iSeriesLIVE is here!

Poker tours are a dime-a-dozen these days, but what poker is really crying out for in this post-Black Friday era is something for the fans to get excited about. That’s why the news of the brand new iSeriesLIVE has got the poker world talking.

The first iSeriesLIVE event, scheduled for April 5 alongside the Irish Open in Dublin, will see the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Phill Hellmuth, Carlos Mortensen, and Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott squaring off in a promotional €10,000 buy-in, winner-takes-all 10-person shootout. Future events will include 36 person, six max no limit hold’em, heads-up tournaments, and more.

But what is it about the events that make them different from any other two-bit shootout? The difference is a healthy spot of gambling. iSeriesLIVE will give viewers the chance to watch top poker players- live with hole cards exposed – and bet on the action as it happens.

Players in all iSeriesLIVE events will be given no access to mobile devices or outside influences and online viewers will be able to bet on a number of real-time scenarios, including odds to win the table that change based on evolving chip stacks, next player eliminated, last longers, and the flop (red or black).

For the promotional launch event, live betting will be offered exclusively via sportsbook giant
PaddyPower in licensed and regulated markets and those who don’t live in a licensed PaddyPower market – such as the United States – can still follow the action live at iSeriesLive.com.

‘For poker to continue to grow, the game needs to become more immediate to our fans,’
said 11-time bracelet winner Hellmuth. ‘By allowing fans to view a poker event as it actually happens, with hole cards exposed, and bet on the action just as they would on football or horse racing, iSeriesLIVE can help take our game to the next level.

‘Now the world will know why I’ve said ‘If it wasn’t for luck, I’d win them all’’

Another unique element about iSeriesLIVE is the event’s financial structure. On top of the €10,000 buy-in, winner-takes-all format, each player participating in iSeriesLIVE events will actually receive a revenue split of all money that is bet on or against them. 

‘After Black Friday, we were determined to find a way to add new revenue streams for our
world class roster of talent,’ says Brian Balsbaugh, founder of Poker Royalty. ‘We are
fronting the expenses, then sharing the wagering profits with the participating players. There
are countless additional ways for us to monetize this model and we look forward to rolling
them out over the course of the next year. Our end goal is to pay players for playing
iSeriesLIVE events.’

Professional poker players committed to play the promotional kick-off event are Negreanu, Hellmuth, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, Mortensen, Maria Ho, Tobias Reinkemeier, Marvin Rettenmaier, James Dempsey, Eoghan O’dea, and Faraz Jaka.

Negreanu’s been tweeting about the iSeriesLIVE event all week, and while most people are behind the idea, Kid Poker found himself in trouble with the moderators at TwoPlusTwo for promoting the site on the forum.

‘Daniel started a thread about iSeriesLive 2 days ago, for which he was infracted, as anyone would have been,’ said a moderator. ‘2 days later, he spams links to his vblog in two different threads, and the first 6:20 of the linked video is about iSeriesLive. For this he gets a one day tempban – such an easy call, no matter who it is.’

As people say, there’s no such as bad publicity…

Check back with PokerPlayer this April to see how the first ever iSeriesLIVE event goes