Party Poker

The third edition of the PartyPoker.com Premier League will begin early round play today in London. This year's line-up of competitors will feature a bit of the old and a brand new bit of the new. The just announced final player is 11 time WSOP bracelet winner: Phil Hellmuth. The most interesting new face to the Premier League is brand new WSOP Champion: Peter Eastgate. The former "youngest ever" World Series of Poker Champ will face off against the new youthful titleholder and an impressive array of other runners, including:

Tom ‘Durrrr’ Dwan
JC Tran
Nenad Medic
David 'Devilfish' Ulliott
Tony G
Vicky Coren
Annette Obrestad
Roland de Wolfe
Andy Black
Juha Helppi

Early action at Party Bets has the newly crowned WSOP winner at the favorite to take down the event.

Action begins with a live draw for seats and flights at 10 AM local time, followed by seven days of exciting play. The format remains as in previous two league mathces: All 12 players will play six times in the preliminary stages. The leading four players will then progress to the final table with the next four battling it out in heads-up matches for the final two seats.

You can [could have] follow[ed] the live action from the 36 hour marathon Party Poker Poker Den from the Matchroom site. The event is underway now in London, with a huge line up of professionals in town for the WSOPE. The format is a $10,000 buy-in with $50/$100 blinds and eight seats at the table. Players may come or go as they like with an interesting group ready to take any empty seats.

Still playing at the end of hour 36 of 36:

Juha Helppi
Phil Laak
Bodo Sbrzesny (second session)
Chris "Smitty" Smithy
Josh Ladines
Andrew Feldman (big winner 58K)
Roland de Wolfe (third session)
Chris Parker

Also played:
Neil Channing (played 33 hours)
Ilios Kamatakis (busted)
David Williams (busted)
Ian Frazier (out)
Jennifer Tilly (left game a winner!)
Robert Williamson III (out)
Barny Boatman (out)
Richard Wheatley (out)
Roberto Romanello (out)
Sammy “any two” George (out after 15 hours)
Chris Parker (out)

There is a $1,000 added "Party Pot" once an hour, which seems to stimulate a lot of action. The first Party Pot got up to $17,000.

Some people call it the toughest cash game in the world. Others say it is the most fun. Whatever it is, great poker television comes out of the Party Poker-Poker Den. The Den involves handful of the most-seasoned professional poker players fighting it out in a marathon high-stakes cash game in front of television cameras. Poker TV doesn’t get any better than this.

The poker pros set to make an appearance are some of the most colorful personalities in the game. Scheduled to play are Phil Hellmuth, Dave "Devilfish" Ulliot, Tony G, Jamie Gold, Brian Townsend, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Jennifer Tilly, Andrew Feldman, Sammy “Any Two” George, Robert Williamson III, Phil Laak, and Antonio Esfandiari.

This year the Den is going to be even more interesting for the players and the audience. While the first two Den Games were 24 hour events, this year, the Big Game will run for 36 hours straight.

Eddie Hearn, head of online gaming at Matchroom Sport said:

“The Poker Den has come a long way since we started back in the summer of 2005, the Big Game has been such a huge success, and the two series so far have attracted the best players in the world.”

Players will sit down with a minimum of $10,000 but no more than $20,000 and play with $25-$50 blinds. As usual, there will be a lot of straddling, guaranteeing a lot of action. Players are free to leave the table at any time; up, down or busted.

The show will be filmed September 30 and October 1; and will be shown on Channel 5 in the U.K. next year. Commenter Jesse May will be present during the entire duration of the event. To learn more about the cash game, go to Match Room Poker.

Poker purists hate jackpots and high hand gimmicks in any poker room. Because these bonuses are funded from a "bonus drop" at the tables, the "real" poker players feel their advantage over the weaker players is reduced because the jackpots not something you win with skill. The extra drop reduces each and every pot, won by skill, and funds one or more jackpot pools won randomly.

I think the big change in jackpots rooms is that players actually play the game differently when there are jackpots to be won. Let me cite two current examples. I was playing some limit hold'em last weekend in one of the Station casinos in Las Vegas. When an experienced player offered to "chop" the blinds with a new player, someone had to explain the concept to the rookie. The interesting part for me was the explanation contained the words: "First you check to see if you might have a jackpot hand and then you chop." None of the regulars "always chop" in a bonus room; they "chop if not jackpot eligible". Now to be fair the Station bad beat was over $225,000 last weekend, so there is some motivation to pay attention to the existence of the jackpot.

Then we have the online jackpots. Tell me that you aren't tempted to play a bit differently and a bit more, when outrageously monster jackpots are available. Right now, well at least while I am typing this, the Bad Beat Jackpot at Party Poker is approaching $1,000,000. No, that is not a typo. The BBJ at Party is currently Nine Hundred and Ninety-Two Thousand Dollars. The "loser" of the bad beat would win roughly one-third of a million dollars. Makes you a lot more willing to play those small pocket pairs in early position!

