Party Poker European Open starts today
1st February, 2008
Some of the world's told poker players will descend on London today to take part in the fourth Party Poker European Open.
This year's tournament sees buy-ins rising from $5,000 to $7,000, creating a total $504,000 (£253,000) prize fund that major names such as Annette Obrestad and John Tabatabai will be vying to get their hands on.
Those two luminaries went head-to-head at the World Series of Poker Europe event this year, where teenage Obrestad - better known by her online username Annette_15 - famously became the youngest person to ever win a WSOP bracelet.
Also participating will be major names such as Phil Hellmuth, Marty Smith, Roy Brindley, Ian Frazer and Jesse May - while a new addition to this year's event will be a runner-up showdown which gives late-exiters a turbo second-chance to reclaim their seat in the semifinal.
"There is a lot of excitement about this year's European Open and Hellmuth is sure to add value in the commentary box," pokerlistings.com reported a spokesman as saying. "It will be interesting to see the rematch between Obrestad and Tabatabai, but there are so many players to look out for who have had success in this format."
Irishman Liam Flood won the 2007 Party Poker European Open, followed in second place by Wolverhampton's Darren Hickman.
