December 18th, 2008

‘Tis the season for giving and sharing, and some of the top online poker rooms are getting in the spirit with special holiday events for players.

Whether you’re looking for a leaderboard challenge, guaranteed tournaments, holiday bonuses or more, there’s a poker site out there with a deal for you. Here’s what we’ve found among the top 10 poker sites we have listed here at PokerListings.com.
Titan Poker

VIP Players at Titan Poker have the chance to participate in the poker site’s Christmas Challenge for a shot at an extra $30,000 in prizes.

The Christmas Challenge runs Dec. 17-24. During that time players who are VIP Silver and above can accumulate points to earn entry into the Christmas Challenge Tournament, where $30,000 will be given away.

Depending on your VIP Level, players will have to meet certain points targets to qualify. The Christmas Challenge points targets are:
VIP Silver - 1,250 Points
VIP Gold - 2,500 Points
VIP Platinum - 5,000 Points
VIP Titanium - 10,000 Points
VIP Diamond - 20,000 Points

The players who meet those targets will be able to play in the Christmas Challenge Tournament Dec. 26 at Titan Poker.

December 17th, 2008

The Bad Beat Jackpot at Carbon Poker has hit a record high. According to the poker site it’s now sitting at more than $770,000, which makes it the biggest online haul of its kind.

Carbon Poker predicts that the Bad Beat Jackpot will break the $800,000 mark by the end of the month if it isn’t won anytime soon.

The jackpot was first introduced by Carbon Poker earlier this year. It has grown rapidly and fast become a popular option at the poker tables on the poker site.

“As the jackpot grows, so does the action at the tables,” said Jay Manning, a Carbon Poker spokesperson.

“We are seeing growth at the tables on a daily basis: players are literally flocking to the listed bad beat tables, drawn in and excited by the chance of sharing in the massive jackpot. Some lucky Carbon Poker players are going to be made very happy and very rich sometime soon. This is going to change someone’s life.”

Since its introduction earlier this year, the Bad Beat Jackpot has yet to pay out at Carbon Poker, even though it only takes a hand of quad sevens or better getting busted to win it.

That’s currently the lowest qualifying hand for a bad beat in the online poker industry according to Carbon Poker.

The Bad Beat Jackpot is seeded by 50? from every pot on all listed Bad Beat tables on Carbon Poker. The more people play in those tables, the faster the jackpot grows.

It’s not the only jackpot that Carbon Poker offers. There is also the Carbon Poker Caribbean Stud 10? and $1 jackpots. Those two are nearing the $50,000 mark and growing daily.

November 19th, 2008

Clonie Gowen, one of the original endorsers of Full Tilt Poker when the popular online card room opened in June 2004, has filed a lawsuit seeking damages after being released from Team Full Tilt.

The lawsuit, filed in Nevada District Court last Friday, Nov. 14, names Tiltware LLC and Full Tilt Poker as defendants and seeks $40 million in damages over Breach of Contract, Unjust Enrichment, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Breach of the Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing, and Fraud.

The filing came just three days after Gowen received notification that she was being dropped from the roster of Team Full Tilt.

Included as defendants in the 20-page lawsuit were some of Full Tilt’s highest-profile endorsers, including Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, John Juanda, Phil Gordon, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Jennifer Harman-Traniello, Mike Matusow, Allen Cunningham, Gus Hansen and Patrik Antonius.

Other companies involved in Full Tilt Poker’s operations, including Pocket Kings Ltd., Kolyma Corporation and A.V.V., were also named as defendants in the complaint. Judge Robert C. Jones will preside over the case.

In her complaint, Gowen alleges that in 2004 she was offered, and accepted, a 1% stake in Tiltware and Full Tilt Poker in exchange for her services as a celebrity endorser. She further alleges that she received no compensation other than that ownership stake for wearing Full Tilt merchandise and promoting the online cardroom.

According to the court documents, when other Team Full Tilt members were given distribution checks for their ownership interests in May 2007, Gowen did not receive one; in November of the same year she declined a $250,000 payment offered to her by Howard Lederer, as it was only a fraction of what 1% of the company was worth.

