Full Tilt Poker has announced the schedule for Europe’s biggest ever live poker festival, the inaugural Full Tilt Poker Galway Festival.

The Festival will take place from July 27th to August 12th with the highlight of the 60-event schedule being the €1,000,000 guaranteed UKIPT Main Event, running from August 8th to 12th.

The Festival features a wide variety of events and games such as the Irish Poker Championship, the UK v Ireland Heads Up Championship, the UKIPT High Roller Championship, the Pot-limit Omaha UKIPT Championship, Open Faced Chinese Poker, the World and National 25 Championships and, for the first time ever, the Irish Bridge Masters.

The action kicks off on July 27th with the €135 + €15 buy-in Galway Cup, which has an estimated prize pool of $100,000.

Full details can be found on the newly-launched dedicated website www.fulltiltpokergalway.com, which outlines key event information; how players can qualify; and the logistics of getting to and from the festival.

Main Event qualifiers are now running – Full Tilt Poker players can buy in directly from $52 + $3, or satellite in from as little as $1.10. Full Tilt Poker qualifiers will benefit from a number of exclusive promotions during the festival, as well as extras such as drinks vouchers, the Full Tilt Poker player bag, invites to Full Tilt Poker parties, and the chance to win a custom avatar.

In addition, the winners of Events 1, 8, 25, 30, 35, 42, 44, 45, 46, 48, 55, 59 and 60 will receive an FTOPS XXIII Main Event ticket worth $635, as well as their titles and cash earnings. The FTOPS XXIII Main Event takes place on Sunday, August 18th, 2013.

Supported by Fáilte Ireland, the festival action will take place at the same time as the highly popular Galway Raceweek at the custom-built Full Tilt Poker Village right in the heart of Galway city.

Letitia Wade of Fáilte Ireland in Galway said, “Galway is known the world over for its friendly people, charming streets, shopping and energetic nightlife, and it is now revved up for another fun-filled summer programme of festivals and cultural events. The Full Tilt Poker Galway Festival is a very welcome new addition to the city’s unique season of summer festivals.

“Spending by festival goers (locals and visitors) on hospitality, accommodation and transport provides a valuable boost to our local economy supporting employment and creating opportunities for the hospitality and cultural sectors. Fáilte Ireland is delighted to be working with the Full Tilt Poker Festival to capitalise on the opportunity this festival presents to grow the regions tourism business during the 2013 summer season and we wish them the very best of success with the event.”

Luxury Swiss watch brand Slyde will be the Official Watch Sponsor for the European Poker Tour Season 10, supplying specially-designed watches to EPT Season 10 Main Event and High Roller winners, and PCA 2014 Main Event and High Roller winners, EPT President Edgar Stuchly announced today.

Slyde, which is renewing its sponsorship with Europe’s richest and most popular poker tour for the second consecutive year, will present the six winners of the EPT Season 10 Main Events with a “Black and Steel” design watch that has a retail value of €5,680, while the PokerStars.com and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final winner will receive a “Black and Rose Gold” design watch worth €9,000. The seven winners of the EPT Season 10 High Roller events will receive a new limited edition watch design (only 500 pieces available) with a retail value of €5,470.

As part of the sponsorship deal, Slyde will also be the Official Watch Sponsor of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure 2014, and will be presenting the Main Event winner with a “Steel and Black” design watch worth €5,550, as well as a “Steel and Rose Gold” design watch worth €12,800 to the winner of the PCA 2014 High Roller. In addition, the winner of the PCA 2014 Super High Roller will receive a stunning “Steel and Diamond” design watch worth €15,600.

Slyde watches are made according to the traditional standards of top-grade Swiss watchmaking and represent a revolution in watch-making by combining traditional horological craftsmanship with modern design and the latest technology. The innovative sapphire crystal display is equipped with an intuitive touch screen enabling the user to generate an infinite number of personalised interfaces for a customized indication of the time.