UPDATE: The Party Poker Bad Beat went down at $1,013,381.63! The losing hand (Quad Nines) took home more than $354K, while the winner (Royal Flush) received $177K and the other eight table members got $22K each. The winner said she would have played her pocket nines regardless, since it was a limped pot pre-flop.

Building on the success of the 2008 PartyPoker.com Irish Poker Championship, preparations for next year’s event in Galway are already underway with the creation of a special land based tour offering a unique chance to qualify for Europe’s first major tournament of 2009. The PartyPoker.com Irish Poker Championship Tour launches this evening at the Eglinton Card Room and Casino in a Galway buzzing with punters attending the showpiece horse racing events.

The PartyPoker.com Irish Poker Championship Tour really cranks into gear with seven more events across the Emerald Isle, finishing in December. On the second leg of the tour in Waterford the top three players in the €2000 added event receive 2009 IPC seats, while in the remaining six stops the top five in the €2000 added event all get seats into the major tournament. The tour features €20,000 in added money and includes €4000 put up for a special league based on performances on the tour as a whole.

Online qualifiers are also available at Party Poker.

The 2008 Irish Poker Championship was a €2,000 buy-in tournament organized by PokerEvents.ie and sponsored by PartyPoker.com. It attracted 298 runners on a day when snow engulfed Ireland and produced a final prize pool of €542,500. Amongst the familiar faces at the tables were ‘Ambassador of Poker’ Mike Sexton, Noel Furlong, ‘Flying Dutchman’ Marcel Luske, Ciaran O’Leary, Michael Keiner, Robert Williamson III, Padraig Parkinson, Jon Kalmar, Scott Gray, Bruno Fitoussi, Jan Sørensen, Roy Brindley , Mad Marty Wilson, Marty Smith, Katharine Hartree, Jeff Duvall, Alan Vinson, Tom Franklin, Steve Wong, Neil Channing, Tony Cascarino and Rory Liffey. The eventual winner was Galway ’s Jude Ainsworth.

PARTYPOKER.COM IRISH POKER CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR - SCHEDULE

Waterford Aug 30th/31st Tower Hotel

Dublin Sep 6th/7th Fitzwilliam Card Club

Cork Oct 17th/18th Macau Casino

Dublin Nov 8th/9th City West

Mayo Nov 14th/15th Park Hotel, Kiltimagh

Athlone Nov 28th/29th Springs Hotel

Letterkenny Dec 12th/13th Gold Club Casino

is counting down to celebrating its 7th birthday and is giving players an opportunity to join in the party with a $1,000,000 guaranteed Birthday Party bonanza tournament.

There will be no cake, no disco and definitely no unwanted gifts, just a cool $1,000,000 guaranteed prize fund that will be up for grabs in a special tournament on Sunday 10th August at 1245 ET. Daily qualifiers are now taking place at PartyPoker.

Players can buy-in directly to the championship-style blind structured main event for $640. As always, PartyPoker will provide a diverse qualifying structure allowing ALL players, no matter the size of their bankroll, an opportunity to qualify and participate in the $1 Million Birthday Million. Qualifiers start from as little as $1 with a range running daily. It is possible to get involved in the action by using just 15 PartyPoints. Detailed information on qualification can be found here.

A PartyPoker spokesman said,

“There is no doubt this is a party not to miss. It is not often you go to someone else’s birthday celebrations with the chance of walking away with a share of $1,000,000. It will definitely feel like a birthday and Christmas all rolled into one for our big winners. The birthday celebrations will start on Monday 4th August, with a range of special celebration tournaments.

A final table battle on the high seas takes place today aboard the Party Poker Millions Cruise VI. Germany’s Dominik Stopka enters as chip leader, but only by a single chip over Alexander Jung also from Germany. The final nine also include Sweden ’s 2008 PartyPoker Late Night Poker winner Andreas Jorbeck, Johannes Strassmann and Mika Paasonen. All have tasted recent success on the European circuit. Amongst those to miss out on the final table include Thomas Bihl, Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald, Florian Langmann and Christop Haller.

For a summary of all the final table action check the PartyPoker Blog.

Here are the final table players with beginning chip counts, we will add the finishers as they bust out down to the champion.

SEAT 1 – KENNETH GREGERSEN – Denmark - 44,000 9th place

SEAT 2 – RAYMOND ESTALL – UK - 187,000 5th

SEAT 3 – JOHANNES STRASSMANN – Germany - 182,000 7th

SEAT 4 – ALEXANDER JUNG – Germany - 326,000 CHAMPION

SEAT 5 – MIKA PAASONEN – Finland - 236,000 4th

SEAT 6 – DOMINIK STOPKA – Germany - 327,000 2nd

SEAT 7 – CORY ALBERTSON – United States - 90,000 3rd

SEAT 8 – PETER STEINLESBERGER – Austria - 132,000 8th

SEAT 9 – ANDREAS JORBECK – Sweden – 182,000 6th

In an unprecedented move, PartyPoker.com has slashed the charges for all single-table tournaments over $200 to a super-low flat fee of $10. No matter how high the stakes are above $200, the fee will be just $10 meaning there is huge value to be had for the bankroll, value that cannot be found elsewhere.

