PARTYPOKER.COM WORLD OPEN V GOES TRIPLE STACK – QUALIFY ONLINE!

Press Release - 26th August 2009 – http://www.partypoker.com/ and Matchroom Sport are pleased to announce the dates and details for the PartyPoker.com World Open V! The event will take place from Sunday 11 October – Thursday 15 October 2009 in London. For the very first time the action will all take place in the prestigious Palm Beach Casino in the heart of Mayfair. The main changes this year are that the starting stacks have been tripled, with the tables now being eight seat in the heats and seven players in the final. The buy-in is $10,000, with a total prize pool of $480,000 – the winner scooping $250,000.

The 48 player field is yet to be fully confirmed with more details released in the near future but already lined-up is Mike Sexton, who was recently endorsed by Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and most recently, Johnny Chan, for this year’s Poker Hall of Fame. Also in attendance will be PartyPoker.com’s newly sponsored grassroots players Remy Biechel from France, Felipe ‘Mojave’ Ramos from Brazil, the UK’s Ian Frazer and Germany’s Bodo Sbrzesny. The emphasis for the grassroots team is on VIPs, player loyalty and historic links to PartyPoker.com.

They will join a top field including Tom ‘Durrrr’ Dwan, who is set to revive his rivalry with Luke ‘Fullflush’ Schwartz. In addition, James Akenhead from the WSOP Main Event November Nine® takes to the felt as well as the Asian Poker Tour’s ‘Poker Pack’ players JC Tran and Steve Sung. Other names confirmed at this stage include Jennifer Tilly, Phil Laak, Scott Fischman, Neil Channing, European Open V winner Roberto Romanello, defending World Open champion Marty Smyth, Andy Black, Neil Channing and Liam Flood.

This year there is the chance to qualify online for the prestigious tournament, coverage of which is shown on television in countries all over the world. Without full details being confirmed until now, the packages have already been incredibly popular and sought after on PartyPoker.com! The packages are worth $13,000 and include the buy-in, seven night’s accommodation and $1,000 spending money. The main $650+$50 satellite takes place every Sunday at 14.15 ET where a package will be awarded for every 20 players. Daily qualifiers start from as little as $3 while there is a satellite into Sunday’s main only satellite every day at 14.25 ET (except Sunday’s which is at 12.55 ET and is Speed).

For more details see: http://www.partypoker.com/news/items/world_open2009.html

Eddie Hearn, Director of Matchroom Sport said: “Poker players have been crying out for a deeper stack TV tournament and now they've got their wish. With such a strong structure we will be hand-picking a dream line-up for the PartyPoker.com World Open V. We are also delighted to announce that it will be held at the Palm Beach Casino in the heart of Mayfair. With the change in structure and this amazing venue, the players are in for a real treat - now it's over to them to show the world just what they can do."

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “The online qualifiers for packages have already been extremely popular and that’s without firm details being confirmed! The opportunity for guaranteed television exposure and the fantastic field is without doubt very appealing.”
Belfast’s Marty Smyth scooped $250,000 after winning the PartyPoker.com World Open IV in May 2008. The final table featured a strong line-up that included Neil Channing, Marc “Mr Cool” Goodwin, Andy “The Spider” Ward, Dixie Dean and Ryan Fronda. The PartyPoker.com World Open III was won by 45-year-old former Sidcup betting shop owner Anthony Hardy, who triumphed over a final table that also featured Ian Cox, Ram Vaswani, David Rudling, Ian Frazer and eventual runner-up Ian Woodley. The winner in 2006 was Pippa Flanders, while in 2005 Lee Nelson won the inaugural event.

Commentary will be provided by Jesse May and the action will be first broadcast on Five in the UK later this year and then distributed internationally.

PARTYPOKER.COM WORLD OPEN IV – LONDON 25th APRIL – 2ND MAY 2008-05-02

News Added: 26 August, 2009

Number of views : 868