The Party Poker Premier League has established itself as one of the most exciting and prestigious TV poker events of the year ever since Juha Helppi won the inaugural event in 2006. Since then, there have been some tremendous champions including JC Tran, Scott Seiver and David Benyamine.
The lineup for the seventh Premier League has just been announced and it looks like a fascinating mix of players. The 12 combatants are;
Antonio Esfandiari
Phil Laak
Dan Shak (Party Poker Premier League VI champion)
Scott Seiver (Party Poker Premier League V champion)
Jason Koon
Sorel Mizzi
Jonathan Duhamel
Vanessa Selbst
Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates
Jeff Gross
Greg Mueller
Brian Rast
The event is invitation-only and has a $125,000 buy-in. All 12 players will play in four 8-handed heats with points (and cash) awarded for their finishing positions in the heats. The top four in the league will automatically qualify for the final while the remaining eight players will battle it out in a series of heads-up sit-and-gos to try and win a seat at that final.
Last year’s lineup – for the event which took place at Aspers Casino in London – arguably had more star power with players like Sam Trickett, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth also turning out. However, this year’s cast, who will play it out at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal, Canada, is still an intriguing mix. Players like Koon, Rast and Mueller are highly regarded in the poker world and are full of personality too, despite their profiles being lower than Negreanu, Hellmuth et al.
The event kicks off today and we will have regular updates from the tournament throughout the next week. It will be edited down and televised on UK TV later this year.