To celebrate this, PartyPoker.com has introduced a complete range of high-end STT’s with buy-in’s all the way up to $5,000. With a fee of just $10 this is great value and is simply not available at any other online poker room. For example, on a six seat $5,000 STT the typical saving is $190 and a ten seat $300 STT the saving is $10.

Check out the full list of tournaments today!

PARTYPOKER.COM – FLAT FEE STT’S

$5,000 + $10 6 seat Save $190
$5,000 + $10 2 seat Save $90
$2,000 + $10 10 seat Save $80
$2,000 + $10 6 seat Save $80
$2,000 + $10 2 seat Save $40
$1,000 + $10 10 seat Save $40
$1,000 + $10 6 seat Save $20
$1,000 + $10 2 seat Save $20
$500 + $10 10 seat Save $20
$500 + $10 6 seat Save $20
$500 + $10 2 seat Save $10
$300 + $10 10 seat Save $10
$300 + $10 6 seat Save $10
$300 + $10 2 seat Save $10
$200 + $10 10 seat Save $10
$300 + $10 6 seat Save $6

The PartyPoker Millions Cruise is set to sail this Saturday with the sixth edition of the tournament. The cruise will leave from Venice, Italy, and stops off in Greece, Turkey and Croatia before turning back to historic Venice. The ship, the MSC Poesia, is a state of the art cruise liner packed with facilities and the cabins are now full. On board there will be restaurants, bars, tennis courts, mini golf, pools, spas, discos, a cinema, shopping and more…and not forgetting a massive 24/7 card room.

The PPM tournament will be a $8,200 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event which will also be recorded for worldwide broadcast. Mike Sexton will be host and MC, Matt Savage and Dave Lamb are tournament directors and the highly respected Card Player Cruises team that includes Linda Johnson, Mark Tenner and Jan Fisher will be onboard running the poker room.

30 countries will be represented in the main event and amongst those fancied to make an impact include Canada’s history-making Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald, Sweden’s 2008 Late Night Poker winner Andreas Jorbeck, Brazil’s Christian Kruel, Danish sensation Soeren Kongsgaard, Germany’s Florian Langmann and Alexander Jung and Finland’s Mika Paasonen. The line-up is a united nations of next generation poker talent.

Party Poker is sending players to the Asian Poker Tour tournament in Manila. You read about all the places poker tournaments take place and all of the online qualifiers but Party is willing to send you to the Philippines. Now I have visited Las Vegas and London but the Philippines, man I am ready to go.

Here are the details.

PartyPoker.com is pleased to announce that online qualifiers have started for 2008’s inaugural Asian Poker Tour event in Manila , the Philippines. An estimated four hundred players will take part in this showpiece event with a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million and PartyPoker.com has 11 packages up for grabs. Qualifiers are already online, starting from $1, but you have to hurry as the event takes place from May 27th through to June 1st.

The package is worth $6,000 and includes the $2,500 main event buy-in, seven nights at the fantastic Dusit Thani Manila Hotel and $2,500 in spending money. There will be two main $300 +$20 satellites a week with routes into them starting at $1.

PartyPoker is proud to announce that the third annual PartyPoker Poker Nations Cup will take place in Cardiff, Wales, between the 7th – 10th April. The team event features line-ups from Germany , Great Britain , Ireland , Sweden , Holland and the United States. The winning team will scoop $100,000 in this unique tournament that sees players pursuing personal and team glory, along with the honour of representing their home nation.

The tournament sees one PartyPoker.com VIP qualifier on each team playing alongside five world class poker professionals from the same participating nations. Each player pays a buy-in of $5,000 making a total prize pool of $280,000 ($100,000 added by PartyPoker). Over six heats, each player will compete once to score points for their team, and individual match winners scoop $20,000 for themselves for their efforts. All six teams will then compete in a “tag” final where each team captain’s judgement is vital, as it is up to them to make tactical substitutions and strategic “time outs.” The size of the team chip stacks for the tag final depend on the points gained by the players in the six heats. The triumphant nation will be the last with a player standing.

Defending champions Sweden will be again captained by Bo Sehlstedt and feature William Thorsson, Johan Storakers, Mats Rahm and last year’s hero Anders Henriksson. Joining them is an online qualifier with serious form in Johan Ocklind, who locked horns with the likes of Patrik Antonius, Tony G and Ilari Sahamies at the Scandinavian Poker Masters cash game last year. He got to sit down with $50,000 in the shark pool and handled himself admirably after qualifying online at PartyPoker.com.

The British team is captained by Roland de Wolfe and features reigning Poker Million champion Joe Beevers, 2008 Irish Open champion Neil Channing, format specialist Ian Frazer and the inimitable Surinder Sunar. Joining them is qualifier Francis Durbin. Captain for the past two years, Dave “The Devilfish” Ulliott is unavailable as he is in the United States . Ireland make a welcome return to the competition and are captained by legend Padraig Parkinson, joined by fellow Irish poker giant Donnacha O’Dea, 2007 Irish Open winner Marty Smith, WSOP bracelet holder Ciaran O’Leary and 2007 PartyPoker European Open champion Liam Flood. Darren O’Brien joins the team as the qualifier.

