PokerWorks

Beginning in February of 2008, the Party Poker Premier League Poker returns to the UK. PartyPoker.com announced that the events will take place between February 10th and 16th in London at 3 Mills Studio, and viewers of Channel 4 in the UK will be able to see it on their television screens as early as late March.

The format pits twelve of the world’s best poker players against each other for a $1 million prize pool. Each player competes six times in the preliminary stages of the tournament, and the top four players from each stage progress to the final table. The next four play in heads-up matches for the final two seats.

Every participant will buy in for $60,000, and PartyPoker will add $280,000 to hit the $1 million mark. Last year’s prize pool was half of that at $500,000.

Nine of the twelve players from the 2007 tournament will return – Phil Hellmuth, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, Tony G, Andy Black, Ian Fraser, Roland de Wolfe, Vicky Coren, Juha Helppi (defending champion), and Eddy Scharf. New players who will join the ranks this year are Marcel Luske, Annie Duke, and Alexander Kravchenko.

Hellmuth commented, “After winning four out of six matches in the Premier League last year, I was in massive pain when Juha Helppi beat my K-K with his 8-7 offsuit and made me finish third in the finale. I told Helppi, ‘I’ll be back!’ Now it’s 2008, and here I come!”

Helppi fired back. “It will be very hard to take this title from me. I will do anything it takes to defend it!”

And commenting on his poor performance last year, Tony G said, “Premier League is something I look forward to for months. It’s the best event in poker in my book. Last year was a disaster for me and I want to prove it was a freaky event. Only winning this year will make things right for me and I want to bust Hellmuth so hard to get him on a boat back to the US.”

With such trash talk beginning weeks before the tournament is to take place, there is no doubt that the 2008 Party Poker Premier League will be one that the television viewers – and players – will enjoy.