Irish News

Celebrity in Dublin

Celebpoker.com will be making its first visit to Ireland – following successful high-profile events in Brighton, Birmingham, and London – when the Merrion Casino stages a €500 no-limit hold'em tournament, restricted to 200 players and boasting a €100,000 prize pool, May 13-14.



Rogue Trader Nick Leeson and former Liverpool soccer star Jan Molby are the early "celebs" confirmed.

Tenners Everywhere

North of the border, Lisburn's Hibs Club now has Texas hold'em tournaments on Friday nights with a £1,000 prize fund. They are £20 to enter with £10 rebuys.



Newry's Frontier Bingo Club at John Mitchell Place hosts a £10 rebuy tournament on Tuesday nights with £1,000-guaranteed prize money. Friday nights are twice as good, with £20 rebuy tournaments and £2,000-guaranteed prize money. Further details are available from Paul on +44 7967633076.



Ballymenas' Luckys Bingo Club also has the same guarantees in place for £10 rebuy tournaments on Mondays and £20 Thursday rebuy competitions.



There are occasional £100 entry, £8,000-guaranteed tournaments at the venue. Phone Paul on +44 7811468392 for dates and times.

£2,500 Raised for Charity

A £20,000-guaranteed charity poker tournament in Belfast's Devenish Complex was deemed a great success.



The two-day event, which attracted 168 players, was organised by zerozeropoker.com and raised £2,500 for the RVH Liver Support Group.

Oasis Job

Dublin's Club Oasis Casino, better known as a slot-machine arcade, continues to thrive as a poker venue and is now seeking to appoint a tournament director to introduce competitions and complement its five cash-game tables.



Interested parties can apply by e-mail to John Kennedy at: [email protected]

Simon Charity Earner

1999 World Series of Poker third-place finisher Padraig Parkinson has organised a charity poker tournament that will prelude the Irish Poker Tour's grand finals at the Citywest Hotel on the outskirts of Dublin on June 1.

Simon Charity for the homeless will be the beneficiary, possibly to the tune of €25,000, as the entry fee is €300 +€30 registration, with €100 going directly to the good cause.



Accountant John O'Callaghan and Eamonn Connolly will be providing their expertise for free, along with the staff from Dublin's casinos, while sizeable donations from online cardrooms have already been received.



Cork's Million

Cork's Ladbrokespoker.com land-based Poker Million Satellite has been put back a week until May 13. The entry fee remains set at €300, with a single rebuy or top-up.



A second tournament at the Macau Casino, a €250 freezeout, will be staged on Sunday, May 14, giving the weekend a minifestival feel. Call +353 214530477 for further details.

EPT's Rival Rolls Into Dublin

The Fitzwilliam Card Club and Casino will host the second leg of the Showdown Poker Tour at the end of May.



"Considering online qualifiers, visiting pros, and satellites, we are expecting a field size between 240 and 300," said Cardroom Manager Luke Ivory. "At the €5,000 entry fee, the prize pool will be in excess of €1 million.



"The main event will be run with two first days splitting the field; there will then be a second full day, and the decider will be on the third full day. We are therefore going to make the week [May 21-28] a full festival, with supporting tournaments for eliminated players."



The Showdown Poker Tour will also visit London's Gutshot Club; Vilnius, Lithuania; Trouville, France; Tallinn, Estonia; Elsinore, Denmark; and Hamburg, Germany during the year.