Team USA is captained by Robert Williamson III and will feature $12 million 2006 WSOP Main Event winner Jamie Gold, the one and only Freddy Deeb, the iconic Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson and Chad Brown . With there being no qualifier from the USA , captain Robert Williamson III has drafted in television host Montel Williams to make his European poker debut. Williams may be better known as a chat show host but he was the leading the WSOP Main Event for a period in 2007.

The German team is captained by Michael Keiner and the former plastic surgeon has moulded together a very strong team. Andreas Krause, one of the top European players last year is a key figure in the line-up as is Benjamin Kang, inaugural PartyPoker German Open winner Sebastian Ruthenberg and WSOP Europe bracelet winner Thomas “Buzzer” Bihl. Thomas Potzal is the qualifier joining this glittering role call of top pros. The Dutch team is captained by Marcel Luske and features Thierry Van der Berg, Eric Van der Berg and Daan Ruiter with Quirijn Van Der Peet the qualifier. Marcel still has one selection to make.

Last year Sweden triumphed over the USA in a rollercoaster tag-final, while the year before there was glory for Great Britain . PartyBets.com make Sweden 3/1 favourites to win again with the USA second favourites at 7/2, Great Britain at 9/2, Ireland at 5/1, Germany at 6/1 and Holland the outsiders at 13/2.

A PartyPoker spokesman said:

“The array of talent on display for the 2008 PartyPoker Poker Nations Cup is brilliant. Sweden have to be favourites to retain their title as their line-up of pros is unchanged and are used to the format and they are arguably strengthened by their online qualifier representative. That said, the USA will take some stopping with the likes of Gold, Ferguson Deeb and Brown on board while Great Britain boasts so many form players in their team. Ireland is a bit of a wildcard but there is little doubt that they have strength in depth in their side while Germany appear much stronger than previous years. The Dutch side led by Marcel have to be seen as the underdogs – the names don’t jump out as much at you as they do with the other line-ups.”

There are shows that cover poker tournaments on television and then there are poker shows made for television. Usually the first group fall into two categories. The World Series of Poker has certain events pre-selected by ESPN and except for the Main Event and the $50,000 HORSE event, it is a complete gamble if the final table will be interesting. The World Poker Tour model is a bit different because they (The Travel Channel and now GSN) cover every final table but only the final table.

Then we have the "made for TV" events like High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark. In these events the players are selected by the producers with an eye to a "good show". Sometimes this works and sometimes it does not; six tired, quiet poker pros sitting around a table makes for really boring television.

Somewhere in between is a better format and Party Poker seems to have hit on a near perfect format.

The Party Poker Premier League features 12 of the world’s best players playing in a unique league event for a $1 million prize pool. The event started at 3 Mills Studio, London on the 10th February and will be first broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK in late March. Each player took part in half a dozen six-seater games in the preliminary stages. The leading four players then progressed to the final table with the next four battling it out in heads-up matches for the final two seats.

Each player puts up $20,000 with PartyPoker.com adding $280,000 to make the pool $1 million. Nine of the twelve players from 2007’s successful event returned with the new faces added including: Marcel Luske, Annie Duke and Alexander Kravchenko. As before, Phil Hellmuth led a top field that also includes Dave ‘The Devilfish’ Ulliott, Tony G, Andy Black, Ian Frazer, Roland De Wolfe, Vicky Coren, Juha Helppi and Eddy Scharf.

After the preliminary events the players ranked as follows:

Tony G (AUS) 38 pts
Andy Black (IRE) 33 pts
Alex Kravchenko (RUS) 26 pts
Marcel Luske (HOL) 21 pts
Roland De Wolfe (ENG) 20 pts*
Annie Duke (USA) 19 pts*
Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott (ENG) 19 pts
Eddy Scharf (GER) 19 pts
Vicky Coren (ENG) 17 pts
Juha Helppi (FIN) 11 pts
Ian Frazer (ENG) 9 pts
Phil Hellmuth (USA) 8 pts

9 points were awarded for a 1st, 5 points for 2nd, 3 points for 3rd, 2 points for 4th, 1 point for 5th and a bagel (zero) for 6th.

*Annie Duke and Roland De Wolfe won their heads up matches versus Davie Ulliott and Eddy Scharf to make the six player final table.

If you don't want to know the final table results, read no further.

The PartyPoker European Challenge II is the highlight of the 14th annual Austrian Spring Poker Festival and will be held at the Concord Card Casino in Vienna. It takes place from 11th-14th March 2007, with an estimated prize pool of around $1.1 million. The Spring Poker Festival promises to be every card playing enthusiasts dream. Around 1000 people are expected to flock to the Austrian capital for the week long extravaganza, meaning side action will not be hard to find. The action will be filmed for worldwide television distribution and shown on ITV4 in the UK.

