IPCT

Building on the success of the 2008 PartyPoker.com Irish Poker Championship, preparations for next year’s event in Galway are already underway with the creation of a special land based tour offering a unique chance to qualify for Europe’s first major tournament of 2009. The PartyPoker.com Irish Poker Championship Tour launches at the Eglinton Card Room and Casino in a Galway buzzing with punters attending the showpiece horse racing events.

The winner of the €2000 added event tonight gets a seat in the 2009 PartyPoker.com Irish Poker Championship in January, full details of which will be made public in the near future. The PartyPoker.com Irish Poker Championship Tour then really cranks into gear with seven more events across the Emerald Isle, finishing in December. On the second leg of the tour in Waterford the top three players in the €2000 added event receive 2009 IPC seats, while in the remaining six stops the top FIVE in the €2000 added event all get seats into the major tournament. The tour features €20,000 in added money and includes €4000 put up for a special league based on performances on the tour as a whole.

The PartyPoker.com Irish Poker Championship Tour, organized by PokerEvents.ie, has already attracted a lot of interest and amongst those who have confirmed they will be involved include professionals Scott Gray, Padraig Parkinson, Len Collin, Nicky Power, Ivan Donaghey, Rory Liffey, Mick McClosky, Paul Lecky, 2008 IPC champion Jude Ainsworth and Keith McFadden.

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “ The 2008 Irish Poker Championship was seen as a big success and still attracted 298 runners, despite the fact that Ireland was engulfed in a snowstorm at the time that limited the options of many to get to Galway. The introduction of the Irish Poker Championship Tour this year shows just how much this tournament is on the up-and-up. There are stops all over the Emerald Isle and online qualifiers will be introduced on PartyPoker.com later in the year that will give players from all over the world the chance to witness the famous Galway hospitality.”

“Professionals regarded the 2008 PartyPoker.com Irish Poker Championship as one of the best craics of the year on the circuit and there is nobody from last year who isn’t keen to return. The one thing that will not happen in 2009 is an attempt by the hotel to close the bar during the final table as we don’t want a mutiny.”

The 2008 Irish Poker Championship was a €2,000 (9 percent withheld) buy-in tournament organized by PokerEvents.ie and sponsored by PartyPoker.com. It attracted 298 runners on a day when snow engulfed Ireland and produced a final prize pool of €542,500. Amongst the familiar faces at the tables were ‘Ambassador of Poker’ Mike Sexton, Noel Furlong, ‘Flying Dutchman’ Marcel Luske, Ciaran O’Leary, Michael Keiner, Robert Williamson III, Padraig Parkinson, Jon Kalmar, Scott Gray, Bruno Fitoussi, Jan Sørensen, Roy Brindley, Mad Marty Wilson, Marty Smith, Katharine Hartree, Jeff Duvall, Alan Vinson, Tom Franklin, Steve Wong, Neil Channing, Tony Cascarino and Rory Liffey. The eventual winner was Galway’s Jude Ainsworth.