On the advice of her attorneys, Gowen declined to comment for this article. Tiltware LLC, meanwhile, issued this statement regarding the lawsuit:

“Tiltware, LLC, has been made aware of the recent filing of a meritless lawsuit by a former Full Tilt Poker endorser — Ms. Cycalona Gowen. All claims have no merit and there are many inaccuracies improperly and unlawfully asserted by Ms. Gowen within her frivolous complaint. Tiltware LLC expects that this lawsuit will be dealt with accordingly by a competent court in due course.”

A former teen beauty queen in her home state of Oklahoma, Gowen originally came to poker fame thanks to a final-table appearance during the first season of the World Poker Tour. She followed up that Costa Rica Classic performance with a win in the first-ever WPT Ladies Night, which would remain the single highest-rated episode of the landmark poker series for several years.

Before her confrontation with her former sponsor, Gowen had spent 2008 building upon her early success with a string of notable wins. In July she won the $5,000 event at the Bellagio Cup IV for over $437,000 in prize money.

In September she followed that up with $120,000 from her third Poker After Dark win, putting her atop the list of that show’s winners along with Johnny Chan. Then in October she claimed the crown at the 2008 World Poker Open in Tunica for another $193,000. In all, those three wins netted her as much money as she had won in her entire career up to that point.

November 16th, 2008

A Kentucky appeals court Friday granted a stay of the forfeiture order that would have affected 141 Internet domain names belonging to various gambling sites. The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) and the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) had requested the stay.

The move curtails a forfeiture hearing scheduled for Dec. 3, giving the appeals court time to consider the issues raised in iMEGA’s petition seeking the overturn of the original order.

“We’re glad that the Appeals Court recognized the need to prevent the immediate forfeiture of those domain names,” said Joe Brennan, Jr., chairman of iMEGA.

“The Commonwealth’s attorneys have tried from the very beginning to push this seizure action through at a breakneck pace, so that by the time any of the domain owners realized what was happening, they would have lost their rights to their domains,” added Brennan, referring to the fact the original complaint was filed under seal and the affected domain names were unaware that there had even been a seizure motion and hearing.
Panel of judges to assess petitions

The hearing on iMEGA’s petition is scheduled for Dec. 12 in front of the same three-judge appellate panel that granted the stay. At that hearing, the panel will first consider whether the lower court lacked jurisdiction to order the domain seizures and whether Secretary Brown lacked the authority to initiate the seizure action in the first place.

If jurisdiction was lacking, then the other issues become moot. However, if the lower court’s exercise of jurisdiction is found to be proper, then the appellate court will consider whether the lower court misapplied Kentucky’s specific “gambling devices” law in ordering the seizures and whether Kentucky’s actions violate the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.

In a separate procedural ruling, the appellate panel agreed to combine iMEGA’s petition with a separate one filed against the forfeiture order by the IGC, an international online gambling trade group. Their petition echoes some of the arguments in the iMEGA petition, attacking the lower court’s jurisdiction over the domain names on the grounds that they are not located in Kentucky and are not “gambling devices.”

Two amicus briefs have been filed in support of the petitions to overturn the seizure order. The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), a one-million-plus-member poker advocacy group, filed a brief, focused primarily on the issue of the lower court’s failure to address, analyze and rule on the issue of poker being a game of skill that should be exempt from Kentucky’s antigambling legislation.

The PPA argued that the trial court judge had the responsibility to engage in fact finding on the issue of whether it was skill or chance that predominates in poker. Had he done so, they claim, the judge would have properly ruled that poker is not a game of chance and therefore should not be banned under Kentucky’s antigambling statute.
Free speech, civil liberties advocates chime in

The Commonwealth’s attempt to seize Internet domain names also drew the attention, and support, of various free speech organizations. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky (ACLU) have joined in filing an amicus brief in support of IGC’s petition for an order vacating the seizure order.

In their amicus brief EFF, CDT and the ACLU argue that the lower court’s actions ordering seizure of the domain names violated the First Amendment, the Commerce Clause and the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution.

The brief also argues that the lower court exceeded its jurisdiction in ordering seizure of domain names for registrars located outside of the state.

While the brief does not address the substantive issue of whether online gambling is legal in Kentucky, it focuses on the broader question of whether a state court judge can order Web site operators around the world to block access to their sites based on local law and then reach beyond the state’s borders to seize noncomplying Web sites.

“The court’s theory - that a state court can order the seizure of Internet domain names regardless of where the site was registered - is not only wrong but dangerous,” said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Matt Zimmerman.

