POKER MILLION II
Since my last article on the POKER MILLION you should now be aware of the great success it was. Despite a great learning curve encountered by the Ladbrokes team in running tournaments such as this, I’m pleased to report that without a shadow of a doubt it was an immense success amongst the players and the viewing public.
The worlds BIGGEST players all turned up. Even though only 156 entrants took part, the fact that the final was shown LIVE on TV gave it something that no other poker tournament in history has ever gotton before. An audience of 300 million.
Watching the final LIVE, I was initially sceptical of the camera work. It appeared not to know how to show poker on TV. My fears were soon drowned in the tension & drama of the whole occasion as John Duthie, a tv producer from London, played the game of his life to become the UK’s first millionaire on TV. The second, incidentally, came 24 hours later when Judith Kempell won the £1M first prize on UK tv’s ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’.
TV audience numbers show that although POKER MILLION was watched by substantially fewer people from the UK than ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’. The drama & excitement was the same, as each decision was considered once, twice and then again before deciding the course of action to take.
People really want to see winners! The bigger the winner the BIGGER the audience. Of that I have no doubt. Poker Million will be back next year.
So what now…where does poker go from here?? Well next time I’ll tell you all about another UK TV poker extravaganza which is about to reach its climax.
Jon ShoremanWhat does every single poker tournament come down to? A head to head battle for the title. That’s the theory. Unfortunately in practice it very rarely happens. The reason is two fold. Firstly a deal is often struck before the head to head is reached, and secondly the blinds are often so high by the end of a tournament that the heads up match often only lasts a few hands.
All this is set to change with the inaugural “World Heads Up Poker Championships” which will take place in Vienna next June.
Heads Up No Limit Holdem is the ultimate poker challenge, a test of true skill, it’s you verses your opponent.
During all rounds of the “World Heads Up Poker ligaz11 Championships” the blinds will not be increased. You will also be given plenty of chips to play with, ranging from 50 Big blinds in round 1 up to 80 Big blinds in the final. You therefore do not have to worry about beating the clock and increasing blinds eroding your chips.
We are promoting the event worldwide and are projecting an entry of 256 players in the inaugural year. With a buyin of Euro 2,500 ($2,200) the estimated prize pool will be Euro 640,000 ($536,500). You are only 8 matches away from a first prize of Euro 250,000 ($220,000).
Satellites are being arranged all of the world, the first of which will be held at the Crown Casino Melbourne, Australia Dec 16-17.
If you would like to play in a satellite at your local casino please ask your card room manager to contact the organizers. Contact information, and further details of the event can be found at the official “World Heads Up Poker Championships”
Hi, my name is Mark Strahan, and welcome to my regular articles covering poker topics and news throughout the UK & Ireland. More information on Poker in the UK by visting Poker Pages’ Poker Info page.
Most subscribers to this newsletter have probably never heard of me, so I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself.
My interest in casinos has grown throughout most of my adult life, since the building of Burswood Resort Casino in Perth in the late 1980’s. By the early 1990’s I had obtained work at this casino as a Dealer and was trained in all the major games, but my interest lay mostly with Poker.
Since then I have worked for a Cruise Line and am now employed at Crown Casino where I have worked all positions from Dealer to Pit Boss. For those of you who have not visited Crown, it is the largest casino in Australia and also has the largest Poker Room in the country.
Most of my time at Crown has been spent working in the Poker Room which over the last three years has ignited my interests as a player. Although my poker playing skills have improved over the years, I have only one tournament win to my name. This was the Moscow International Teams event 2000 in which I was part of a team that was made up from four Crown employees. Does this prove that casino staff can play?
Enough about me. In future issues I hope to bring you all the current news and information about Poker Down Under. The next big event is the Heads Up Satellites at Crown Casino on the 16th and 17th of December. The winners of these satellites will win an entry in next years World Heads Up Poker Championships in Vienna. Look out Vienna, the Aussies are coming!
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