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The Start of the 4th PartyPoker Premier League

The fourth season of the PartyPoker Premier League will start on February 9th, 2010 and this year, the poker circuit's biggest-name poker players are travelling to Las Vegas to participate in this momentous occasion. The first three seasons of the PartyPoker Premier League (PPL), a twelve-person high-stakes televised poker tournament where held in Great Britain.

This year, the PPL has moved to Las Vegas' new M Resort thanks to the dedication of Richar Fitoussi, vice president of international marketing, who help bring the groups together. Between the $100,000 entry fees and the substantial overlay, it will be more than honor at stake when the poker pros converge on the M Resort later this week.

Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth and Vanessa Rousso will be among those competing for a share of the $1.5 million cash pool. J.C. Tran will be on hand to defend the title he won last season. PartyPoker also confirmed that Roland de Wolfe, David Benyamine, Tony G, Yevgeniy "Jovial Gent" Timoshenko and Luke "Full Flush" Schwartz will participate in the tournament.

Eleven top-flight poker pros will be joined by one online qualifier on PartyPoker in the main event. Sixteen poker finalists won a trip to Las Vegas and entry into a satellite event that will decide who occupies the 12 spot on the roster. The finalists are also competing for a $100,000 sponsorship agreement from PartyPoker.

The Premier League's one-of-a kind structure offers poker pros a lot of game play for their money and makes for one entertaining TV event. There are twelve preliminary eight-person single-table matches, so over the next few days, each player participates in six heats.

Blinds go up every twenty-one card hands rather than at set intervals. Participants accumulate points based on finishing order, earnings 10 points for each win, six points for 2nd place, four points for 3rd place, three points for 4th place and two points for 5th place.

At the end of the preliminary rounds, the top four poker players will autmotically qualify for the final table and the bottom four players are eliminated. The middle four poker players play heads-up matches to decide who gets the last two slots in the final round.

The starting chip stacks at the final table vary based on the number of points each participant earned during the preliminary rounds. From uneven starting points, the top six players will play down to a winner. Finnish poker pro Juha Helppi won the inaugural PPL event in 2007, leaving a frustrated Phil Hellmuth in 3rd place.

Andy Black won the 2nd season of the PPL over poker pros Roland de Wolfe and Tony G. Both De Wolfe and Tony G. finished in the money again in the 3rd season of the PPL.

After separating himself from the field and winning three of his six preliminary poker matches, poker pro JC Tran outwitted Tony G. in the heads-up showdown to win the PPL title and the $300,000 cash prize.

02/21/2010, Sunday
Todd Sanders

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