“If the mere ability to access a website gives every court on the planet the authority to seize a domain name if a site’s content is in some way inconsistent with local law, the laws of the most world’s most repressive regimes will effectively control cyberspace.”
Attorney General distancing himself?

In another development, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway has asked to have his name removed from the domain name case. This confirms earlier speculation that the attorney Ggeneral, who had failed to comment on the domain name case, was distancing himself from the case.

The original seizure action was brought not by the attorney general, but by Secretary of Justice and Public Safety J. Michael Brown.

The issue of whether Secretary Brown, as opposed to the Attorney General, had standing to bring the original action was argued at the lower court, but Judge Wingate allowed the case to go forward as presented.

The case, while brought on behalf of Secretary Brown, is actually being handled by outside counsel working on a contingency fee basis.

In its writ petition to the Court of Appeals, iMEGA had added Attorney General Conway as a real party in interest as, according to Kentucky law, the attorney general must appear on behalf of Kentucky in all cases in the Court of Appeals in which the Commonwealth is involved.

There is cautious optimism following the issuance of the stay as the petitioners now look forward to having their day in court.

“Now, we hope to have a fair hearing regarding our petition, because we’re confident that Kentucky law is on our side, and that the lower court erred in ordering these seizures,” said iMEGA’s Brennan.

“The bottom line is that this move by Kentucky cannot be allowed to stand, because if it did, it would hand an ‘ultimate weapon’ to governments here and abroad to stifle Internet content that does not meet their approval.”

November 14th, 2008

After a layoff of more than three weeks since Jason Mercier and Michael Martin claimed wins in London, the fifth season of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour resumes this weekend with the EPT Warsaw.

Casinos Poland in Warsaw is the venue for the EPT’s third visit to the historic Polish capital, a PLN 21,000 buy-in tournament scheduled to kick off at 2 p.m. local time on Saturday afternoon.

The field is capped at 400 players this year, a number that’s likely to be reached given the growing popularity of the EPT in general and tournaments in Eastern Europe in particular. The field will be divided into two starting days.

The only Team PokerStars Pro to play on Day 1a will be Season 4 EPT Grand Final champion Gavin Griffin, who still ranks second all-time on the EPT leaderboard for cash winnings.

He will be joined by a number of PokerStars sponsored players, including Season 5 EPT Barcelona champ Sebastian Rutherberg and EPT hostess (and 2008 WSOP Main Event casher) Kara Scott.

The rest of the Team PokerStars Pros in attendance will be playing on Sunday during Day 1b. Their ranks include Poland’s native son Marcin Horecki and EPT superstar Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, as well as German pro Katja Thater. The first major final table on Thater’s poker resume came in Warsaw in 2007, a performance that saw her fall in fifth place.

The remaining players from each Day 1 will combine to play Day 2 on Monday, with the final table being set at the end of Day 3 on Tuesday. The final table will begin at 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday and continue play until a champion is crowned.

This weekend’s tournament marks the third time that Warsaw will play host to Europe’s poker masses. For a relatively new stop on the tour, EPT Warsaw has already seen its share of captivating poker.

It was Denmark’s Peter Jepsen who won the first ever EPT stop in Eastern Europe as Season 3 wrapped up in the Polish capital back in March 2007. The tournament that year was a last-minute replacement for a tournament in Deauville, France, that was canceled.

Jepsen made the trip to Warsaw and took home the equivalent of $415,679 for his win over a field of 284, capped by a heads-up win over Frenchman Farid Meraghni.

In March of this year, German stock trader Michael Schulze conquered a field of 384 players and took the equivalent of $926,220 for taking home Season 4’s EPT Warsaw title. Schulze went wire-to-wire despite some tough competition from Portugal’s Ricardo Sousa and Norway’s Trond Eidsvig, who made his third final table of the season.

November 12th, 2008

The Heartland Poker Tour made a stop at the Meskwaki Casino in Tama, Iowa last weekend to lay down some poker action.

More than 750 poker players came out to participate in the qualifiers for the HPT stop, and 171 players ponied up the buy-in for the main event. The result was a $274,089 prize pool for the event.

It doesn’t take an economics student to realize that’s a pretty good deal for a player who makes the money, but it did take an economics student to win the main event this time around.

