PokerWorks

The biggest online poker site, Poker Stars, has recently announced the debut of their new Ireland and UK Poker Tour (UKIPT).

The UKIPT is an exciting new poker tour geared especially for poker players in the UK and Ireland. Hoping to attract beginners and professionals alike, the UKIPT events will be held in convenient regional locations giving players accessibility to affordable local major tournaments.

With buy-ins ranging from £500+£50 to £1,000+£100 for UK-based tournaments and €1,000+€100 and €2,000 for events in Ireland, PokerStars hopes to offer all players a chance to participate, no matter what size bankroll they have.

The first UKIPT Ireland event will kick off in Galway at the Radisson Hotel on December 11th and continuing until December14th where it will be part of the Irish Poker Championships. Then it will be off to Manchester, for the first UK based UKIPT event at the Grosvenor G-Casino on February 11th through the 14th.  

The UKIPT events are expected to attract some of the biggest names in the poker world, with former England footballer Teddy Sheringham and Team PokerStars PRO Vicky Coren already on board. "This is an incredibly exciting addition to the range of PokerStars live events. Here is our own local British and Irish tour, nicely accessible for those who can't travel abroad very often or who save their foreign travel for larger international events," said Vicky Coren.

Along with grabbing a share of the huge prize pools, UKIPT title winner’s will also receive a buy-in to the PokerStars.com EPT London event in October 2010, which will double as the UKIPT Championship Event.  Plus the UKIPT will have its own Points Leader Board, so players will be able to track their progress to see how they are measuring up against other players. Then at the end of the season, the leaders on the UKIPT leader board will win some fantastic prizes, including a £10,000 FreeRoll for the top 100 players and sponsorship into UKIPT season two events for the top three players.

As an added bonus for players attending UKIPT events, prior to the start of select tournaments, several members of Team PokerStars will be attending to lead question and answer sessions. During these sessions, players will be able to ask the pros any questions they may have to help improve their game and give them the winning edge to become the next UKIPT event winner.

Players in Ireland and the UK alike are waiting with anticipation for the full UKIPT event schedule to be released. As of now, after the event crowns its first winner in Galway, the tour heads to the UK to stop in Manchester and Nottingham. Then it will be off to Killarney, Ireland before heading back to the UK for the event in Brighton and then over to Scotland. A stop in Dublin will take place before the Grand Final hits town for the EPT London event next October.

And if you want to get in on any of these tournaments taking place in Ireland and the UK, be sure to check out PokerStars, where a full schedule of satellite qualifiers will be offered - to get you to the new UKIPT events!