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SEASON 2 DATES ANNOUNCED FOR THE POKERSTARS.NET AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND POKER TOUR (ANZPT)

Last year’s inaugural tour is back even bigger and better
The PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) is pleased to announce
the first six events of its second season. Stops have already been confirmed in every
mainland state of Australia and more venues are expected to be added to the tour
shortly. The first event of Season 2 is in Adelaide, South Australia, from February 9 to
14, 2010 at the beautiful SKYCITY Adelaide Casino.
Perth will follow as a new venue on the tour from March 17 to 21. “We are thrilled to be
part of the ANZPT,” said Jason Barry, General Manager of Table Games at Burswood
Entertainment Complex “We feel this is just what our players have been waiting for and
we expect big numbers will take part in the first PokerStars.net ANZPT Perth
tournament.”
PokerStars.net launched the ANZPT, Australia and New Zealand’s first poker tour, in
February 2009. Overnight the tournaments became the most successful in each region,
welcomed enthusiastically by both local players and visiting poker pros keen to take on
the Aussies and Kiwis while seeing the region.
The Season 1 tour saw 1,309 players take part and $2,982,196 prize money being
awarded throughout.
Dates for Season 2 of the ANZPT are as follows:
City Venue Dates Buy-in
Adelaide Adelaide Casino 9-14 Feb, 2010 Buy-in $3,000 AUD
Perth Burswood Entertainment Complex 17-21 Mar, 2010 Buy-in $2,500 AUD
Sydney Star City Casino 21-25 Apr, 2010 Buy-in $2,200 AUD
Queenstown Sky City Queenstown 17-25 Jul, 2010 Buy-in $2,500 NZD
Gold Coast Conrad Jupiters 11-15 Aug, 2010 Buy-in $2,500 AUD
Melbourne Crown Casino 8-11 Oct, 2010 Buy-in TBC
Adelaide Casino Poker Manager David Galpin said: “We are looking forward to the
return of the ANZPT in Adelaide after the wonderful success of the first year and we are
excited to see the event grow and flourish in Adelaide.”
The ANZPT tour runs a tournament leader board awarding players points for every event
entered as well as for the position they finish in each tournament. Team PokerStars Pro
Australia player Tony Hachem was the overall champion of the inaugural tour. He
managed to cash in four out of the five ANZPT events, a fabulous performance which
proved his consistency as a player. For his achievement, Hachem wins entry into all of
the PokerStars.net APPT events across Asia Pacific as well as the 2010 Aussie Millions.
Chris Levick, the winner of ANZPT Melbourne, came second in the points race and wins
entry into every ANZPT event in Season 2. Joel Dodd took third place and wins $10,500
in tournament entries.
ANZPT Commissioner Danny McDonagh said “The ANZPT provides Australian and New
Zealand poker players with a professionally-executed tour in their own backyard. The
ANZPT Player of the Year is now clearly the most coveted poker award in this region. It
provides the opportunity for poker players to prove their skills consistently over time,
enjoy great experiences playing across Australia and New Zealand, and gain the big
prize – a valuable sponsorship with PokerStars.net.”
PokerStars.net will run twice nightly freerolls from Monday to Saturday each week in the
lead up to the ANZPT Season 2 kick off in February, with the top players qualifying for a
weekly Sunday Stage 2 final. The top ten from each Sunday final will then go on to play
for a package to ANZPT Adelaide which includes the $3,000 AUD Main Event buy-in,
seven nights’ accommodation at the InterContinental hotel, a selection of tourist outings
such as a Barossa Valley Wine Tour and $500 for travel expenses.
For more information visit www.anzpt.com – and test your skills at becoming Australia’s
next Poker Star!

