The €500 + €50 buy-in main event at the Ladbrokes.com Irish Poker Festival, held from Oct. 2 to 5 in Killarney, Ireland, has been won by Jimmy McSweeney from Cork, Ireland. He took home €100,000 for his victory. aks_copyr

The main event proved so popular the capacity was raised from 625 to 750 in the week leading up to the tournament but organisers managed ultimately to accommodate 832 players - a record for a European ranking event - using the alternates system. This created a prize pool of €416,000 which smashed the Ladbrokes.com guarantee of €250,000.

Bryan Coleman, Irish Territory Manager at Ladbrokes.com said, “We’re absolutely delighted with the turnout and would like to thank all the players who made this festival such a success. Our heartiest congratulations go to Jimmy who is a worthy champion and we’re sure we’ll be hearing more of him in the future.”

The 832 players, including Ladbrokes pro Roy “The Boy” Brindley, and pot-limit Omaha world champion Marty Smyth, played down to a final table of eight over three gruelling days. The top 83 got paid and the final eight were shooting for prizes of:

1 - €100,000
2 - €65,000
3 - €35,000
4 - €25,000
5 - €20,000
6 - €15,000
7 - €12,000
8 - €10,000

The fortunate finalists were:

Seat1: Jimmy McSweeney 2,900,000 (in chips)
Seat 2: Steve Johnson 900,000
Seat 3: Nick Heather 1,700,000
Seat 4: Hugh Whelan 700,000
Seat 5: Ian Smith 720,000
Seat 6: Barry Hand 1,000,000
Seat 7: Bo Ericshen 2,200,000
Seat 8: Andrew Roberts 2,600,000

The first to exit was Barry Hand. He raised McSweeney’s 180,000 bet to 500,000 and McSweeney pushed all in. Hand called with A-K and McSweeney showed 10-10. The flop came ace high and Hand’s supporters roared their approval but the celebration was short-lived as a 10 fell on the river giving McSweeney trip tens. Hand was gone earning €10,000 and McSweeney jumped to 4,000,000 in chips.

Steve Johnson was next to go. He went all in from the button for only 3 big blind’s having been crippled in the first hand. Both blinds call and the players checked it down. Steve mucked, was shown a straight by the big blind and hits the rail to collect his €12,000.

Ian Smith exited in sixth for €15,000 when he reraised Hugh Whelan all in on a board of T-6-3. Whelan called with top two pair and Smith showed A-J. Smith strengthened with an ace on the turn, but a 5 on the river sealed his fate.

The next battle saw a short-stacked Nick Heather push all-in over the top of McSweeney’s opening raise with Q-J only to get called by A-J. The board didn’t throw up the necessary queen, Heather exited in fifth for €20,000 and McSweeney further enhanced his stack.

Whelan, who had recovered from having just one ante four tables out, was next to bust. After raising his button, he was put all-in by Andrew Roberts in the big blind. Roberts had J-J and Whelan had 3-3. The board ran out A-5-4-J-K and Whelan went home with €25,000 for his fourth place finish.

Soon after Roberts raised once again, McSweeney flat called and Bo Ericshen raised all-in with 2,200,000 in chips. Roberts stepped aside and McSweeney called showing 9-9 versus Ericshen’s 8-8. The board ran out Q-J-J-7-7 and Erichsen was eliminated in third place picking up €35,000.

McSweeney had soared into the lead of the impending heads up battle with Andrew Roberts and duly accounted for his opponent after raising a pot then calling Roberts’ all in. He showed 6-6 and his opponent showed A-9. With the board falling K-Q-Q-2-J, McSweeney’s pair held up and he scooped the €100,000 first prize while Roberts’ took down €65,000 for his second place finish.

The €300 + €30 side event, which attracted 391 entries creating a prize pool of €105,000 was won by John Lavin from Mayo who took down the €25,000 first prize.

The event was filmed for documentary broadcast on Irish terrestrial TV station TG4 and for subsequent distribution to networks around the world. A web stream of the documentary will also be available on Ladbrokespoker.com.

