The Poker Blog

DoylesRoom players will be making a splash at the inaugural $1,000,000 English Poker Open this September 15th to 17th, 2009.

A huge prize pool combined with a maximum of 270 players will draw poker’s biggest names from around the globe. The $5,300 Main Event at host casino Dusk Till Dawn kicks off at 2pm with a starting stack of 10,000. In addition to taking in Nottingham’s local flavors there will be even more poker, with a number of side events including Event 2, a £560 NL tourney and a £280 NL Event 3.

Win your seat at DoylesRoom and you’ll receive a $7,000 prize package including:

• $5,000 + $300 USD English Poker Open main event buy in.
• $1,700 for travel and accommodations.
• DoylesRoom Event Gear.
• Personal introduction and photos with Doyle Brunson.
• Autographed edition of Super System 1 and 2.

Satellites Running Now

Win your $7,000 English Poker Open prize package for as little as $4, up to August 30th. Their first official qualifier was Sunday, July 5th.

Register from the Game Lobby

Tournaments > Events > ENGLISH POKER OPEN

Only poker site endorsed by legend Doyle Brunson continues major overhaul with player focused website design.

Just in time for the Main Event of the world’s largest and most prestigious poker tournament, DoylesRoom.com has just launched its brand new website, an online poker information destination that puts the only site endorsed by poker legend Doyle Brunson in a class of its own.

“Our new website is cleaner, more accessible, and simply a joy to use for poker players looking to play the greatest game in the world at a site that keeps changing for the better,” noted Will Griffiths, VP of Global Marketing for DoylesRoom.com. “These customer focused changes are only the beginning of what serious players can expect in the weeks and months ahead at DoylesRoom.”

The new DoylesRoom.com website features a slick, modern interface designed to showcase new promotions and get players in the game as quickly as possible, and gone is the clutter that continues to plague several competing online poker destinations.

Upon arriving at DoylesRoom.com, players are greeted by large icons that highlight each promotion in a refreshing way unseen anywhere else. A new logo and color scheme are also included in the visual changes that players familiar with the online poker site will immediately notice.

But it’s not entirely about good looks. The new DoylesRoom.com now features more games and guarantees than ever before, a return of Power Poker, and double Turbo Gold Cards for a month.

While Doyle Brunson is a legend in the pre-online poker world, he remains on top of his game in the online arena, nurturing new players and helping to bridge the gap between their success at the online poker tables and bricks-and-mortar tournaments.

DoylesRoom.com celebrated the new website launch along with Doyle Brunson’s long list of achievements on July 2nd at its WSOP Main Event kickoff party. The event took place at Blush Night Club, located inside Wynn, Las Vegas.

The new DoylesRoom.com website is now live at www.DoylesRoom.com.

Tom MacDonald has been crowned Leeds champion in the second event of the 2009 Coral.co.uk British Masters Poker Tour.

Tom, an 18-year-old student from Hull, beat 93 other players to take the title, the first prize of £14,300 and a seat at the season final play-off for the coveted Coral.co.uk sponsorship deal in 2010.

Outlasting a final table that included tour regulars Eddie Lundon (2^nd in Edinburgh) and Jamie Coonan (qualified online), Tom was heads-up against Jamie Sykes with a 3:1 chip lead; it was over in just 30 minutes when 10h fell on the river and made Tom’s flush against Jamie’s two pair, giving us our second champion of the tour.

Asked how he felt after the presentation, Tom said: “Oh, it’s great! I’m glad that I won – it’s good to have a tournament win on the British live poker scene. I thought that it was well run and it started on time and I thought that the structure was really good.”

Next stop for Tom, who despite a young age has already chalked up £46,000 in career earnings, is University, but he intends to keep up his appearances at British Masters events; “I’m going to Newcastle University in September to study maths and economics. I learned to play online, and I usually prefer to play online but I’ll play in the other legs now as they’re not too far away.”

Coral.co.uk’s head of poker, Mark O’Donnell, said: “Tom played well throughout and thoroughly deserved his win. He’s only 18 so I think we’ll see plenty more of him.”

Mark added: “That’s the second seat at the end of year play-off [for the 12010 Coral.co.uk sponsorship] sorted and there are six remaining so everyone has got a shot at it.” *

The total prize money for the weekend’s three events was £70,900, with full details of finishing positions and prizes outlined below.

