but PartyPoker has been picking up new players from all over the world to be a part of its grassroots-based Team PartyPoker.  Felipe “Mojave” Ramos, Remy Biechel, Ian Frazer, and Bodo Sbrzesny all joined the team this year and the site recently added 2009 Aussie Millions winner Stewart Scott to its list of sponsored pros.

PartyPoker.it adds Italian racer Fisichella

The Italian racing legend recently has signed with PartyPoker.it as an ambassador in an attempt to bring the excitement of Formula One racing to the poker circuit.

"Poker has become a very popular pastime in the paddock in recent months with many of the drivers," Fisichella said.

"I have joined two teams recently and am delighted to be in pole position as a new ambassador for PartyPoker.it."

A veteran of over 200 grand prix starts, Fisichella recently signed a contract with Ferrari that will see him drive with the team for the rest of the 2009 Formula One season.

Fisichella raised some eyebrows with his strong play in the PartyPoker.com Sports Stars Challenge IV this summer. The racecar driver was a favorite to win his heat, but eventually lost out to PartyPoker qualifier Scott O'Reilly.

PartyPoker.it is marking Fisichella's signing by offering a number of daily freerolls where Italian players can win a piece of a €500 prize pool and a unique shirt signed by Fisichella.

The freerolls will run until Oct. 31. Check the site for more details.

"Giancarlo is a fantastic new ambassador for PartyPoker.it," said a PartyPoker spokesman.

"The freerolls are exclusive to Italian residents, but the rest of the world and the international poker circuit is likely to feel the force of Fisi as he gets involved in the game.

"Many commentators have already said that they believe he is on track to be one of the best 'celebrity' players on the poker circuit."

Visit PokerListings.com

Johannes Jorgensen wins Poker in the Sky

Local player Johannes Jorgensen has won Poker In The Sky and with it a $13,000 package to next month’s PartyPoker.com World Open V. The Copenhagen native showed that he had a head for heights as well as poker, winning the tournament while perched on a table suspended 50 metres above the ground. The elevated location proved too much for Danish pro Theo Jorgensen who cried off citing a fear of heights.

Hometown hero wins PartyPoker in the Sky

The 24-year old journalist from Copenhagen beat out 21 players to grab a $13,000 package to the PartyPoker.com World Open V in London this October.

Jorgensen triumphed while being suspended 50 meters above the Copenhagen Town Hall.

"The fact that the game was high up in the sky certainly added a different element to my play," said Jorgensen. "I'm not at all scared of heights and am a fan of bungee jumping so I targeted players who I thought were as keen to get down as quick as possible with aggressive play.

"In addition, I targeted those who I deduced had less experience. I think there were better players than me on the platform, but I kept out of their way as much as possible. The strategy worked."

Jorgensen mentioned he was already looking forward to the World Open V, which takes place Oct. 11-15. Elite poker players like Mike Sexton and Tom "durrrr" Dwan are already scheduled to play.

"I'm delighted to have won the World Poker Open V package - if that event was held 50 meters up I still think I would have some serious problems with players like Mike Sexton and Tom Dwan," said Jorgensen.

Last year Irishman Marty Smyth beat out Neil Channing to take down a first place prize of $250,000. PartyPoker.com is still running qualifiers for this year's World Poker Open.

Visit PokerListings.com