Everest Poker’s own Stefanie Bergener from Germany, and Maria Maceiras from Spain, made the final table of the Women’s World Open II in London yesterday. Team Everest Poker’s only two representatives in the $108,000 tournament made the top three. aks_copyr

Maria finished 3rd taking home $15,000 with Stefanie finishing 2nd taking home $22,000.

Maceiras has been a part of the Everest Poker Team since 2007 and has quickly become a poker winning machine over the past two years. She was the first women to win two legs of the Spanish Championship, establishing herself not only as a top female poker player, but as one of the best in Spain.

Stefanie earned her spot on the Everest Poker team by winning their Live the Dream promotion and a $100,000 contract with Everest Poker just six months ago.

The Everest Poker Team saw even more success at the Italian Championships this weekend where their own Cristiano Blanco made it to the final table of the €220,000 tournament placing 5th taking home €22,000.

All three players learned and developed their game on Everest Poker. They are testament to the Everest Poker company philosophy that great teams are developed, not bought.

There can be no doubt that Everest Poker believes in their players. Everest Poker does not sponsor professional players, invests in real players to become professionals and succeed on the world stage in much the same way as many football clubs now look to nurture talent within their own academies.

PRWEB - Ladbrokes today announced its Ladbrokes Irish Poker Festival, has sold out despite capacity being increased to 750 during the week. The €500 buy-in event, being held in Killarney from, Oct. 2 to 5, Killarney, had been extended to 750 after pre-registration for the event smashed the original target of 625. The prize pool has now exceeded the original guarantee of €250,000, reaching €375,000. aks_copyr

Bryan Coleman, Irish Territory Manager for Ladbrokes said, “We are overwhelmed with the support this event has received from poker players, not just in Ireland but the UK and beyond, and it justifies our decision to promote a low buy-in guaranteed big-prize event staged in one of the most beautiful parts of the country.

“Players really have voted with their feet and the sell out main event is going to be truly memorable for those lucky enough to get their seats. Only 20 seats remain for the super satellite being held at the venue on Thursday October 2 and the clamour for these will create a fantastic buzz to kick off the Festival.”

The event is being filmed for documentary broadcast on Irish terrestrial TV station TG4 and for subsequent distribution to networks around the world. A web stream of the documentary will also be available on Ladbrokespoker.com.

The Ladbrokes Irish Poker Festival has attracted 750 of Europe’s leading poker aficionados to the Gleneagles INEC Hotel, Killarney. The Festival will also host a €300 no-limit hold’em freezeout supporting event on Saturday October 4 and a €170 no-limit freezeout game on Sunday October 5.

PRWEB - Jesper Hougaard, the 24 year old Danish poker professional sponsored by bet365, has entered the poker history books this week by becoming the first player to win a World Series of Poker bracelet on both sides of the Atlantic. aks_copyr

Hougaard won his first WSOP bracelet this summer in Las Vegas in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournament after defeating a huge field of 2,447. Here he dominated the final table to walk away with a cool $610,304.

This time round the action was at the European leg of the World Series of Poker in London, currently taking place at the Empire in Leicester Square. The event was the £1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament where Hougaard started the final table in eighth place but managed to fight his way into a 5 to 1 chip advantage over his eventual heads-up opponent. After only five hands of heads-up play the Dane took the title, the gold bracelet and the £144,218 first prize.

As well as being the first time anyone has ever won a World Series of Poker event on both sides of the Atlantic, he is also only one of two players that have won multiple WSOP bracelets in 2008.

Hougaard joined bet365 earlier this year as their poker ambassador. He regularly plays in live tournaments around Europe as well as participating in fortnightly bounty tournaments and other activities on the bet365 site.

bet365 is one of the leading poker sites on the Internet and offer $20 million in guaranteed tournament prizes every month, as well as attractive sign up offer for new players and an excellent poker school and VIP programme.