EPT President Edgar Stuchly said: “The EPT is delighted to be working with Slyde for the second season in a row. These watches truly are works of art and we are very pleased to be offering our winners these customised time-pieces as part of their prize.”

Jorg Hysek, creator of Slyde, welcomed the partnership, saying: “We are very pleased to be working with the EPT again for Season 10. Slyde is a company that values creativity, innovation and quality, and we are very pleased to be aligning ourselves with a brand like the EPT that has a similar focus. We are looking forward to presenting the winners with their watches and congratulating them on their success at the tables.”

When it comes to the World Series of Poker it is safe to say the U.S. is a dominant force. According to WSOP.com when it comes down to bracelets and rings you have to get all the way to position 13 before you find a non-native U.S. player. the first twelve share 96 bracelets and 6 rings between them. The 13th position belongs to Canadian Daniel Negreanu with 5 bracelets and 1 ring.

When it comes to total earnings the U.S. holds the top three spots with Sam Trickett of the UK holding down number four at just over $11,000,000 won. This compared to the $44,000,000 accumulated by Esfandiari,Helmuth and Gold respectively. Negreanu does however currently hold the top spot in Player of the Year rankings with 446.53 points as June 17, 2013.

Player of the year honors include 2013 First Annual World Series of Poker Asia Pacific, 2013 44th Annual world Series of Poker and 2013 World Series of Poker Europe. WSOP Player of the Year boasts a much broader spectrum with only 3 of the top ten being U.S. natives and four Canadians, three of which are in the top five. currently Player of the Year standings are as follows:

1. Daniel Negreanu
446.53 Canada
2. Daniel Kelly
334.20 USA
3. Benny Chen
300.00 Canada
4. Mark Radoja
292.50 Canada
5. Matthew Ashton
289.75 UK
6. Matthew Waxman
274.50 USA
7. Charles Sylvestre
260.00 Canada
8. Corey Harrison
254.50 Australia
9. Daniel Marton
252.00 Australia
10. Taylor Paur 251.25

USA
Historically the U.S. has dominated the Main event with 6 wins in the last 10 tournaments.

This is a trend evidently expected to continue as Bovada currently lists the odds of an American born player winning the Main Event at -150 with the rest of the world coming in at +110.
For an even longer shot a woman or a former winner making it to the final table carries a score of +700. The last repeat winner of the Main Event was Stu Ungar in 1997. A woman has never won the Main Event, the closest being Barbara Enright in 1995. Both of which are from the U.S.

This year’s line up is a varied as any in recent history. With the sharp rise in popularity over recent years and increased number of players it’s anybody’s guess what the future will hold.

LJ Melville

With Season XI of the World Poker Tour officially in the books and season XII just a few short months away it’s time to look forward to next season’s schedule. WPT.com released the first half of their Season XII tour with plenty of familiar favorites.

This season is exactly what you have come to expect from WPT. With 11 locations on four continents including stops in St. Maarten, Johannesburg, Montreal, Atlantic City and Paris. It is hard to imagine what other destinations could possibly be in store. However there is one notable addition – Club Phoenix in Jeju, South Korea.

One of the last events on the current schedule Club Phoenix will play host to the tournament Dec. 16 – 19, 2013. Club Phoenix games include: Blackjack, Baccara, Tai-Sai, Big Wheel, Roulette, Slots and of course Poker. This new addition to the tour is part of the Ramada Plaza, a one of a kind floating hotel on the waterfront of Jeju-do Island in Jeju, South Korea. Modeled after the Hohwa Cruise Ship, Ramada is the first floating hotel in Korea. In addition to the Club Phoenix Poker Room, Ramada Plaza boasts 380 guest rooms, an art gallery, and a convention hall large enough to accommodate over 1,000 people. Phoenix was constructed in 2003 as part of a project funded entirely by the Korea Teachers Credit Union with purpose of providing world class service and attracting international clientele. Club Phoenix is one of two trips to Asia for WPT with the second being an invitation only tournament at the MGM Grand in Sanya, China.

