PR: Genting Stanley launch their National Poker Championship

[DJ Durban]

Those of you that played in the Golden Sands Poker Festival in Torquay last August, will be pleased to know that due to the success of that event, we are now launching the Genting Stanley National Poker Championships.

This will consist of three individual festivals running simultaneously over the 26th – 30th March 2008 in Circus Casino Manchester, Circus Casino Nottingham and Mint Casino Southend formerly known as Spielers Rivercard Room. All the venues have good transport links as Southend is located just outside London and Manchester has its own international airport.

All the tournaments will be no rake, no fee events so every penny collected will be paid out to the winners. The Golden Sands Festival achieved a prize pool of $120,000 and we are looking to far exceed that figure at each of the GSNP Championship events with prize pools of at least $200,000 expected. The structure for the £500 main event will be the same as the Golden Sands as all the players seemed to appreciate the very generous amount of play that it allowed. However the main event will now be spread over four days to accommodate the expected increase in player numbers.

For those people looking for alternatives to buying in directly to the championships, the GSNP League will be launching on the 7th January 2008 in 23 Genting Stanley casinos across the UK. This is a ten week league where each casino runs their normal weekly poker tournaments, but the registration fees go to creating seats in the GSNP Championships for the winners and those players who reach the end of league playoffs. All the normal prize money generated by the buy-ins is still paid out to the players who make the money on the individual league nights. This gives players the opportunity to qualify for a big poker festival through live play as opposed to online.

Of course if you do prefer the convenience of online play then qualifiers are available on the Boss Network and Full Tilt Poker. Satellites are already up and running on the Boss Network with buy-ins from as little as $1 + $0.1. The Full Tilt satellites are starting in January 2008 with weekly qualifiers leading to a monthly satellite tournament.

Those players wishing to buy-in directly can do so at any Genting Stanley Casino or over the phone by calling Team Europe on +(44) (0) 1752 675375.

More details on the festivals and the league can be found on their respective websites www.GSNPChampionships.com and www.GSNPLeague.com.

[DJ Durban]

Momentum is building behind the Genting Stanley National Poker Championships and at the start of January there were already 150 seats pre booked across the festivals. Online qualifiers are currently running on the Boss network and Full Tilt Poker, with Playtech probably starting in the near future, there is plenty of opportunity for players to qualify. It is early days, but it looks like the three festivals (Manchester, Nottingham and Southend) could be sell outs.

The Genting Stanley National Poker League starts on Monday and is the first of its kind, with 23 casinos running ten week leagues across the UK. All the buyins for the league are paid out on the nights as the normal prize pool, but the registration fees are used to create end of league prizes of packages to the GSNP Championships. This represents great value to the players. At the end of the league in the middle of March the casinos will be running live satellites to the GSNP Championships. The dates and times of these super satellites will be displayed on the league website.

Players can also buy in by visiting their nearest Genting Stanley Casino. Alternatively if people prefer registering from the comfort of their own home they can contact Team Europe on +44 (0) 1752 675375.

The introduction of the GSNP League and GSNP Championships is creating some healthy competition for the Grovesnor UK Poker Tour. This can only be good for the UK Poker scene and if the festivals are successful it should lead to bigger and better tournaments being organised in the future.

The structure for the main event is going to give lots of play and with very reasonable tournament start and finish times, players will have plenty of time to engage in the lucrative cash games. Genting Stanley has already promised that the charges for cash games will be minimal, which is good news for all those players who view the ring games as the real icing on the cake.

More details on the league and championships including the structure, can be found at the respective websites www.GSNPLeague.com and www.GSNPChampionships.com.