Irish online gaming and betting company Paddy Power announced that qualifying tournaments have started for the upcoming Irish Open. The Irish Open, the longest-standing poker tournament in Europe, is getting ready to celebrate its 25th anniversary. To celebrate, the Irish poker tournament is breaking a record- it will be the first poker tournament on Irish soil to boast a €1 million prize pool.

The Irish Open, which is slated to start on April 15, is being held in conjunction with Paddy Power and its namesake online poker site, PaddyPowerPoker.com. Paddy Power Poker is contributing €50,000 to the tournament purse, and as stated above, is also holding qualifying tournaments for poker players around the world who would rather not shell out the €3,200 buy-in for the main event. Note that the qualifying tournaments are not open to poker players in the U.S.

The satellite tournaments work in a two-tiered fashion. Three times a day, Paddy Power Poker will host “feeder tournaments," the winners of which will advance to a weekly grand final satellite tournament. The winner of the grand final satellite wins an Irish Open prize package valued at €4,500. In addition to the Irish Open prize package that goes to all online qualifiers, the online qualifier to place highest will also win a prize package to the WSOP.

Source:  Poker777 Staff

Monday, 06 February 2006