The next event on the tour is Teesside, 24-26 July, at the Gala Casino Teesside. Online qualification is available on  www.eurobet.com.

Coral.co.uk British Masters Poker Tour, Leeds 19-21 June 2009 results:

20-21 June 2009: £500+50 NLHE Main Event Freeze-out

Entrants: 94; Total prize pool: £48,000

19 June 2009: £200+20 NLHE Freeze-out

Entrants: 75; Total prize pool: £15,000

21 June 2009: £100+10 NLHE Freeze-out

Entrants: 79; Total prize pool: £7,900

* The End-of-season play-off is a live 8-seater event, comprising the winners of the six 2009 Coral.co.uk British Masters Poker Tour events, the top money winner on the 2009 tour, and the highest online points scorer (points are awarded for finishing position in CBMPT online finals on www.eurobet.com. The winner of the play-off will receive a £10,000 poker sponsorship package for 2010 from Coral.co.uk.

The dates and venues for the 2009 CBMPT are as follows:

·         Edinburgh – Gala Maybury Casino: May 15 to 17

·         Leeds – Gala Casino Leeds: June 19 to 21

·         Stockton-on-Tees – Gala Casino Teesside: July 24 to 26

·         Nottingham – Gala Casino Maid Marion Way: August 14 to 16

·         Liverpool – Gala Leo Casino: September 18 to 20

·         Bristol – Gala Harbourside Casino: October 23 to 25

As the official sponsor of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), Everest Poker has chosen a fitting time to launch a new, redesigned website. Just as WSOP fever is heating up, with media coverage to be found everywhere, Everest has rolled out a new, “player-focused” website redesign, created to maximize its brand presence and make the Everest experience more satisfying to poker players.

The new site’s mission statement, “Passionate About Your Game”, emphasizes the fact that the company is run by, and for, poker enthusiasts, giving it an advantage in the competitive online poker marketplace.

The site’s navigation has also been reconfigured to make it easier for players to find their way around. The latest offers and promotions will be easier to find; and a more prominent community section has been added to offer more transparency on Everest’s exclusive events and live action.

“We want our players to be able to choose and find their favorite games with ease as well as highlight the differences we offer; namely exclusive live tournaments, a genuine poker community or simply the additional financial gains available,” commented Sandrine Mangia-Park, Everest Poker Director.

Click to check out Everest Poker’s new site.

Over €100,000 in packages to be won

Qualification has started!!

You’ve seen them on TV and read their blogs but not everyone has the opportunity to become a poker professional. However that may all change - if you play your cards right you could become the next big name in the world of poker courtesy of Paddy Power Poker.

In their new Poker Pro promotion, Paddy Power Poker are giving all players the chance to live the life of a Poker professional for a year with €100,000 in packages up for grabs - see www.paddypowerpokerpro.com for further details. Whether you are a ‘green behind the ears’ beginner or an advanced player, you could be jetting to cities such as London, Prague, Dublin & Monte Carlo and pitting your wits against some of the world’s leading professionals.

Your qualification for Paddy Power Poker Pro starts today - make sure to book your seat at the final table (which will be broadcast live!) and get in line to take down the €60,000 top prize by checking out www.paddypowerpokerpro.com

We recently announced that Paddy Power are offering players the chance to become a poker pro. We are pleased to give further details below.

You’ve seen them on TV and read their blogs but not everyone has the opportunity to become a poker professional. However that may all change - if you play your cards right you could become the next big name in the world of poker courtesy of Paddy Power Poker.

In their new Poker Pro promotion, Paddy Power Poker are giving all players the chance to live the life of a Poker professional for a year with €100,000 in packages up for grabs – see www.paddypowerpokerpro.com for further details. Whether you are a ‘green behind the ears’ beginner or an advanced player, you could be jetting to cities such as London, Prague, Dublin & Monte Carlo and pitting your wits against some of the world’s leading professionals.

Your qualification for Paddy Power Poker Pro starts today - make sure to book your seat at the final table (which will be broadcast live!) and get in line to take down the €60K top prize by checking out www.paddypowerpokerpro.com

What is ‘Paddy Power Poker Pro’?

Ever happy to create a buzz in the poker world, paddypowerpoker.com has launched its ‘Paddy Power Poker Pro’ promotion www.paddypowerpokerpro.com , which will award a package worth €60,000 ($80,000) to one lucky player and €100,000 ($135,000) in prize packages in total. 

