Paddy Power Poker today launches its biggest summer promotion to date, the Paddy Power Poker Pro. With over €100,000 in packages to be won, players at all levels will have the opportunity to live the life of a poker professional. “Everyone dreams of jetting around the world, playing in the biggest tournaments against the biggest players and we’re really excited to be able to make this dream a reality for one lucky player”, said Paddy Power, Communications Manager for Paddy Power Poker.

Partnering with Paddy Power Poker in the search to find the newest star is poker publication Bluff Europe. Editor-in-Chief Michael Caselli is relishing the opportunity to unearth the next big poker pro; “There is nothing better in the world of poker than to be one of its stars. This promotion will transform an ordinary player into an extra-ordinary poker pro, which is really thrilling!”

Eric Booth, Head of Paddy Power Poker also commented, “This promotion aims to make the Poker Pro lifestyle accessible to everyday players and we’re delighted to have Bluff on board to help us in our search for the first Paddy Power Poker Pro. There’s no doubt but it will be an exciting summer.”

The Paddy Power Poker Pro promotion will culminate in a Live Grand Final to be broadcast live from Citywest Hotel at the paddypowerpoker.com Irish Winter Festival on October Bank Holiday weekend. With a top prize of €60,000 (approximately $85,000), one lucky player will take a free run at some of Europe’s largest poker tournaments within the next year, and those who do not qualify for the top prize will be in with a chance to win a variety of other packages worth €40,000 in total.

paddypowerpoker.com today launches the Irish Winter Festival Sole Survivor promotion by announcing details of a 3-Tickets-Guaranteed Super Satellite on Sunday May 10th at 9.00pm. Feeders to the Super Satellite will run daily from Wednesday May 6th.

The Sole Survivor online qualifier promotion was successfully introduced at the Irish Open 2009 where Marcel Koch won a €100,000 package. Similarly, the Paddy Power Poker online qualifier that lasts the longest in the Irish Masters main event at the Irish Winter Festival will win a €20,000 package in addition to whatever prize money they win in the tournament.

“The Sole Survivor promotion really spiced up this year’s Irish Open”, said Paddy Power, Communications Manager for Paddy Power Poker. “We are thrilled to launch the IWF Sole Survivor by guaranteeing three seats to the Irish Masters main event in this Sunday’s mega satellite. It’s never too early to grab your seat and stake your claim as our next Sole Survivor!”

The Irish Masters is a €1,500 + €150 buy-in NLH freezeout tournament and will return to Citywest Hotel, the home of the 2008 Irish Winter Festival and the 2008 and 2009 Irish Open festivals. Running for three days from October 24th, the tournament will pit the cream of the Irish poker community versus the best international players.

Weekly super satellites ($200 + $15 freezeouts) to the Irish Masters start online at Paddy Power Poker on Sunday May 17th, with a variety of feeders running daily

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.

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!”