Jason Joerling, a student from Drake University, drove an hour north of campus to play in his first-ever No-Limit Texas Hold’em poker tournaments. What he lost in study time he made up for with an $82,227 win.

Joerling turned 21 just a few days before the HPT Meskwaki main event started. He’d gained some tournament experience playing online, but this tournament was his first foray into the live tournament realm.

“I started the final table as the slight chip leader, and I was thinking of nothing less than first place,” Joerling said after his win. “This is a really great way to start my live tournament career.”

The Iowa event was also filled with a few veteran players from the HPT circuit. Sitting at the final table with Joerling was Mary Jo Belcore-Zogman, who is a recent HPT champion.

Blake Bohn and Quan Le, two poker-playing buddies, also made the four-hour drive from Minneapolis together and found themselves at the final table.

In the end, the experienced players at the table fell victim to Joerling’s mission to win. It came down to Bohn versus Joerling, and Joerling’s A-2 defeated Bohn’s K-J for the win.
“I’m still planning on getting to my economy class tomorrow morning,” Joerling said. “As for the money, I’m going to be able to pay off my school and invest the rest.”

Joerling may have pocketed the biggest part of the prize for the day, but Belcore-Zogman’s sixth-place finish has moved her into the lead on the HPT Player of the Year leaderboard. There are only two events left in the 2008 season, which means Belcore-Zogman could become the first female Player of the Year for the HPT.

The HPT will make its next stop at the Running Aces Card Club near St. Paul, Minn. This is the HPT’s first stop at the Running Aces, and players will get their shot at the main event there this weekend. Then the HPT will move on to the Majestic Star Casino in Gary, Ind., for the Championship Open.

October 23rd, 2008

When it rains it pours, it seems, for Tom “durrrr” Dwan.

His epic October Hold’em heater carried on unabated yesterday anyway, with several more big pots pushed his way and another $600k in profit.

And just like that, as soon as we reported he was heading past $2 million in online Hold’em profit so far this month, he turned the run-good tap on again and pushed his monthly Hold’em earnings up to $2.6 million.

Just how dominant has Dwan been at $500/$1,000 NLHE in October? The next highest earner so far this month is Hac “trex313″ Dang, who’s taken in $633,251 - over $2 million less than Dwan.

The biggest donator to the durrrr fund yesterday seemed to be Patrik Antonius, who apparently didn’t have the cards he needed in a couple of big pots - in particular the one below, the biggest online so far today, where a river check-shove forced him to lay his hand down and watch Dwan rake in the almost $300k pot.
Watch the big pot in the PL.com Hand Replayer here or see the text version below, as tracked by the PL.com MarketPulse software. Find the rest of the top 100 Hold’em earners list for the last day, week, month and year here.
Game: 8633281279 TABLE: GusHeaven (six-max) $500/$1000 No-Limit Hold’em Fri. Oct. 24 2008 - 2:16 a.m. (ET)

Table Setup

Seat 1 lady marmelade ($50,000)
Seat 2 La Key U ($70,496), is sitting out
Seat 4 durrrr ($295,712)
Seat 5 Patrik Antonius ($232,349.60)
Seat 6 trex313 ($132,888.55)
trex313 posts the small blind of $500
lady marmelade posts the big blind of $1,000
The button is in seat #5

Pre-flop

durrrr raises to $3,000
Patrik Antonius has 15 seconds left to act
Patrik Antonius calls $3,000
trex313 folds
lady marmelade folds

Flop [8 T 3]

durrrr has 15 seconds left to act
durrrr bets $6,000
Patrik Antonius has 15 seconds left to act
Patrik Antonius raises to $19,000
durrrr has 15 seconds left to act
durrrr calls $13,000

Turn: [8 T 3][5]

durrrr checks
Patrik Antonius has 15 seconds left to act
La Key U has returned
Patrik Antonius has requested TIME
Patrik Antonius bets $34,000
durrrr has 15 seconds left to act
durrrr calls $34,000

River: [8 T 3 5][K]

durrrr checks
Patrik Antonius has 15 seconds left to act
Patrik Antonius has requested TIME
Patrik Antonius bets $88,000
durrrr has 15 seconds left to act
durrrr raises to $239,712, and is all in
Patrik Antonius has 15 seconds left to act
Patrik Antonius folds
Uncalled bet of $151,712 returned to durrrr
durrrr mucks
durrrr wins the pot ($289,498)

Summary

Total pot $289,500 | Rake $2
Board: [8 T 3 5 K]
Seat 1 lady marmelade (big blind) folded before the flop
Seat 2 La Key U is sitting out
Seat 4 durrrr collected ($289,498), mucked
Seat 5 Patrik Antonius (button) folded on the river
Seat 6 trex313 (small blind) folded before the flop

October 21st, 2008

The people behind PKR will be making their first foray into live poker with the upcoming PKR Live taking place Nov. 14-16, and the event is already almost sold out.