The mechanics of Paddy Power Poker are easy to understand; if you hold the rank of General (Level 6) in paddypowerpoker.com’s C*A*S*H VIP programme on October 1^st, you will be eligible to play in an exclusive freeroll tournament with the €60,000 Poker Pro package going to the winner.  

The prizes don’t stop there though because if you hold the ranks of Colonel (Level 5) or Major (Level 4) on October 1^st, you will be eligible to play in exclusive tournaments offering €20,000 and €10,000 packages for the winners.  All paddypowerpoker.com players are automatically enrolled in the C*A*S*H programme, so everyone is in with a shot – how far you get in your efforts to become number 1 is up to you.

In addition to having the chance to capture the top prize, players will also be awarded the standard bonuses (which are in excess of $500 a month for players at General level) available in the C*A*S*H VIP programme, so everyone will be a winner!   

In total, paddypowerpoker.com is ponying up over €100,000 for Paddy Power Poker Pro, with players contributing not a thing!

Tell me more about the €60,000…

The top dog who wins the main Paddy Power Poker Pro tournament will walk away with a package worth €60,000.  This is made up of a cool €30,000 in cash and €30,000 in entries and expenses for live tournaments.  The winning player will be expected to play in the Irish Open 2010, but beyond that the live events attended with be agreed upon in consultation with paddypowerpoker.com.  This could be your opportunity to play in a few GUKPTs, the Masters Classic in Amsterdam and an EPT, with all expenses paid for and living large as a poker professional!

How Do I Enter?

Simply visit www.paddypowerpokerpro.com, set up an account and climb the C*A*S*H ranks (earning bigger and bigger bonuses as you progress). When you hold the rank of General on October 1^st, you will be in with a great chance of snagging the €60,000 top prize; however, if you don’t make it to General there will €40K of packages up for grabs at all other levels so make sure you’re in it to win it!

All play for real-money stakes will be counted when determining your VIP level, so you can shoot for the top while sitting on a cash table, grinding half a dozen Single Table Tournaments or outlasting the masses in one of the large guaranteed prizepool tournaments.

Players’ VIP level is calculated at the start of each month using the previous three months’ points tally, so paddypowerpoker.com will be looking at the months of July, August and September when the day of reckoning arrives.  Remember that every player at paddypowerpoker.com is part of the C*A*S*H army and it doesn’t take a huge increase in play to move up VIP levels; check out www.paddypowerpoker.com/freechips/cash.php for full details.

Find out more

Visit the official Paddy Power Poker Pro website.

888.com have announced the launch of their eagerly anticipated Pacific Poker Rewards Program, an industry ground breaking loyalty scheme which ultimately earns 888.com players substantial cash backs every single time they play a hand at multi award winning Pacific Poker.

888.com clients automatically receive these new reward points when they play any money game on the site, so there is no need for customers to fill in any forms or even to apply for the Pacific Poker Rewards Program – players just visit the site, log in and play their usual games – but now every hand is worth more, as Itai Pazner, 888 Senior Vice President regions explains:

“Every time a player plays a poker hand at Pacific Poker they are earning reward points which can be exchanged for cash. The more a player plays, the more reward points he earns and ultimately the bigger cash back he receives. Now every single hand is literally  worth more than it was before.”

Once customers finish playing their hand, 888 automatically credits their account with rewards points. Once a client has reached a minimum of $10* they are free to withdraw that amount into their actual bankroll, and ultimately into their bank account!

Rewards points can also be used to enter many of the daily and weekly poker tournaments at Pacific Poker, and before long Pacific Poker players will be able to exchange their rewards points for merchandise such as iPods or high definition flat screen televisions at the soon to launched Pacific Poker online shop.

888 players will also be placed into new status groups; which groups players are placed into depends on how much they play with Pacific Poker. There are six statuses to climb in the Pacific Poker Rewards Program beginning at Bronze and moving onto Silver, Gold, Platinum, VIP and VIP Diamond The higher the status group the more reward points are earned – for example, when a player reaches the Gold Status he receives 4.5 reward points for every status point he collects. Once in Platinum status the same player will earn 9 reward points for every status point. The moment you earn enough Status Points, you move up to the next monthly status, no matter if it is in the beginning, middle, or end of the month. You keep the same status from that day on until the end of the next calendar month. For example, if you move up to Silver on May 15th, your status remains the same until June 30th.