PRWEB - For the second year running, Everest Gaming (formerly UIM) has wowed industry influencers with the continued success of its poker platform Everest Poker and has been presented with an award for Poker Operator of the Year at the eGaming Review Industry Awards in London, UK. aks_copyr

The judges of the award were looking for the operator that made the most headway in the real-money poker sector during 2007/8 and Everest Poker’s continued global success was demonstrated through its aggressive marketing campaigns such as Live the Dream and Avalanche, and its exclusive multi-year deal as official felt sponsor of the World Series of Poker.

With over 11 years of online gaming experience, Everest Gaming has established a name in offering some of the most exciting and trusted multilingual gaming web sites worldwide and was the first company to launch a truly multilingual poker gaming platform in 2004.

Everest Poker is one of the few independent poker rooms in the industry which prides itself in owning its software and player base. The poker room’s success has been built on its large European player base, with over 95% of revenue coming from Europe and a strong understanding of international poker markets.

Everest Poker is currently available in 15 languages (Danish, Dutch, English, French, Finnish, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish), with round the clock local customer support in 17 languages (including Mandarin Chinese and Arabic). More than 60% of active real money Everest Poker players come from Southern Europe - France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal. (ECOOP III), in November.

Popular online poker room, Titan Poker largest on the iPoker Network, last week launched an exciting and unique tournament series exclusively for members of its Elite Club. aks_copyr

Titan Poker’s Elite Club was created to reward and challenge players who have represented the poker room in the past at major land-based tournaments around the world, as a way to thank them and give them a heads-up at additional poker glory. The exclusive tournament series, offered to these skilled poker players at absolutely no cost, gives them a short cut to winning seats at future poker tournaments where they can again represent Titan Poker and win huge cash prizes.

For Titan Poker players, who regularly fight it out for their share of the massive cash jackpots on offer and/or their dream seat at an overseas poker event, such as the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, this is yet another means to “winning some fantastic prizes and entry to live tournaments that might otherwise be unobtainable,” claimed a Titan Poker spokesman. “There is every reason to believe that the Elite Club will be warmly welcomed by our best players. Evidence of players’ excitement was proven last Thursday when the top four winners each finished their night celebrating at having earned free entry into our upcoming Poker Cup Australia Super Satellite, truly delighted with a successful evening’s play.”

Titan Poker regularly rewards its players with massive cash prizes and seats to huge overseas poker events, such as the Aussie Millions, the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, and various European Poker Tour events. It awards more than $16,000,000 in monthly prizes and will stage a $4,150,000 Guaranteed Prize Tournament series, the European Championship of Online Poker (ECOOP III), in November.

PRWEB - Today, Bodog announced the full schedule for the Bodog Poker Open II, and it doesn’t get much bigger and better than this. Following up the wildly successful inaugural Bodog Poker Open last March, the BPOII starts Sunday, Sept. 28 and will consist of 14 tournaments held over eight days with more than $650,000 in prize money guaranteed. The main event on Sunday, Oct. 5 will award a guaranteed prize pool of $300,000, the largest ever in Bodog history. aks_copyr

To make things even more interesting–and profitable–for online players, Bodog will host six “Bounty” tournaments during the BPOII with players winning $109 in Bodog Tournament Credits for each Team Bodog pro and select featured player they eliminate during the tournament. The credits can be used in any BPOII Main Event Satellite hosted nightly at 9:20pm ET (T$109). All Team Bodog pros will play in the BPOII including David Williams, Justin Bonomo, Evelyn Ng and Jean-Robert Bellande.

“Whoever said sequels are never as good as the original certainly wasn’t talking about the Bodog Poker Open II,” said Team Bodog pro Justin Bonomo, a 23-year-old tournament ace with $1.4 million in career winnings. “The first BPO was pretty big but the BPOII takes it to a whole new level with more events, more money guaranteed, deeper stacks, and they’re keeping it fun along the way with bounty tournaments. I welcome all players to take a shot at me during the series.”

