Poker News

The paddypowerpoker.com Irish Open charity tournament and auction, which took place on the final day of the poker festival, raised a total of €26,537 for Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin. The poker festival took place from 9th – 13th April and players had the opportunity to donate over the five days of play in addition to playing in the charity event.

Each participant in the charity tournament donated €100 to the hospital, with Paddy Power Poker donating all registration fees collected from the tournament.

“We are delighted with the amount of funds raised at the Irish Open and it will go a long way in helping us in our work, the main focus of which is upgrading our A&E department”, said Tom Hickey, Development & Promotions Executive for the Children’s Medical & Research Foundation at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital. “I would like to thank Paddy Power Poker, the Jackpot Casino and everyone who played in the event. All of these efforts are greatly appreciated by everyone in Crumlin Hospital.”

“It is a privilege to be able to support such a fine cause as that of Crumlin Hospital,” said Eric Booth, Head of Poker at Paddy Power Poker. “Poker players show time and time again that they are one of the most generous groups of people out there and the Irish Open proved no exception. I’m very proud of what we all contributed over the Irish Open weekend!”

The disturbing news that a young student was killing girls by contacting them through CraigsList was quite disturbing. To think that someone would do this is almost unimaginable. Then the bombshell dropped that shook the movement for legalizing online gaming, specifically poker. He was robbing and killing these girls to pay off gambling debts.

By no means is this meant to belittle the suffering of these girls and their families. It is just to bring to light the difficulties that now face the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) in their quest to get support behind their movement of legalizing gambling in the United States on the Internet.

The PPA has reportedly earmarked about $3,000,000 for lobbying efforts to gain support for their bill. Now you have to honestly ask yourself what politician would associate themselves with such a bill that will surely be twisted into condoning this type of behavior. The argument will be made that if this young man was not able to gamble, these murders may have never have happened.

Issues like this will continue to plague the movement to legalize poker and gambling online. The odd thing is that things like this happen that are related to alcohol and TV violence, yet neither of those is ever even thought about being distinguished. It is a shame that these horrible murders will be turned into some other than what they are, the horrible acts of an individual who lacks self control.

Swedish professional outlasts 699 others in Europe’s most prestigious tournament

Christer Johansson today won the Paddy Power Poker Irish Open Poker, winning a first prize of €600,000. The 39-year old Swede is a well-known online cash game specialist who plays unPower Pokerder the handle ‘sendmemore’. Johansson triumphed over a professional-heavy field of 700 players, including such stars as Dan Harrington, Jamie Gold, Phil Laak, Marty Smyth, Ciaran O’Leary and Neil Channing.

TV presenter and former model Kara Scott finished in second place, taking home €312,600, with Andrew Pantling receiving €205,200 for third place and Antanas Gueorguiev winning €163,300 for finishing fourth. Lee Brooke-Pearce (€130,600), William Kassouf (€100,800), Bradley Verburg (€74,600), Andy Bradley (€56,000) and Irishman Philip Baker (€37,400) finished in fifth through ninth places respectively.

Sixteenth place finisher Marcel Koch became paddypowerpoker.com’s €100,000 Sole Survivor by outlasting more than one hundred other paddypowerpoker.com online qualifiers, winning a prize package worth €100,000.

The tournament began on Friday, April 10th and featured a total prizepool of €2,240,000. The buy-in for the tournament was €3,500 and 72 players made the money. A live webcast and comprehensive updates were available throughout the weekend on the official Irish Open blog, with the tournament scheduled for broadcast on TG4 (Ireland) and ITV4 (UK) during May and June.

Follow the action from Ireland’s premier poker event

Paddy Power Poker today announces that the Irish Open will be broadcast live via web stream. Coverage will begin at the start of play at 2pm on Friday, April 10th and will conclude with the presentation of the champion’s trophy on Monday, April 13th.

The live stream will be accessible via the Irish Open website and official blog page and viewer interaction with the commentators will be possible via Twitter.

Additionally, Paddy Power Poker will offer live fixed odds betting on the colour of the flop cards seen.

“Our live stream is another ‘first’ for the paddypowerpoker.com Irish Open” said Eric Booth, Head of Poker for paddypowerpoker.com. “Those viewing from home will be able to follow the action from Dublin in real time while playing in one of our Irish Open Online tournaments! Our live stream and dedicated team of bloggers will ensure that this year’s Irish Open will be easier to follow than ever before; online visitors will know what’s happening as soon as those playing do!”

Over $60,000 in cash and prizes to be won over ten weeks

Paddy Power Poker today announces that the Back That Ace Up IV: The Cash Is Back cash race will start at midnight on Sunday, 29th March.

The latest instalment of the poker room’s popular promotion will award over $60,000 in cash and prizes over the course of ten weeks, with over $5,000 cash on offer each week. A WSOP Main Event package worth $13,000 will be won in a special Grand Final tournament on June 11th.

The promotion is open to all Paddy Power Poker players and their position on the leader board will be determined by the amount of hands played, the table stakes and the time players spend on the tables.

“The Back That Ace Up promotion is too good to go into the archives; our players wanted another sequel and we’ve delivered!” said Eric Booth, Head of Poker at Paddy Power Poker. “In addition to handing out over $5,000 in cash and prizes each week, we’re sweetening the deal with a WSOP package and giving players ample opportunity to qualify for the Grand Final tournament. It’s time to pull on your skinny jeans and Back That Ace Up for the fourth time!”