PKR Live will take place at London’s Loose Cannon club and will offer PKR.com players the chance to go from the site’s celebrated 3-D online game to real-life play, with three separate events in which nearly $100,000 in guaranteed prizes will be up for grabs.

The first event will be a $60 No-Limit Hold’em on Nov. 14 to provide a warm-up for players. The action heats up quickly the next day with the PKR Live $75,000 main event. The event will run Nov. 15-16 and have a $500 buy-in with a $20,000 guaranteed minimum first-place prize.

Finally, the last event of the festival will take place on Nov. 16 with a $10,000 Bounty Freeroll. Entry is by invite only, and eliminating a PKR staff member will net players a cash bounty.

PKR.com will also be providing a selection of side games including regular online-styled Sit-and-gos and heads-up matches.

Fortunately there is a wealth of qualifying options to get into PKR Live, including satellites that start at just $2.58. For those wishing to up their chances there will also be $109 satellites with one seat being awarded per 10 entrants.

PKR.com is one of the fastest-growing poker sites on the Internet and one of the only ones to feature real-time 3-D graphics.

October 17th, 2008

In the wake of Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate’s decision against the online gambling sites in a Kentucky case, officials from iMEGA, the Poker Players Alliance and even the Internet Commerce Association have released statements.

Essentially, Judge Wingate has ordered owners of 141 online gambling domain names to appear at a Nov. 17 forfeiture hearing and demonstrate that they are blocking traffic from residents in Kentucky. If the sites don’t appear or don’t comply with the ruling, the domains will be forfeited to the state.

iMEGA, which was founded to foster cooperation between the online industry and government at all levels, believes that Wingate misapplied several existing Kentucky laws and long-standing principles regarding his court’s jurisdiction over the matter.

“This decision must not be allowed to stand, because of the threat it poses to the Internet as a whole,” said Joe Brennan Jr., iMEGA chairman.

“Judge Wingate has ignored the clear laws of his own state in coming to a decision that essentially green-lights any jurisdiction - in the U.S. and abroad - to ignore our rights and abuse their power to do away with competition or speech or content [...] they oppose, regardless of the law. This is a dark day for Internet freedom.”

iMEGA believes the effect of this ruling will be felt across the entire online world. Other Internet industries could be at risk, such as social networking, video gaming, adult entertainment and others.

“What Judge Wingate has done is to create the ‘ultimate weapon’ to be used by the powerful and influential to attack content they oppose,” Brennan said.

“This will enable government to eliminate competition from differing ideas, beliefs and commerce. This decision today is where it starts, but where will it stop?”

Jeremiah Johnston, ICA president, had similar thoughts on the decision, noting that his organization is extremely disappointed in the decision.

“This is a dangerous decision not just for domain name investors and developers but for all who value commerce and free speech on the Internet,” Johnston said.

“The Court has incorrectly held that domain names are a form of property subject to in rem jurisdiction anywhere on the face of the Earth where their associated Web sites may be viewed on a computer screen.”

Johnston also pointed out that if this decision was broadly adopted, then Internet commerce and speech would be at risk on a global basis.

“For example, U.S. companies conducting legal business activities in this nation could be subject to seizure orders for their domain names issued by foreign courts for lack of compliance with local law and regulation merely because their websites can be viewed abroad,” he said.

“Even more worrisome, the courts of totalitarian regimes could issue seizure orders against domain names used to spread truth and advocate freedom to their repressed populations. The remedy proposed by the court - geographic blocking so that none of the subject websites can be viewed from within Kentucky - is infeasible for individual domain names which could be subject to different laws and regulation in thousands of jurisdictions worldwide.”