PADRAIG PARKINSON WINS POKERSTARS.COM UKIPT GALWAY

Irish poker legend Padraig Parkinson has won the Irish Poker Championships and is the
first PokerStars UKIPT Galway champion. Parkinson takes home the €125,000 first prize
and receives an entry into the £5,250 PokerStars.com EPT London event which is the
season finale to the UK & Ireland Poker Tour. In addition to that he will also initially top
the Season 1 UKIPT leader board which awards over £60,000 worth of added prizes to
the top 100 players over all of the events from Season 1 with the top placed finisher
receiving all of their buy-in and hotel accommodation for Season 2.
Parkinson originally from Galway and who now resides in Paris, France is best known
for his third place finish in the 1999 WSOP Main Event and his victory in series five of
the Late Night Poker Show in 2002.
Parkinson, came to the final table third in chips and faced stiff competition from
PokerStars qualifier Ben Lefew, who also final tabled the PokerStars.com WCOOP Main
Event in 2009, former PokerStars Supernova Elite Michael Graydon and Englishman
Paul Marrow who was runner-up.
Parkinson finally won the heads up when he called Paul Marrow’s all in with K-Q of
hearts and it held up against Marrow’s 5-2 off suit. However, the real damage had been
done a few hands earlier when Padraig had won a massive all-in pot against Marrow
holding A-Q against Marrow’s pair of sixes. A queen on the flop was enough to give
Parkinson the pot and an overwhelming advantage.
Parkinson paid tribute to his heads up opponent and friend Paul Marrow in his post
event interview before adding “I don’t think there’s been anyone who has won this title
before who has felt as good as I do now, coming back to Galway and being a Galway
lad, it means everything.”
To view Parkinson’s full winning interview please click here:

http://www.pokerstars.tv/movies/898/ukipt-galway-padraig-parkinson-ukipt-galwaywinner.

html
PokerStars qualifiers Ben Lefew and Michael Graydon both played excellently, ultimately
finishing third and fourth respectively for prizes of €52,000 and €36,000.
In all there were 259 players, including 116 PokerStars.com players, who entered the
inaugural €2,000 buy-in UKIPT Galway event creating a prize pool of €471,380. Among
those who competed were former England football international Teddy Sheringham, Irish
rugby legend Reggie Corrigan and former WBA Super Bantamweight champion Bernard
Dunne. Also in attendance were Team PokerStars PROs John Duthie – who finished 35thfor €2,800 – JP Kelly and Jude Ainsworth a former winner of the Irish Poker Championships.

Nick Wealthall, UKIPT Host says, ‘We couldn’t have asked for a stronger final table line
up to start the tour or a better winner. Padraig has always been a top tournament player
and he’s proved it again here; the fact that he’s a native of Galway makes it all the more
special. Everyone watching the event knew Padraig was going to win – after all he
started celebrating 3 days early. The whole event had an amazing atmosphere and none
of us can wait for the next event in Manchester.’

The next stop on the PokerStars.com UK & Ireland Poker Tour is the £550 buy-in
Manchester event from February 11-14 at the G Casino. For the first time in EPT history,
PokerStars.com is guaranteeing a £100,000 prize pool for the first UK event on the tour.
The winner as well will receive a £5,250 entry into EPT London, the season finale to the
UK & Ireland Poker Tour. For more information, please visit http://www.ukipt.com

PokerStars weekly roundup: 7 December 2009

Charity on the beach
This year the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (http://www.caribbeanpokeradventure.com/) will be a two week
long 50-event festival of poker on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. They’ll be sun, sea, sand and high stakes poker
for the thousands of players who descended on the Island every January, but they’ll also be chance to give a little
something back. Having been supporters of AIDS research charities for several years PokerStars
(http://www.pokerstars.com ) has teamed up with amfAR (http://www.amfar.org/) to host a fundraising charity
tournament during the festival. The $5,250 buy-in tournament will donate half of the prize pool to amfAR and will
include players such as NHL Olympic gold medallist Mats Sundin, tennis legend Boris Becker, French rugby star
Sebastian Chabal and members of Team PokerStars Pro (http://www.pokerstars.com/team-pokerstars). For more
information on a charity qualifier on PokerStars later this month see the amfAR charity event page.
(http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/promotions/amfar/)

Home town hero wins in Prague
It was one of the longest final tables in recent EPT memory but provided a thrilling climax to what has now become
one of the best destinations on the European Poker Tour (http://www.ept.com ). Ahead of 586 players it was local
hero Jan Skampa on top in EPT Prague (http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ept/2009/ept-prague-jan-skampa-skittlesall-
comer-062214.html ), defeating Eyal Avitan from Israel in a three hour heads-up battle. Not only did Skampa
become the latest home country winner but he also becomes the first player to make back to back final tables
since season one, following Skampa’s fourth place in Vilamoura two weeks ago
(http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ept/2009/ept-vilamoura-local-hero-antonio-matias-061600.html ). Skampa won
€682,000 and a seat at the grand final in Monte Carlo
(http://www.europeanpokertour.com/tournaments/montecarlo/) next April.