Adam Pliska President of the WPT stated “Our Strategy of global expansion
is now being fully realized” He continued to say “With the greater support and distribution that our new deal provides, World Poker Tour is now guaranteed to make up a major share of the best-in-class, U.S. television poker real estate for years to come.”

The deal Pliska refers to is the recent agreement that provides Fox Sports Network (FSN) with nearly 100 hours of U.S. televised poker through 2017. Club Phoenix unfortunately does not appear on this year’s televised list which includes:

● WPT Legends of Poker – Bicycle Casino, California – Aug 29-Sep 4
● WPT Borgata Poker Open – Borgata Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City – Sep 15-Sep 20
● WPT Grand Prix de Paris – ACF, Paris – Oct 25-Oct 30
● WPT Montreal – Playground Poker Club, Montreal – Nov 29 – Dec 5
● WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic – Dec 6 – Dec 11
Final table date for WPT South Korea is set for Dec 19 . the buy-in is $3,000.00

LJ Melville

Daniel Fuhs has been a professional gambler since his college days betting on pool games in the local bars. A native of California and a student of New Mexico State University, Daniel (Danny) Fuhs has worked his way from $4 Texas Hold’em games just to make a living to multiple showings in the WSOP. Fuhs is not a stranger to the final table, at 41 years old he has been to the final table 5 times. This last time proved to be the one for Fuhs. He was accompanied by his friends and family as the fifth seat was his at the Omaha High-Low Tournament.
The tournament was held at the Rio in Las Vegas and lasted three lengthy days. At the end of those days stood Daniel Fuhs with a total winnings of $277,519.00 and, of course, the coveted gold bracelet. Daniel was interviewed after his win and was overwhelmed with joy. He explained how his older generation could not keep up with the younger people in games like Hold’em anymore, but Omaha was something he could compete at. He credited the older generation with still having a chance at winning in poker. He noted how much professional poker is growing and how diverse the field of players is becoming. He called getting the gold bracelet “every poker player’s dream” and was happy that his parents, friends, and extended family could be there with him when he won.
The tournament win was not an easy feat for any player, even a veteran like Fuhs. Also appearing in the tournament were well known players such as Robert Mizrachi and Ryan Lenaghan. Each player was hoping to walk away with the bracelet and the cash but in the end Daniel Fuhs was dealt the better hands and landed himself his first ever World Series of Poker win.
The Final Table Results:
Place Player Name Payout
1 Danny Fuhs $277,519
2 Christopher George $171,536
3 Robert Mizrachi $128,074
4 Brian Hastings $96,268
5 Viacheslav Zhukov $72,809
6 Arthur Kargen $55,423
7 Jeff Lisandro $42,442
8 Ryan Lenaghan $32,712
9 Bart Hanson $25,361

The WSOP is place for the best of the best to compete and make a name for themselves as winners. Although Daniel Fuhs waited close to 20 years to see his first official win and receive his first gold bracelet, his name is sure to appear in many final table results for years to come.
L.J Melville