Both iMEGA and the ICA plan to remain actively engaged in the litigation, and iMEGA is already preparing its challenge to the ruling in both the state and federal courts.

The Poker Players Alliance has also been active in the litigation to help protect poker players’ rights. The organization also expressed its disappointment in Judge Wingate’s ruling, though it had a few more reasons along with the issue of personal rights and Internet freedoms to add to the list of why the judge shouldn’t have ruled the way he did.

“Clearly, we believe the judge in this case got it wrong,” said John Pappas, PPA executive director. “First of all, we strongly disagree with Judge Wingate’s ruling that poker is not a game of skill. As demonstrated in the amicus brief we filed, skill plays an essential role in being a successful poker player.”

PPA filed an amicus brief making the argument that poker is indeed a game of skill and therefore not illegal under Kentucky law. As such, the group believes Governor Steve Beshear’s seizure of Web sites offering online poker is unfounded.

Rich Muny, Kentucky state director of the PPA, said the decision in Kentucky was also a huge disappointment to the thousands of Kentuckians who play Internet poker.

“In essence, Governor Beshear and Judge Wingate are denying law-abiding citizens this form of recreation simply because it is enjoyed on the Internet. This is Internet censorship by judicial fiat, plain and simple,” Muny said.

PPA’s membership in Kentucky also voiced its opposition to the governor’s actions by flooding his office with letters and phone calls.

“I am certain that many of the plaintiffs in this case intend to quickly appeal this matter. We are confident that the Kentucky Appellate Court will review the facts and overturn today’s order. At the same time, the PPA will continue its efforts to protect the rights of Kentucky citizens to play poker online,” Pappas said.

Pappas said that to truly address Beshear’s concerns with online gambling, the state should introduce legislation to license and regulate the online gambling industry, rather than trying to ban it. There is potential for the state to gain millions of dollars in tax revenue if it did that.

“Governor Beshear has shown great leadership in protecting and promoting the rights of Kentuckians to gamble on horse racing and in casinos,” Muny said. “He should do the same for those Kentuckians who seek the freedom to engage in online poker.”

October 16th, 2008

One of the most elite poker leagues in the world is coming back ahead of schedule.

The PartyPoker Premier League III will take place in London Nov. 24-30 with a new $75,000 buy-in and the added money being increased to $350,000, making for a total prize pool of $1.25 million.

The next event was only scheduled for 2009, but the demand for the event from international broadcasters has persuaded organizers to push the dates forward.

Last year’s champion, Irishman Andy Black, has already committed to defending his title and will compete against 11 other players, who are yet to be announced, during the event in November.

Black, who is sometimes known as the “Mad Monk,” was already enthusiastic about the prospect of repeating as champ.
“There will be no ‘Mr. Nice Buddhist’ this year,” he joked. “The attitude and spirit I will be bringing to the tournament can be summed up by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Asked as Conan the Barbarian what was most important in life he said it was: ‘to crush your enemies and hear the lamentation of their women.’” Sounds like Black has found his inner Ahnold, all right.

The series, which was developed by Matchroom Sport, features 12 of the world’s best poker players competing in a unique league format. All 12 players play six times in the preliminary stages with the four leading players progressing to the final table and the next four battling it out in heads-up matches for the final two seats.

“The Premier League is now established internationally as poker’s number one TV show,” said head of online gambling at Matchroom Sport Eddie Hearn. “The worldwide ratings and distribution have exceeded all expectations and the demand is such that we have decided to hold another Premier League event this year.

“We are delighted to welcome back last year’s champion Andy Black to the League and we will now sit down and hand pick the remainder of the chosen 12. There isn’t a poker player that doesn’t want to be part of this event.”

In the past players like Phil Hellmuth, Marcel Luske, Annie Duke, Tony G, Alex Kravchenko, Dave “The Devilfish” Ulliott and Roland De Wolfe have all taken part in the league.

One of the most memorable moments of the series came in 2007 when Hellmuth commanded such a big league in the tournament he announced that he would raise the 21 hands of the heat just for fun.

Ulliott responded by saying, “If you keep playing like that they are going to have to put you in a straitjacket and you’ll have to push all your chips in with that big head of yours.”

Despite holding a large lead, Hellmuth would end up finishing third in the first edition of Premier League Poker, while Finnish player Juha Helppi took first place.