PokerStars launch new ANZPT

PokerStars.net today announced the launch of an exciting new poker tour which will be played across Australia and New Zealand – the PokerStars.net ANZPT. The first event is in Adelaide on Wednesday 4th February 2009.

The growth of poker in Australia and New Zealand over the past few years has been astounding; with figures showing there are over 400,000 Australians regularly playing poker. There has also been the success of tournaments in region such as the PokerStars.net APPT events in Auckland and Sydney, as well as the upcoming Aussie Millions. Now antipodeans have their very own tour which will further develop poker talent in the region.

Searching for the next local Poker Star, the ANZPT will go to Australia and New Zealand’s leading casinos. The tour is league based which means there is a point system awarding players for every event they enter as well as for the position they finish in each tournament. The first season will run up until July.

Taking Australian poker back to its humble beginnings, the tour will kick off at Adelaide’s SKY CITY Casino – widely regarded as the ‘Home of Australian Poker,’ when the casino first introduced Texas Hold’em to our shores in 1987.

The tournament is part of the SKY CITY Adelaide Hold’em Championship which runs from the 31st January to the 7th of February.

All Aussies and Kiwis can be in the running to battle it out in this new tour, with qualifiers starting on PokerStars.com on Thursday 1 January 2009. Packages, worth over $ 4,500, will include:

• $ 3000 direct buy-in

• 5 nights accommodation at the luxurious Hyatt Hotel in Adelaide

• Travel expenses

The announcement follows the huge success of the second season of the PokerStars.net APPT, which concluded in Sydney in December.

‘Following the success of the second season of the APPT earlier this year, we are excited to be expanding poker further throughout this region. The ANZPT will provide Australian and New Zealand poker players with a professionally executed tour in their own backyard’, commented ANZPT spokesperson, Danny McDonagh.

Some of the sport’s finest including PokerStars.net Team Australia members Grant Levy, Eric Assadourian, Celina Lin, Tony Hachem and Emad Tahtouh will grace the tables for the PokerStars.net ANZPT in up to six locations.

Nightly Freerolls from Monday to Saturday will take place on PokerStars.net each week in the lead up to the February kick off, with the top 20 players qualifying for a Sunday evening final. The winner of each Sunday final will receive a package to ANZPT Adelaide.

Real money satellites include nightly tournaments feeding to a weekly Sunday Evening qualifier plus a weekly Saturday afternoon re-buy direct satellite.

For more information visit the soon to be launched www.anzpt.com and test your skills at becoming Australia’s next Poker Star!