Earlier this month the World Poker Tour came out with exciting news, following a deal with Fox to continue their partnership of televised tournaments into 2017, the World Poker Tour has announced the first half of the schedule of season XII. In addition to the release of the schedule of televised events is the news of more global expansion of the WPT. There will be several untelevised tournaments including one in South Korea. The tour itself is growing in numbers as the game becomes more and more popular. Back in season VIII it had 18 events while pushing 60 last season it is obvious the WPT is becoming a major player in not only poker tournaments but in televised entertainment in general, and it’s not about to stop growing. According to Matt Savage, the WPT executive tour director, says he plans on continued worldwide growth.
The news of an even more expanded schedule is good news not only for Fox, the WPT, and the casinos that host the events, it is also fantastic news for fans. The tour is and always has, made a priority out of focusing on an overall pleasurable experience for both players and fans. With the release of the schedule fans can prepare themselves for another fantastic season of close games and risk taking.
The first half of the schedule will begin in August and run until mid-December with five events that will be televised:
Legends of Poker: Bicycle Casino, California – Aug 29
Borgata Poker Open: Borgata Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City – Sep 15
Grand Prix de Paris: ACF, Paris – Oct 25-
Playground Poker Club: Montreal – Nov 29
Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic – Dec 6
The six untelevised events:
Cyprus: Merit Crystal Cove Casino, Cyprus – Aug 16
Emperors Palace Poker Classic: Johannesburg – Nov 7
Jacksonville: BestBet Florida – Nov 15
Caribbean: Casino Royale St Maarten – Nov 19
Prague: Card Casino, Prague – Dec 15
South Korea: Ramada Plaza – Dec 16
The World Poker Tour takes great pride in its goal to reach every corner of the world and include them in the tour. This season the tour will be in America, Canada, South Korea, China, Africa, Europe, South Africa and the Caribbean and it may not stop there. The WPT is becoming one of the most important poker tours on the circuit today. Professional poker players, enthusiasts, and fans alike will be awaiting the announcement of the rest of the tour.

Three long days of poker are in the books and Event #25: $5,000 Omaha Hi-Low 8-or-Better has officially reached its conclusion. After a grueling heads up match that lasted for several hours, Danny Fuhs was able to defeat Christopher George to earn the title, the bracelet, and the $277,519 in first-place prize money.

The third day of play began with 27 players taking their seats over the final three tables. The field was stacked as names like Dario Alioto, Eric Crain, Huck Seed, Paul Sokoloff, and Maria Ho returned for the third day of play only to fall in the day’s earlier stages. Dan Kelly was also present during Day 3 play as he has been for a vast majority of the series. Kelly was eliminated in 20th place, however, and unable to seize the final table appearance. Even so, this marks Kelly’s seventh cash at the 2013 WSOP and he’s on par to continue to crush the fields as the series goes on.

Once the final two tables were reached, the players began dropping like flies. Players like Todd Barlow, Alexander Kostritsyn, George Danzer, Shawn Buchanan, Julie Schneider, and Mike Matusow all narrowly missed out on making the final table. The field combined with ten players left for the unofficial final table. After over an hour of play, 2010 WSOP Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel fell as official final table bubble boy.

The first two casualties of the final table also made appearances at last year’s final table of this very same event. Bart Hanson was the first to fall and was unable to improve on his seventh place finish in 2012. The next to go was Ryan Lenaghan, who did manage to improve on his ninth place 2012 finish by scoring an eighth-place finish this year.

The 2009 WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Lisandro was the next go when he was forced to move his short stack all in from the blinds and ended up being chopped up by his opponents. Arthur Kargen, and Viacheslav Zhukov were also remarkably short-stacked and were eliminated mere minutes after Lisandro’s bust.

Four handed play raged on for almost two hours until Brian Hastings became the next player to bust. Hastings fell at the hands of Robert Mizrachi, who despite earning the rest of Hastings’ stack, found himself the next to go as the third-place finisher.

The heads up match between Fuhs and George raged on for several hours and even ended up going into an extra level at the end of the night. With the limits growing as time progressed, the two traded the chip lead back and forth several times. Finally, after returning from their final break of the night, Fuhs was able to pull away and scoop two big hands in a row to cripple George. The two got it all in for George’s tournament life soon after and Fuhs’ hand was able to hold. He was officially crowned the champion of Event #25!
Place Player Prize
1 Danny Fuhs $277,519
2 Christopher George $171,536
3 Robert Mizrachi $128,074
4 Brian Hastings $96,268
5 Viacheslav Zhukov $72,809
6 Arthur Kargen $55,423
7 Jeff Lisandro $42,442
8 Ryan Lenaghan $32,712
9 Bart Hanson $25,301

Records are made to be broken, and PokerStars players do just that with astounding regularity. Eighteen months ago, PokerStars celebrated its tenth anniversary and the surrounding festivities included its fourth World Record tournament, where 200,000 players played for a $250,000 prize pool. But after Thursday’s bombastic 100 Billionth Hand celebration (don’t think about how big 100 billion is, it will either trigger an existential crisis or make your head explode) did you really think we weren’t gonna take the opportunity to smash that record again?