As well as earning more reward points for the higher the status a player is, there are also special poker events, exclusive promotions, complementary gifts, and free roll events only available to those within each stratum.

888 players will be able to see how many status points and reward points they have at any given moment, and in addition they will be able to track their status points accumulation by viewing the Status Progress Bar at the actual poker tables. The new Rewards Program supersedes the old Frequent Player Points scheme.

Over €100,000 in packages to be won

paddypowerpoker.com has launched its biggest summer promotion to date, the Paddy Power Poker Pro. With over €100,000 in packages to be won, players at all levels will have the opportunity to live the life of a poker professional. “Everyone dreams of jetting around the world, playing in the biggest tournaments against the biggest players and we’re really excited to be able to make this dream a reality for one lucky player”, said Paddy Power, Communications Manager for paddypowerpoker.com.

Partnering with paddypowerpoker.com in the search to find the newest star is poker publication Bluff Europe.  Editor-in-Chief Michael Caselli is relishing the opportunity to unearth the next big poker pro; “There is nothing better in the world of poker than to be one of its stars. This promotion will transform an ordinary player into an extra-ordinary poker pro, which is really thrilling!”

Eric Booth, Head of Paddy Power Poker also commented, “This promotion aims to make the Poker Pro lifestyle accessible to everyday players and we’re delighted to have Bluff on board to help us in our search for the first Paddy Power Poker Pro. There’s no doubt but it will be an exciting summer.”

The Paddy Power Poker Pro promotion will culminate in a Live Grand Final to be broadcast live from Citywest Hotel at the paddypowerpoker.com Irish Winter Festival on October Bank Holiday weekend. With a top prize of €60,000 (approximately $85,000), one lucky player will take a free run at some of Europe’s largest poker tournaments within the next year, and those who do not qualify for the top prize will be in with a chance to win a variety of other packages worth €40,000 in total.

Poker has become somewhat of a national past-time of the Danish in recent years. There are now over half a million people nationwide who play poker on a regular basis, which in a country of 5.5 million makes almost 10% of the population!

Last year Danish poker star Peter Eastgate made headlines by taking home the first prize of over $9-million at the 2008 WSOP, traveling there as part of Team Ladbrokes, and at the age of 22 he was the youngest person ever to win the tournament. Other Danish Poker celebrities include Gus “The Great Dane” Hansen, Mads Anderson, Theo Jorgensen, Jan Sorensen, and Martin Wendt.

Like some other EU countries, Denmark poker laws are in the midst of big changes. In 2007, Danish courts declared poker legal since it is a game of skill, but in late 2008 this was overturned after it was decided that poker is a game of chance. Earlier this year the Danish government announced plans to deregulate the gaming market, ending a 60-year monopoly by state-owned operator Danske Spil and allowing foreign gaming companies to advertise in Denmark. There is no specific law regarding online poker, but these things can change quickly.

James O’Connell has been crowned Edinburgh champion in the opening event of the 2009 Coral.co.uk British Masters Poker Tour.

James, a 52-year-old electrical inspector from Motherwell, Lanarkshire, qualified for his seat online in a $5 satellite before going on to beat 104 other players to take the title, the first prize of £8,800 and a seat at the season final play-off for the coveted Coral.co.uk sponsorship deal in 2010.

After the presentation James said: “This is fantastic. I have come close in the past but to win one of these events is tremendous – they are so well run. The money is great but the title is something else. I’m looking forward to taking the trophy home to my wife.”

Tour promoter Alistair Findlay of Aworldofpoker.com said: “Edinburgh was a great event and lived up to our expectations. The excellent turn-out has shown that the appetite for professional poker tournaments in the UK remains strong at this level. We will be looking to build on that for the next event in Leeds in June.”

Coral.co.uk’s head of poker, Mark O’Donnell, said: “It was great to kick-off the tour in Edinburgh. There were plenty of familiar faces, and the atmosphere great. I’m pleased for James as he’s a well known face and a very good player. He’s cashed in plenty of events but this was his first title and he’s thrilled.”

Mark added: “It seems that the Coral.co.uk sponsorship is something the players really want to win, but it’s not going to be easy for anyone, the standard is excellent.”

The total prize money for the weekend’s three events was £79,200, with full details of finishing positions and prizes outlined below.

The next event on the tour is Leeds, 19-21June, at the Gala Casino Leeds. Online qualification is available on www.coral.co.uk.