PartyPoker.com is pleased to announce that qualifiers are in full swing for the PartyPoker European Challenge II with a very special added poker bonus. All European based qualifiers get into a freeroll! Winners will take part in the special 60 player East versus West Team Cup on the 10th. In the Team Cup II, 30 representatives of Eastern Europe will lock horns with 30 from Western Europe. Those who thought the cold war was over may be wrong as Tony G and David "Devilfish" Ulliott are expected to be on opposing sides. Other pros expected to take part include Irish WSOP bracelet holder Ciaran O'Leary, Roland De Wolfe, Kirill Gerasimov and Alexander Kravchenko.

A PartyPoker spokesman said:

"The 60,000 Euro prize pool for the East versus West Team Cup is a great bonus for qualifiers for the European Challenge. The final table of 10 will share 37,500 while the winning team will get 22,500 split between them so even if you go out first hand in the freeroll you stand to profit from successful team mates."

For more information.

OK the U.S. Congress screwed up a lot of people with that dumb ass Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act. Personally, I lost access to my two favorite online poker sites and the sites I now play on have complicated machinations to get my money in and out. I also had a nice chunk of my bankroll tied up with Neteller for nearly a year and I have to write letters to politicians who I wouldn't let in my dog's house. Yes, yes, ever red-blooded American (French, German, Turkish, Canadian, Danish, etc.) poker player has some or all or more complaints about the meddling politicians around the world, who just can't seem to leave us the hell alone.

But I have a new, very personal complaint.

Every time I log into one of the sites I play poker on, I see new promotions to win a seat in Aussie Millions or the European Poker Tour or any number of WPT or WSOP events. I take a shot once in awhile but mostly I am happy to go to my local cardroom on Friday and and to spend the rest of my poker bankroll in online tournaments. But I have had one big travel dream all of my life. I would like to go to Rio de Janeiro for Carnival.

So image my surprise and image the hate-filled nasty, nasty, nasty letter I send my congresslady when I saw the Party Poker promotion for Carnival in Rio next month. PartyPoker is sending eight players to Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Me! I should be going! This was my trip to win [insert long-winded, barely coherent rant about politicians, loss of personal freedom and several four and nine letter words that should not be spoked within 300 meters of schools or churches].

Yes, you play poker to win the prize package but once you are in Rio it is pure fun. Hotel, airfare, seats at the grand parade and a big chunk of spending money.

But I live in the land of the semi-free run by brave-less weasels, so I can't open my Party account and play for the dream vacation of my life.

You Bastards!

Win a $10,000 Gridiron Party with Party Poker and celebrate the 2008 National Football League Super Bowl in style.

[Details below.]

It would seem appropriate at this time to explain the term "Gridiron", which refers to the American football field or pitch. What is truly amazing is the reach of the American Football Super Bowl. To prove that you need look no further than this promotion, which because of the USA government restrictions cannot be played for nor awarded to anyone living in the United States.

Still a great promotion and since I am not in the States, I am going to take my shot. Here are the details for all of you lucky poker players not living in the United States of Stupid Gaming Laws.

You can have a wild Superbowl party in your own lounge with Party Poker contributing $10,000 towards the cost of the wide screen TV and beer. Just earn yourself 5 PartyPoints between 5th January and 12th January to get a seat at one of 4 qualifiers, work your way up to the final on the 26th January to be in with a shot for that $10,000 party money. A chance to win a cool $10,000 for 5 PartyPoints?

Not a Party Poker member, click the PartyPoker.net logo in the upper right hand corner of this page and you are in! Who knows you could be watching the Super Bowl and the World Cup and the Miss Nude World pageant on your new wide screen television. Oh and you can follow the American election to see if they vote a poker player into office this year.

Oh and btw, Pamela Anderson is going ahead with her divorce from long time hubbie Rick Salomon. We thought you would want to know and, of course, now I can post another Pammie Picture.

One of my poker buddies told me he had loaded a new toolbar that gave him current information on poker tournaments about to begin. Now I only play on one site but I found out I can adjust the new toy to list any one or two or ten poker sites. This means only the tournaments I want to see will come up on the toolbar scroll and I don't have to keep checking the sites homepage for upcoming start times. You can even adjust the text so that only the Omaha or Hold'em or Razz tournaments are displayed.

It's a nice new toy whether you play one site or a dozen. Some of the press release about the toolbar is copied below.

Poker Portal has launched a free Poker Tournaments Toolbar for poker players around the world containing a constantly updated live daily tournament schedule from 20+ of the top poker rooms. Players can configure the toolbar to include or exclude specific poker rooms and use text filters to tailor the tournament schedule.

The toolbar collects poker tournament feeds from the top online poker rooms, sorting them into chronological order and serving them to players according to each player's requirements. The toolbar translates the start time of each tournament into the correct timezone for each individual player and is compatible with both the Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers.