By game time, a capacity crowd of 225,000 players had gathered, officially breaking the record for the largest poker tournament ever played. Their $1 buyins contributed $225,000 to the $300,000 guaranteed prize pool, PokerStars kicking in a $75k overlay to sweeten the pot even further. 60,000 players earned a share of it with first place set to earn $25,000.

After only an hour of play, the crowd thinned to 28,000 and another hour later only 2,595 remained. Hour three saw the field reduced to 190, and with five minutes left before the fourth break, the final table bubble hit and play went hand for hand. With the blinds up to 3M/6M with a 750k ante, chip leader Mr.SlavaPro opened for a min-raise to 12 million. With 3.75 milllion of his remaining 4.1 million already committed in the small blind, MattDooms called all-in and Ravic77 folded his big blind. MattDooms’ [5h][Ts] was already drawing thin against Mr.SlavaPro’s [Kd][Kc], but went completely dead on the [Kh][Ks][5c] flop. Mr.SlavaPro raked in the 19 million pot with quad kings and sent us to the final table, while MattDooms exited in eleventh place.

World_Record_FT_061613.jpg

Final table chip counts

Blinds: 3,000,000/6,000,000, ante 750,000

Seat 1: johnnykara75 (17,560,748 in chips)
Seat 2: SOY PATO355 (14,065,727 in chips)
Seat 3: Evgeniy33377 (3,729,288 in chips)
Seat 4: Mr.SlavaPro (87,268,525 in chips)
Seat 5: KARI#9 (64,386,794 in chips)
Seat 6: Ravic77 (17,422,024 in chips)
Seat 7: jpstef06 (13,712,929 in chips)
Seat 8: 1star09 (52,884,148 in chips)
Seat 9: Tormenter85 (34,974,394 in chips)
Seat 10: jmmetra (31,495,423 in chips)

johnnykara75 doubles with aces, Evgeniy33377 eliminated in tenth

It took 11 minutes and only 20 hands to distribute the $73,000 in remaining prize money. The jumps were huge and the stacks extremely shallow, the chip average only 6.25 big blinds as the final table began.

On Hand #1, jmmetra picked up [9h][9c] and moved all-in for 30.7 million on the button, only to have johnnykara75 wake up with [Ac][Ah] in the small blind. Johnnykara75′s aces held and he doubled to 47.1 million, leaving jmmetra on only 14.5 million (2.5 bb). However, jmmetra’s situation wasn’t quite as dire as Evgeniy33377′s. On Hand #2, Evgeniy33377 was all-in for 1.97 million in the big blind while SOY PATO355 had 4 of his remaining 7.3 million committed in the small blind. Johnnykara75 limped in for 8 million on the button, SOY PATO355 called all-in and the cards went on their backs.

SOY PATO355 [Qc][9h]
Evgeniy33377 [3c][3h]
johnnykara75 [Td][4h]

SOY PATO355 snagged the lead on the [As][9s][6c] flop and held onto it, the turn and river falling the [Jc] and the [Ac] to send Evgeniy33377 to the rail in tenth place ($1,000).

Ravic77 out in ninth, jmmetra exits eighth

Evgeniy33377′s elimination left jpstef06 as the table short stack. On Hand #3, jpstef06 moved all-in for 11 million from UTG+1 and KARI#9 called the 3 million balance from the big blind. Jpstef06′s [As][Qh] held up aganist [6c][7h] and he doubled to 35 million, only to move all-in from UTG on the next deal. Ravic77 called all-in for 5.67 million more with [Qs][Js] in the big blind, but did not improve against jpstef06′s [7s][7c]. For ninth place, Ravic77 took home $1,500.

