Online poker site Paddypowerpoker.com announced it will sponsor the Paddypowerpoker.com Grand Slam.
On Jan. 10, 2006, teams from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, France, and Sweden will converge on the Star City Casino in Birmingham, England, fight for the Grand Slam title.
It will be filmed before a live studio audience and televised as six one-hour shows in Europe beginning in March. Each of the seven countries will send a team of six players. The players will accumulate points based on where they finished the tournament. The longer a player lasts, the more points the player earns. The team with the most points divides
a prize of €110,000. Players will also vie for the top three spots, which pay out €50,000, €30,000 and €20,000, respectively.
Including in the tournament is a half-time period during which teams gather and share strategy and information about how to play opposing players. This will be filmed and broadcast.
Although most of the teams will be made up of invited pros, several seats are up for grabs through satellites at Paddypoker.com. The Ireland and Northern Ireland teams will take two online qualifiers, and the English team one. The confirmed captains of the teams are: Ireland, Donnacha O'Dea; Northern Ireland, Ivan Donaghy; Wales, Dave Colclough; England. Gary Jones; and Sweden, Chris Bjorin.