The PartyPoker Millions Cruise is set to sail once again, with the sixth edition of the tournament announced for 3rd-10th May 2008. Next year the PPM VI will cruise the high seas of the Mediterranean. The cruise will leave from Venice, Italy, and stops off in Greece, Turkey and Croatia before turning back to historic Venice.

The PPM tournament will be a $8,200 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event which will also be recorded for worldwide broadcast. First prize is $1,000,000 USD; previous winners of past PPM Cruise tournaments include: Kathy Liebert, Howard Lederer, Erick Lindgren and Michael Gracz.

"The PartyPoker.com Million has a lot of history and it is great to welcome it back in 2008."

Qualifying events start as low as $1, with players shooting for full cruise/tournament packages worth up to $12,000. Get set for a spring on the high seas with Party Poker Millions VI.

Coverage of the inaugural PartyPoker Women’s World Open gets underway on Five in the UK and Ireland at 12.30 am on Wednesday 5th December/Thursday 6th December and will run for eight weeks. The 36 runner field features one of the strongest line-up’s ever assembled for a women’s poker tournament in Europe.

American competitors included Jennifer Tilly, Liz Lieu and Shannon Elizabeth.

Jennifer Tilly boasts an impressive tournament track record, with her World Series of Poker Ladies Event win in 2005 and a first in the World Poker Tour Ladies Night Out that same year. Since then the actress and poker player been honing her game and racking up cashes at major WSOP and WPT events.

Liz Lieu has a long list of international tournament cashes, including several WSOP events. Before her foray into the tournament realm, she'd already established herself as a winning cash-game player and can be found at Bellagio whenever the limits are steep enough for her high powered game.

Shannon Elizabeth brings a lot of star power to the event as well. She will be playing as well as commentating with Jesse May at the event. The actress, best known for her role in American Pie, is making her way up in the poker ranks. Most recently she cashed in a WSOP event and also came in third in the 2007 NBC National Heads-Up Championship, taking out Barry Greenstein and Jeff Madsen along the way.

The three will have their work cut out for them as some of Europe's most accomplished women players will be fighting for supremacy and the big money. They include former PartyPoker.com World Open winner Pippa Flanders, Xuyen Pham, European Ladies champion Jackie Meecham, Katharine Hartree, Jackie Vaswami and Deborah Rogers.

"This is the first women's tournament we have held, and we are delighted by the excellent line-up and hugely encouraged by the positive interest we have already received from broadcasters all over the world before a card has been dealt," said a PartyPoker.com spokesman.

I would like to invite all readers and all poker players to a new online poker forum.

OnlinePoker.com is another site I write for and they/we have just launched a brand new poker forum. Come on over and enjoy some good poker discussions without all of the noize that plagues the huge poker forums out there.

Everyone is welcome, all levels of play and all games are being discussed.

Invite your friends. With the new forum you can have those poker discussions in one place instead of trying to keep track of all those emails.

Following its enforced withdrawal from the American market due to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, the online poker giant Party Poker has been building new business in the European market, paying close attention to local markets. Different markets have widespread cultural and language demands, Sweden is a perfect example.

Party's latest development is the presentation of its poker site in the Swedish language - a sector with considerable potential despite attempts to enforce state monopolies.

New Swedish players will now find a site customized to their needs and in their own language.

"This makes our site more available to our customers, and at the same time makes it easier for them to play."

The regional support model extends beyond a Swedish language poker client, with Party Poker additionally offering full Swedish-speaking support.

22-year-old James McManus from Dublin, Ireland has come up with three very interesting wins on Party Poker recently. First he was the big winner of PartyPoker.com’s ‘The Grind’ promotion, winning a Mini Cooper S Convertible in a prize drawing. He followed that up by winning a Nintendo Wii when he came sixth at the final table of a 'Grindroll' tournament, and, if this wasn’t enough, less than two months ago he won $52,000 in the PartyPoker.com Bad Beat Jackpot!!

James noted:

“It has been a good couple of months. I didn’t have many debts but I’ve paid off all that I did have! I intend to use some of the money to build a bankroll for online cash games. I’ve thought about the tournament circuit a bit but I would need a bigger bankroll and I’m happy where I am now! I opted to take $40,000 rather than the car. A Mini Cooper S Convertible would be great but I don’t really have the need for it at the moment. I’m looking forward to getting my Wii though. When I hit the BadBeat I had pocket queens and flopped quads, my opponent had pocket nines and flopped a full house. They got $104,000 and I got $52,000 and I won the hand! That was brilliant but to win all of this in such a short period of time is fantastic!”

We would have to agree that James has been on quit a Party Roll.

The Poker Den is back for a second season. Perhaps the most entertaining live cash poker game on television will try it again next week.

PartyPoker announced that ‘PartyPoker Poker Den: The Big Game II’ is set to take place on Friday 14th September and will be broadcast on television around the world next year. The format is simple; it is a 24 hour continuous cash game where each player will buy-in for a minimum of $10,000.