With only one more hand to go before he’d be committed in the 8 million big blind, jmmetra pulled the trigger with [Qc][Td] and moved all-in for 9.9 million from UTG+1. 1star09 called with [Ac][Kh] in the big blind and flopped a king, ending jmmetra’s run in 8th place ($2,000).

johnnykara75 eliminates SOY PATO355 in seventh

On Hand #8, the action folded to johnnykara75 in the small blind. Holding [Ah][2h], he moved all-in for 23.3 million and SOY PATO355 called off his remaining 8.1 million from the big. SOY PATO355′s [Kh][8h] took the lead with top two pair on the [Kc][6s][6h] flop, but johnnykara75 picked up the nut flush draw on the turn when the [3h] fell. The [7h] river completed it and SOY PATO355 was out in seventh place, earning $2,500.

KARI#9 flips out in sixth, Tormenter85 falls in fifth

Six players remained as the tournament went to it’s regularly scheduled synch break. With stacks ranging from 41 million (4.1 bb) to 75 million (7.5 bb), it was really anyone’s game, and surprisingly no one had uttered a word about making a deal.

Hand #9 saw 1star09 open-shove for 59.8 million and KARI#9 call all-in for 29.9 million from the big blind. KARI#9′s [Ah][Kh] lost a coinflip against 1star09′s pocket threes, the board falling [Th][7c][4s][Td][3d] to end his run in sixth place ($3,500).

1star09 took the chip lead with 112.2 million, but six hands later doubled johnnykara75 to 108 million when his [Qd][7d] fell to [Kd][Jd]. On the next deal, 1star09 opened for a 3x raise to 36 million from the small blind and Tormenter85 called all-in for 13.7 million more from the big. 1star09′s [Qs][8s] hit middle pair on the [9h][8d][2c] flop, but Tormenter85′s [Kh][5c] made top pair on the turn when the [Kd] fell. However, 1star09 wrested victory away on the river, the [Qh] landing to make him queens up.Tormenter85 was eliminated in fifth place, earning $5,000 for his efforts.

Mr.SlavaPro KOs two

With four players remaining, blinds were up to 7M/14M. Mr.SlavaPro was at the top of the counts with 115.5 million, johnnykara75 was right behind him with 107 million, 1star09 held 97 million and jpstef06 was the short stack with 17.6 million. Facing the big blind on the next deal, jpstef06 moved all-in from UTG. 1star09 reshoved for 95 million on the button, but Mr.SlavaPro woke up with [As][Ac] in the big blind and called an additional 81.3 million. Mr.SlavaPro’s aces held up against 1star09′s [Ah][9c] and jpstef06′s [9d][Td] to win the 220 million pot and score a double knockout. Jpstef06 took fourth place ($7,500) while 1star09 finished third ($10,000).

Heads-up chip counts

Seat 1: johnnykara75 (98,583,022 in chips)
Seat 4: Mr.SlavaPro (238,916,978 in chips)

Johnnykara75 has his work cut out for him arriving to heads-up play at a 2.4 to 1 chip defecit. However, the gap between them only grew wider on the second hand of their match. In a limped pot, johnnykara75 and Mr.SlavaPro saw a [4h][2h][2c] flop. Johnnykara75 checked, Mr.SlavaPro bet 14 million, and johnnykara75 came in with a check-raise to 42 million. Mr.SlavaPro responded with a shove and johnnykara75 gave up his hand, saving his remaining 56.5 million in chips.

It was all over on the next hand. All the marbles went in on the flop, Mr.SlavaPro’s flopped two pair besting johnnykara75′s top pair.

Congratulations to Russia’s Mr.SlavaPro on winning the largest poker tournament ever held! He banked $25,000 while runner-up johnnykara75 earned $15,000.

