The PartyPoker.com Million

Poker history was made on March 16, 2002, when professional poker player Kathy Liebert captured the title in the PartyPoker.com Million (PPM) tournament. The first prize of $1 million was the largest ever for a limit hold'em tournament and the most money ever won in poker by a woman, and Kathy became the first woman to win a championship poker event in which the buy-in was $5,000 or more. Congratulations, Kathy!

The PartyPoker.com Million was a unique event. Players could qualify for it by playing a PPM tournament on PartyPoker.com for $22. The 100 online players who advanced to the ship were awarded a free cruise for two, $500 in cash, and a free entry ($8,000) into the PPM finals. It was the greatest value in poker history.

In addition to the online qualifiers, 39 players paid an $8,000 entry fee to play in the event. They included many of the most famous players in poker, such as reigning World Poker Champion Carlos Mortensen, former world champions Chris Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, Huck Seed, Dan Harrington, and Phil Hellmuth, as well as the Card Player 2001 Player of the Year, Men "The Master" Nguyen, former U.S. Open champion Ken Flaton, and the most successful tournament player in history, T.J. Cloutier.

The finals of the PPM were held aboard a ship – Carnival Cruise Line's Elation – during a one-week cruise of the Mexican Riviera. First place was a guaranteed $1 million and $200,000 was added to the prize pool. This exciting week of poker provided the "Rudys" of the poker world the opportunity to play against the superstars of poker – and the outcome was storybook.

Of the nine finalists, three qualified online and six were experienced poker veterans. The veterans included two former world champions (Chris Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth) and Kathy Liebert. The final-table action took place in a beautiful lounge on the ship. The place was packed, the atmosphere was electric, and everyone was rooting loudly for his/her favorite player. The three Internet players who had qualified on PartyPoker.com were crowd favorites, as people like to root for the underdog.

Liebert played beautifully all week, and deserved to win. The runner-up was Berj Kacherian, an online qualifier. Kacherian is a database administrator from Los Angeles, California. He was a favorite of the crowd, as was Kathy. He and Liebert played a tenacious three-hour heads-up battle, with the lead changing hands nine times before Kathy prevailed. Phil Hellmuth, the all-time leading money winner at the World Series of Poker, finished third.

Results of the 2002 PartyPoker.com Million were as follows:

1. Kathy Liebert $1,000,000

2. Berj Kacherian 93,600

3. Phil Hellmuth 62,400

4. Bruce Yamron 46,800

5. Scott Buller 37,440

6. Chris Ferguson 24,960

7. Mike Yuwiler 18,720

8. Ken Flaton 15,600

9. Mel Judah 12,480

The PartyPoker.com Million was hosted by Linda Johnson and Card Player Cruises. It was also filmed for a program to be aired on the Travel Channel. Trust me, it will be a great one! The concept of online qualifiers playing a mega live championship event could revolutionize poker tournaments as we now know them.

Although Kathy Liebert won the event, the real winner was poker.

Take care.