The BPOII starts Sunday, Sept. 28, with the BPOII Kick Off Bounty Tournament, featuring $5,000 in added money with a 100 + $9 buy-in. A total of six bounty tournaments will be held throughout the series in addition to seven “Championship Events” featuring higher buy-ins and deeper stacks. Players can buy directly into any of the events with cash or Bodog Tournament Credits, or win their way in through satellites. Winners of all events will gain entry into any BPOII Main Event Satellite hosted nightly at 9:20pm EST (T$109).

The 13 preliminary events all lead up to the series’ championship, the $500 buy-in BPOII Main Event, held on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 4:00 p.m. EST. A guaranteed $300,000 in prize money will be given away, regardless of how many players enter, and each player will start with 10,000 in tournament chips.

Online poker room Titan Poker has launched a new and exciting tournament series for all of its avid poker players. The Titan Poker Team offers players with dreams of poker glory a chance to achieve their ultimate fantasy: to win an elite sponsorship deal representing Titan Poker at live poker events throughout the world. aks_copyr

In total, 12 skilled poker players from eight countries will win sponsorship spots on the Titan Poker Team. The team will be selected at final tournaments, to be held on December 18, 2008.

There are two ways to win a seat to the final tournaments. All depositing Titan Poker players are eligible to play in the monthly qualifiers, where they can buy-in directly for $10 + $1, or win a seat in one of the weekly qualifiers with the extremely low buy-in of only $1 +$0.10.

Players can also win a seat directly to the final tournaments by finishing in a top spot in country races taking place each month. These are exclusive to players’ language and country of residence.

Titan Poker Team members receive a six-month contract for the first half of 2009. The sponsorship deal includes $16,500 for buy-ins for live poker tournaments, a personal web page dedicated to sharing their expertise and experiences through blogs and reports, and, of course, a player’s tournament winnings.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for players whose desire a full time professional poker career,” said a Titan Poker spokesman. “By winning a seat on the Titan Poker Team, they will receive excellent publicity and a chance to show off their skills on a global stage.”

Titan Poker regularly rewards its players with massive cash prizes and seats to huge overseas poker events, such as the Aussie Millions, the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, and the Asian Poker Tour Series. It awards more than $16,000,000 in monthly prizes and will stage the upcoming European Championship of Online Poker III (ECOOP III) tournament this November with $4,150,000 in guaranteed prizes.

This October you and your guest could be flying out to Dublin courtesy of bet365 to sample the city’s legendary poker scene, not to mention its vibrant nightlife. The Irish Masters is one of the most important tournaments on the European poker circuit and bet365 are giving you the chance to play in it by qualifying online at their ever-popular online poker site. aks_copyr

The fantastic prize package on offer includes flights to Dublin, four night’s accommodation for two people at the Citywest Hotel in the capital and entry to the Irish Masters No Limit Hold’em Freezeout tournament.

And there’s more! No visit to Dublin would be complete without a visit to the GUINNESS STOREHOUSE, Ireland’s number one International visitor’s attraction. Here you’ll attend a private welcome party at the Guinness Storehouse Gravity Bar with a brewery tour, dinner and a live band show all courtesy of bet365.

Qualification for the event is now open with a number of different ways to qualify. Feeder satellites start from just $0.60 and super satellites are running on Sundays for the $200 freezeout tournament and on Tuesdays for the $50 rebuy tournament.

“Dublin is a great place to enjoy poker,” says Kate Laverick, Poker Marketing Manager at bet365. “It has deservedly just won the title of European Poker Capital 2008 and only when you’ve visited you can understand why. It is such a lively poker scene with friendly faces and some great characters.”

So why not head on over to the poker room at bet365 and have a go at qualifying? In a few weeks time you could be across in Dublin, enjoying the craic and pitting your wits against some of the best poker players in Europe for a share in the massive €1,000,000 prizepool. New poker players at bet365 can also get their hands on a huge $600 welcome bonus when they hit the tables.