The first Poker Den was UK television last year was dominated by a performance by Phil Hellmuth which was described by commentator Padraig Parkinson as “half murder, half suicide.” Phil is expected to return and join a line-up that includes Dave “The Devilfish” Ulliott, Tony G, Roland De Wolfe, Brian Townsend, Liz Lieu, Ian Frazer, Dan Carter, Roy Brindley, Nikolaus Jedlicka, Ian Woodley, Anthony Hardy, Neil Channing, Dave Gregory and Phil Curtis. Names are still being added to the line-up.

Clips from PartyPoker Poker Den: The Big Game I programmes broadcast on Five in the UK earlier this year have become cult viewing on the internet, including:

Tony G and Phil Hellmuth
Tony G and Phil Curtis
Juha Helppi & Phil
More Tony & Phil

A PartyPoker spokesman said:

“Last time there were fireworks and we don’t expect anything different this time around. We are just worried that we’ll find a room big enough to accommodate their egos. Wembley Stadium wasn’t available so we had to settle for something smaller.”

Here is a very good promo clip from last year's Big Game

The first, the original poker show on television is coming back. Late Night Poker is returning to the airways with a twist; you can play too!

Late Night Poker revolutionised people's perceptions of poker when it first appeared on the UK's Channel 4 in 1999. The show was the first to use under-table cameras, which gave viewers the chance to see all the hidden angles as the action unfolded.

The new 2007 show will follow the shootout format of the original Late Night Poker series, with seven tables of seven players competing for the prize. You can play against other online qualifiers, the old-school pros who played in the first event, and some of poker's hot young guns.

You could win a $7,500 Late Night Poker package includes staying in a luxury hotel, a $5,000 tournament buy-in, and a touch of that celebrity lifestyle that money just can't buy. The winner of the final table will pocket $125,000, with the remainder split between the other players who reach the final table.

Watch footage of last year's Late Night Poker series here.

Win your seat on Late Night Poker. Qualifying requires that you live in a free country.

SUNDAY, July 15: Both Party Poker players have moved from Day Five to Day Six!

Only 36 players remain in the Main Event.

Philip Hilm 9,950,000 (currently in 2nd place)

Peter Darvill 2,430,000 (19th place)

Each will earn at least $285,678.

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SATURDAY, July 14: Two Party Poker qualifiers have advanced to Day Five of the WSOP Main Event.

Philip Hilm Cambridge, UK 1,183,000
Peter Darvill Vancouver, BC 441,000

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FRIDAY, July 13: Four Party Poker qualifiers finished in the money on Day Four of the WSOP Main Event:

Tinten Oliver (223rd $51,398)
Sebastian Zink (231st $45,422)
Chris Lines (260th $45,422)
Jason Melross (280th $45,422)

UPDATE: Tinten Olivier reaches Day Four! Still short-stacked at 115,000; Tinten has outlasted over 6,000 players as he enters Day Four of the Main Event. He is guaranteed to earn at least $39,445.

Tinten Olivier, a Party Poker WSOP qualifier, is having quite a run in the $10,000 Main Event. Tinten lives in Paris, France and is attending his first World Series of Poker.

After leading all players on Day 1A with 270,500, Tinten had an up and down Day 2A on Tuesday but survived to enter today's Day 3 with 238,000.

His table today will break in the early rounds but this is his opening round draw:

196 2 Chris Crilly San Clemente, CA 191,600
196 1 Jay Perkins San Antonio, TX 55,000
196 9 Joshua Van Dyke Rindge, NH 132,000
196 8 Michael Bakke Ashland, OR 42,900
196 7 Mike Laing Franklin, PA 209,400
196 6 Sam Ditson London, UK 131,800
196 3 Esfandiar Dara New York, NY 235,400
196 5 Jorge Albalat Spain 153,500
196 4 Tinten Olivier Paris, France 238,000

UPDATE: Table 196 was indeed broken and Tinten was moved to the ESPN feature table with this lineup:

Seat 1: Tinten Olivier
Seat 3: Gus Hansen
Seat 4: Matthew Hilger
Seat 5: Greg Huffman
Seat 6: John Duthie
Seat 7: Shawn Chaconas
Seat 8: Brian Miller
Seat 9: Kenneth Stead

-a much tougher table but some television time thrown in to compensate.

photo credit: Amy Calistri

It would seem that the British have found a couple of winning formulas for poker on the telly.

The first broadcast of the final table of the Poker Nations Cup ran last night and according to viewers and participants it was exciting television and great poker.

The Party Poker sponsored series had a unique set up with six teams from six nations (Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Great Britian and USA) with six members on each team. The format had every player in a first round single table shootout with one member of each team. Points were awarded based on finishing place at those six tables and those points determined the starting chips at the final table. The final table was played with four members of each team rotating into the hot seat.

The Swedish team took down the 2007 Poker Nations Cup coming back from a nearly 7 to 1 chip disadvantage when they began heads up play against the American captain, Robert Williamson III. The winning team, captained by Bo Sehlstedt, included 2006 WSOP bracelet winners Anders Henriksson and Mats Rahm, as well as Johan Storakers, William Thorsson and online qualifier Hans Isoz.

