Paddypowerpoker.com Grand Slam 2006 – the Battle for Europe

Televised tournament to decide – once and for all - which European country has the best No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em players

(PRWEB) December 3, 2005 -- Paddypowerpoker.com today announced the inaugural paddypowerpoker.com Grand Slam. The tournament will pit teams from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, France and Sweden against each other in an innovative event designed to find the champion poker nation of Europe.

Watch the action unfold
Grand Slam 2006 will be held in the Star City Casino, Birmingham, England on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 January 2006. It will be filmed before a live studio audience and televised as six 1 hour shows on SKY SPORTS beginning March 2006.

Teams and qualification
Team captains confirmed include poker legends Donnacha O’Dea (Ireland, former champion Sky Sports Poker Million), Ivan Donaghy (Northern Ireland), Dave Colclough (Wales), Gary Jones (England) and Chris Bjorin (Sweden).

Players can qualify online exclusively at paddypowerpoker.com for the Irish (2 qualifiers), Northern Irish (2 qualifiers) and English (1 qualifier) teams.

Bragging rights
Paddy Power, spokesman for paddypowerpoker.com said, “"There is already a fierce rivalry between the nations in all sorts of sports, so why not in the biggest sport of all - poker? There have been competitions between countries in the past but never before has there been a Grand Slam in poker. This will sort the men from the boys!”

Points AND prizes
The payout of €210,000 will be divided between a team prize of €110,000 and an individual prizes for the final table comprising €50,000 (1st), €30,000 (2nd) and €20,000 (3rd).

Each of the seven countries will send a team of six players. The buy-in for the tournament is €5,000.

Each player will earn points according to their elimination position with the title of Grand Slam Winners 2006 going to the team that accumulates the most points.

Unique TV treat
The two-day tournament will be filmed by Winmedia which has extensive experience in producing poker tournaments for TV including The Paddy Power Poker Tournament, The World Heads Up Championship, The World Pot Limit Championship and the Irish Open.

Eight main cameras and six under-table cameras will cover the TV table and crucial hands at the other tables during the event.

There will be a half-time period where cameras will follow teams to their ‘de-brief’ areas, getting insights into players thoughts and recording strategic advice from captains and coaches, while on-screen graphics will keep viewers up-to-the-minute information on the changing fortunes of the teams.

For more information please contact:
Brendan Murray
Poker Communications Manager. +353 1 4041759.

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