Pagano Power
Jan Skampa may have won the title, the lion share of the money and the grand final seat but one player was
setting more records, or should that be extending his own. The Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano
(http://www.pokerstars.com/team-pokerstars/luca-pagano) made the final table in Prague – his sixth EPT,
extending his own record, and following his fourth place finish in Warsaw in October. His sixth place in Prague was
his 13th EPT cash (http://www.pokerstars.net/Scripts/tours/database_results.htmls?id_player=41&lang=en&tour=1)
– extending yet another record – and keeps him rooted firmly to the top of the tour’s tournament leader board, with
tour earnings now amounting to more than $1.1 million.

Aussie wins grand final down under
While there was excitement in Prague it was a similar story on the other side of the world where the three day Asia
Pacific Poker Tour (http://www.appt.com ) grand final was playing to a finish at Star City Casino in Sydney,
Australia (http://www.starcity.com.au/dir013/internetpublishing.nsf/content/intro ). The biggest payout of the year
went to the PokerStars qualifier Aaron Benton who won the title and AUD$594,000
(http://www.appt.com/news/index.html ), ahead of a total field of 396. The final featured seven Australian and is the
third year in a row that the event was won by a native. The five stop tour has so far created more than US$6 million
in prize money in this its third season, and now links up with the European (http://www.ept.com ) and Latin
American Poker Tours (http://wwwlapt.com ) and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
(http://www.caribbeanpokeradventure.com/) in the New Year.

Another broken record
You might have heard this same opening line before but PokerStars (http://www.pokerstars.com ) has broken
another record – or at least one of its most fanatical players has. One day a Russian player sets a new record for
the number of hands played on PokerStars within 24 hours – a massive amount set at more than 40,000. Then, a
few days later, someone else smashes that record in even less time. A player going by the name “ChicagoJoey”
played 50,470 in only 21 hours and not only that he managed to record a profit as well, something the previous
record holder was unable to do. After his long day at the office “ChicagoJoey” made $800 profit on the 10c/25c
tables, not to mention the even bigger prize he won in a side bet with a friend.

Team PokerStars Pro Marcel Luske to launch debut album at the Bellagio in Las Vegas

He’s already one of the best-known poker players in the world … now Team PokerStars Pro Marcel
Luske is aiming to become a star in the world of music as well. This December, the popular Dutch
professional realises a lifelong ambition when he launches his debut album at the famous Bellagio
Casino in Las Vegas.
Marcel, known as the “Flying Dutchman”, has been singing all his life and regularly performs at poker
events and card room gala openings. In 2006, he thrilled guests at the Bluff Magazine’s celebrated
WSOP party at the Hard Rock when he took to the stage to perform “The Poker Song”.
The official launch of Marcel’s album “More than Just a Game” takes place with a live concert
on December 20 at the Bellagio’s famous Fontana Lounge at 8pm. Marcel said: “There’s 13
songs on the album – the same as a suit in a deck of cards. The songs include two I wrote myself as
well as covers by artists I admire, such as the award-winning Canadian singer Michael Bublé.”
Marcel aims to perform five to six tracks from the album during the Bellagio evening and the show will
also feature performances from other musicians Marcel works with. He said: “It’s going to be great..
I’m really looking forward to it.”
As a poker player, Marcel has had a remarkable career with tournament cashes all over the world. He
turned pro ten years ago and within two years became the #1 ranked player in Europe. He was
named Player of the Year in both 2002, and 2004 and the same year attained worldwide fame by
finishing tenth in the WSOP Main Event and second in the $5k Seven Card Stud Event. His success
continued throughout 2005 and 2006 as he earned coveted championship bracelets at the Bellagio’s
Five Star World Poker Classic.
In 2007, Marcel became involved in the founding of The Federation Internationale de Poker
Association (FIDPA) and has worked tirelessly for the organisation ever since. In 2008, he made two
WSOP final tables in Omaha Hi-Lo events. The same year, he received a “Life Time Achievement
Award” at the European Poker Awards at the Aviation Club in Paris. He joined Team PokerStars Pro
last summer.
Marcel added: “Making this album has really been a dream come true for me. I never thought it would
happen because I had so much else going on in my life. However once I joined Team PokerStars
Pro, they were really supportive about it and I made up my mind that I really must do it before the
year 2010.”

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