A sneak preview of PartyPoker.com Premier League Poker is now available online. I should warn a few of you that the video is rated "18 years of age or older" in several very conservative countries. No nudity but Devilfish is in fine verbal form and is that Tony G. chasing Phil Hellmuth around the table?

Find the promo video here.

The televised version of the Premier League Poker gets underway on Tuesday 22nd May on Channel 4 in the UK.

The series features 12 of the world’s best players playing in a unique league format for a $500,000 pot. Each player bought in for $20,000, with PartyPoker.com adding $260,000. The field included:

Phil Hellmuth
Dave ‘The Devilfish’ Ulliott
Tony G
Andy Black
Kiril Gerasimov
Liz Lieu
Ian Frazer
Roland De Wolfe
Vicky Coren
Juha Helppi
Kenna James
Eddy Scharf.

After each player played 6 times, the leading 4 players advanced to the final table with the players in 5th - 8th place played off in heads-up matches for the remaining 2 seats at the final table.

A selection of player quotes after the break, these are publicity quotes only; I think you will find the video much more reflective of what the play was actually like, except that first quote from Vicky Coren!

The PartyPoker World Open at the Three Mills Studios, London is underway, featuring the strongest field in the history of the tournament. The televised tournament is sold out and features 72 players with a $7,000 buy-in and a total prize pool in excess of $500,000. The event is produced by Matchroom Sport and will be broadcast on Five in the UK later this year and distributed worldwide.

The field is packed with highly respected names from the world of Poker. PartyPoker Premier League Poker stars Liz Lieu, Juha Helppi, Roland De Wolfe, Tony G, Vicky Coren, Dave "The Devilfish" Ulliott and Ian Frazer.

I spoke with Liz Lieu last week at the Bellagio in Las Vegas and asked about her impending jump over the pond the the UK:

"I'm so excited to be heading back to London for another Party Poker event. The World Open looks to be a great tournament, and I'm happy to be invited to play."

In addition, for the very first time in the tournament's history, all four members of the UK's most successful poker playing team the Hendon Mob take to the felt. Ram Vaswani, Joe Beevers and brothers Barny and Ross Boatman will all be under the spotlight and fancied to do well on their debuts. They too will be fresh from the Bellagio tournament, where both Ross and Barny went deep. Others to look out for include John Magill (12th WSOP Main Event 2006), recent Irish Open winner Marty Smyth, 2006 PartyPoker European Open champion Liam Flood, Don Fagan, Thomas Wahlroos, Roy Brindley and Roberto Romanello.

Last year's winner was Pippa Flanders, a well respected pro from Preston, UK, but the rise in her fortunes in the last year and the $200,000 she scooped from the World Open in 2006 mean that she inadvertently booked an expensive cruise on the QE2 later this month so she is unable to defend her title. Pippa and her husband, fellow pro Tim Flanders, have a plan, however, and are entering their 23-year-old daughter Charlotte instead.

A PartyPoker spokesman said:

"The field is the strongest in the tournament's history and we're very pleased. It's a shame that Pippa Flanders isn't back to defend her crown but Charlotte will surely defend the title valiantly."

The preliminary tournaments began on the 27th April with a celebrity table. The semi-finals start on May 3rd with the final on the evening of May 4th.

With more news everyday from around the world, what exactly is the state of online poker today?

Clearly when considering a worldwide regulatory environment there is not enough space in one blog, one article or one book to cover all of the issues but let's look at some recent developments.

The big three in online poker remain: PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Party Poker but the numbers have been changing.

PokerStars leapt to the top of the market when Party Poker left the US market after the passage of the UIGEA. But most industry watchers credit the continuing #1 position to the PokerStars sponsorship of the European Poker Tour.

Full Tilt Poker, on the other hand, while still in a solid second place is now often tied with the former leader Party Poker. Full Tilt continues to enhance its market share via its ever growing sponsorship of Full Tilt Professionals.

Party Poker continues to build its brand worldwide, diligently avoiding confrontations with any individual government's regulatory system; while focusing attention on those markets that remain open.

I hope all of our US readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week (for the rest of you, I hope your Thursday was magnificent). I myself was traveling all week, a fun exercise that ended with me stuck on an interstate for 10 hours. Thus, I missed the final table of this past Sunday's Party 200k Guarantee, but Haley has a recap over at PokerNews. My traveling and general Thanksgiving merriment (read: passed out on couch after big turkey dinner) have put me a bit behind on the To Do list, but, operating under the premise "better late than never", I offer you my recap of the 11/19 200k tournament.

If you've never heard of professional poker player David Ross, do yourself a favor and cozy up with the 2+2 archives. Our favorite Party Poker man [bonus code Tuaca!] Bill Rini makes it easy for you, by linking to each one of David's weekly reports on his attempts to turn pro. That attempt ended up successful, and David is now a top online pro. He's also Canadian, which allows him (for now) to continue playing on Party Poker.