|
 Most of the time when you think of a major tournament, you
probably imagine something like the
World Series of Poker. Hundreds (if not
thousands) of players gathered in a single large room, the sound of chips
clicking together omnipresent, and millions of dollars in prize money on the
line - a true poker player's paradise. Now imagine that in addition to all
those things the floor is gently rolling beneath you, and after you've eaten
during the dinner breaks you have a chance to take in a spectacular view of
the glistening ocean before heading back inside to put your opponents to the
test - in the world's biggest limit
hold'em tournament. If that sounds like
your idea of a good time, the Party Poker Million is your kind of tournament.
As one of the charter tournaments on the World Poker Tour, the Party Poker
Million carries a lot of prestige in today's crowded tournament schedule. The
players who have won the tournament are a virtual Who's Who of today's poker
elite: Kathy Liebert,
Howard Lederer,
Erick Lindgren and Michael Gracz have
all taken home the big prize, and Liebert's performance made her the first
woman ever to win $1 million in a poker tournament. The list of players who
have made the final table rounds the Who's Who out even further:
Phil Hellmuth,
Chris Ferguson, Mel Judah, Chip Jett,
Daniel Negreanu, Steve Zolotow,
Scotty
Nguyen,
Barry Greenstein,
John Juanda, and Paul Darden have all finished in
the top 9 of the Party Poker Million.
Participation in the Party Poker Million has grown considerably since its
first go-round, thanks not only to booming interest in poker but also to the
readily available satellites on Party Poker. In 2002, 139 players either
qualified for the event online or bought their way in for $8,000 apiece. In
2003, 134 qualified online and 33 bought directly in. In 2004, the number of
players skyrocketed to 546, and in 2005, 735 players boarded the ship for a
shot at $1.5 million. This success is amazing when you stop to consider that
the Party Poker Million is one of the only major limit hold'em tournaments in
the world outside of the WSOP. The thrill of pushing all-in, one of the major
draws for many of the newer crowd of poker fans, is non-existent in this
tournament, yet it continues to draw record fields with every passing year.
Players who can't buy in directly, but still dream of having their name
enshrined in poker history next to the greats who have cruised to victory, can
qualify through a number of paths. The first choice players have is whether
they want to qualify by playing limit or no-limit hold'em. Once they've
decided on their game of choice, it's time to pick a tournament. For those who
don't mind putting down the $150+12 entry fee, super satellites with a limit
of 180 player entries run on Party Poker twice a week, with one entry into the
tournament for every 90 players. The PPM Semi-Finals run for four days every
two months, with a $250+20 buy-in and one cruise package awarded for every 56
player entries. If $675+40 isn't out of your price range you can enter the PPM
Gateway, which runs once weekly and awards one cruise package for every 20
player entries. Finally, for those who don't want to spend any money at all
there is the Players Club Freeroll - anyone with 15,000 Party Points can enter
once a week for a shot at a single cruise package. Sit-and-go satellites are
available for the super satellites and Semi-Finals, and Party's famous Steps
sit-and-go tournaments have been set up to award cruise packages as well.
The prize pool for the Party Poker Million V, to be held in March 2006, will
be the biggest yet - a stunning $7 million. While we may not know who will win
this tournament ahead of time, it's a safe bet that hundreds of internet
qualifiers and most of the biggest names in poker will be rubbing elbows again
on the next installment of the world's favorite poker cruise.
For More Information, Please visit
PartyPoker.com Million |