PokerStars Road to 100 Billion World Record Attempt results

Players: 225,000
Prizepool: $300,000 ($75k added)
Places paid: 60,000

1. Mr.SlavaPro (Russia) $25,000.00
2. johnnykara75 (Greece) $15,000.00
3. 1star09 (Russia) $10,000.00
4. jpstef06 (Germany) $7,500.00
5. Tormenter85 (Australia) $5,000.00
6. KARI#9 (Slovenia) $3,500.00
7. SOY PATO355 (Argentina) $2,500.00
8. jmmetra (Argentina) $2,000.00
9. Ravic77 (Estonia) $1,500.00
10. Evgeniy33377 (Ukraine) $1,000.00

We may have dealt 100 Billion hands and broken a World Record, but the party isn’t over yet. The $1M Golden Sit-N-Goes begin tomorrow and run through June 23rd, and one week from today we’re debuting the Zoom 100, a $1M guaranteed Zoom Poker tournament with a $100+9 buyin. For a look at all the celebrations still to come, check out the 100 Billiion Hands page.

Kristin Bihr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

The Irish Winter Festival 2013 event will once again feature ‘SIX SURVIVORS’, whereby the top six finishing paddypowerpoker.com qualifiers in the IWF live event will win a free entry into the Irish Open 2014, on top of any IWF prize money they may win.

Online satellites kick off this Sunday 16th June with three Irish Winter Festival packages guaranteed, each to the value of €1,700. The €120 + €10 NLH Freezeout satellite will commence on paddypowerpoker.com at 21:00 and at least three lucky players will be joining us in Dublin this October bank holiday for a weekend to remember.

In addition to the Sunday night satellite above, two other weekly satellites will take place on paddypowerpoker.com every Tuesday (€60 + €6 NLH Freezeout) and Thursday (€20 + €2 NLH R/A) evenings with an Irish Winter Festival seat up for grabs in each.

Cheap Seats also returns to your poker screens this week, with twice daily €4 re-buy tournaments feeding into a weekly Cheap Seats Grand Final every Wednesday night on paddypowerpoker.com. Each week, two lucky players will walk away from the Grand Final with an IWF seat worth €1,125 for as little as €4!

“It’s all happening on paddypowerpoker.com right now; there’s over €5k in IWF packages guaranteed in our first super satellite this Sunday and we’ve already kicked off the much loved Cheap Seats promotion. What’s more, we’ve made Cheap Seats so much better this year, with not one but TWO seats guaranteed in each weekly grand final.” said Paddy Power, Communications Manager for paddypowerpoker.com.

“October is still a while away but now is the time to jump on paddypowerpoker.com and soak up all the value in the IWF satellites. Get your seat early and you can sit back and relax for the summer knowing you’re guaranteed a place in the most fun poker festival around.”

“As fans of poker, we wanted to see Doyle’s stories preserved and made available to fans everywhere,” said Alec Driscoll, Director of acePLAYpoker.com.

On-camera interviews with the ten-time World Series of Poker bracelet-winner are rare. An HPT film crew spent the day with the 79-year-old in his Las Vegas home last week. For the first time ever, Brunson’s wife of fifty years, Louise, also shared details of their life together on camera. The team had access to the family’s personal mementos and photos which will make their way into the weekly segment titled “A Poker Life.”

“Of all the good times I’ve had with HPT, filming Doyle Brunson was my best day on the job,” said Fred Bevill, Executive Producer.

The first player to earn a million dollars, Brunson has authored many popular books on poker. His professional achievements and fascinating personal history have earned him status as a legend. On camera, Brunson shared many of the highs and lows of his life, from surviving an “incurable” form of cancer in the 1960’s to getting robbed and beaten in his home in 1998. Brunson has weathered many storms and shows little sign of slowing down as he approaches his 80th birthday this year.

“There is no better storyteller in poker than Doyle Brunson, “said Bevill, “We are grateful for the opportunity to broadcast this exclusive material around the world.”

HPT is available in over 100 million homes throughout the United States each week, in addition to widespread distribution throughout Europe, the Caribbean, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia.

Viewers can still expect comprehensive, high-quality coverage of each HPT Final Table in upcoming episodes. Brunson’s stories will add variety and entertainment to compliment the action. TV Broadcast information is available at HPTpoker.com.