Movies, TV & More - PartyPoker.com Premier League returns in November

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008

Premier League begins in November

By Arthur Crowson

One of the most elite poker leagues in the world is coming back ahead of schedule.

The PartyPoker.com Premier League III will take place in London Nov. 24-30 with a new $75,000 buy-in and the added money being increased to $350,000, making for a total prize pool of $1.25 million.

The next event was only scheduled for 2009, but the demand for the event from international broadcasters has persuaded organizers to push the dates forward.

Last year's champion, Irishman Andy Black, has already committed to defending his title and will compete against 11 other players, who are yet to be announced, during the event in November.

Black, who is sometimes known as the "Mad Monk," was already enthusiastic about the prospect of repeating as champ.

"There will be no 'Mr. Nice Buddhist' this year," he joked. "The attitude and spirit I will be bringing to the tournament can be summed up by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Asked as Conan the Barbarian what was most important in life he said it was: 'to crush your enemies and hear the lamentation of their women.'" Sounds like Black has found his inner Ahnold, all right.

The series, which was developed by Matchroom Sport, features 12 of the world's best poker players competing in a unique league format. All 12 players play six times in the preliminary stages with the four leading players progressing to the final table and the next four battling it out in heads-up matches for the final two seats.

"The Premier League is now established internationally as poker's number one TV show," said head of online gambling at Matchroom Sport Eddie Hearn. "The worldwide ratings and distribution have exceeded all expectations and the demand is such that we have decided to hold another Premier League event this year.

"We are delighted to welcome back last year's champion Andy Black to the League and we will now sit down and hand pick the remainder of the chosen 12. There isn't a poker player that doesn't want to be part of this event."

In the past players like Phil Hellmuth, Marcel Luske, Annie Duke, Tony G, Alex Kravchenko, Dave "The Devilfish" Ulliott and Roland De Wolfe have all taken part in the league.

One of the most memorable moments of the series came in 2007 when Hellmuth commanded such a big league in the tournament he announced that he would raise the 21 hands of the heat just for fun.

Ulliott responded by saying, "If you keep playing like that they are going to have to put you in a straitjacket and you'll have to push all your chips in with that big head of yours."

Despite holding a large lead, Hellmuth would end up finishing third in the first edition of Premier League Poker, while Finnish player Juha Helppi took first place.