Irish Open Dates and Venue announced

PPP-Pit Boss

We have had quite a lot of queries about this so here is the information:

paddypowerpoker.com Irish Open, Citywest Hotel, March 19th – 24th 2008
Venue and dates announced for Europe’s most prestigious poker tournament

paddypowerpoker.com today announces Citywest Hotel as the venue for the €3 Million Guaranteed Irish Open. The weeklong festival of poker will take place over Easter Weekend from 19th to 24th March 2008.

Europe’s longest running poker tournament has relocated to Ireland’s premier Conference, Leisure and Golf Resort to accommodate an increased capacity of 1,000 players.

“Citywest Hotel is the ideal location for the 2008 Irish Open,” confirms Paddy Power, Communications Manager for paddypowerpoker.com. “We searched the length and breadth of the country to find a venue that could provide players with the famous atmosphere and communal spirit of the Irish Open whilst still being big enough to accommodate the huge field. In Citywest we found the perfect home. With two magnificent golf courses and world class facilities, Citywest will be the only place to play poker next Easter!”

paddypowerpoker.com Irish Open
Venue: Citywest Hotel, Leisure & Golf Resort
Dates: March 19th -24th 2008
Prizepool: €3 Million Guaranteed
Buy-in: €4,200 + €300
Capacity: 1,000 players

With 1,314 rooms, bars, restaurants, state of the art Health & Leisure Club, and two Christy O’Connor Jnr designed golf courses, Citywest is one of the most popular event destinations in Europe. Located only 20km from Dublin airport, and 15km from Dublin City Centre, Citywest is easily accessible for both local and international players.

In April 2007 Marty Smyth defeated Roland De Wolfe in an epic heads up battle to claim the Terry Rogers Memorial Trophy and €650,000 first prize. The star studded field featured many of the world’s top poker players including Carlos Mortensen, Dan Harrington, Mike Sexton, Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, Antonio Esfandiari, Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott, Andy Black, Padraig Parkinson, Scott Gray, Ram Vaswani, David Plastik, Eddie Scharf, Surinder Sunar, Frank Cruess Callaghan, Ian Frazer, David Benyamine and Ericka Schoenberg.

The buy-in for the 2008 Irish Open Main Event is €4,500 and online registration is now available at www.irishpokeropen.com. paddypowerpoker.com’s packed schedule of online satellites consists of daily feeders and fortnightly Grand Finals and is already underway.

Note to Editor:
The Irish Open is open to players of all nationalities over 18 years of age. paddypowerpoker.com does not accept bets from US residents.

~ends~

BIG-SLICK-POKER

The good aul ****ty West - Baghdad was an option also but city west pipped it lol

PPP-Pit Boss

BIG-SLICK-POKER wrote:

The good aul ****ty West - Baghdad was an option also but city west pipped it lol

LOL.. well in fairness I think we might spring for more than two posters and a hand written sign for the toilet at the IO.....

sickpuppy

Good old city west really know how to treat a player.
After the main event a couple of years ago couldnt even get a cup of tea there.
Spend 4500 and get treated like a leper no thanks.

BIG-SLICK-POKER

Ah at least ye can accomadate the crowd , Should be good anyhow ye run a good show , ill be "INTO THE WEST" Anyway

Goodluck2me

what was wrong with Burlo/Jurys?

AKQJ10

jennifer tilly:D

Ace2007

goodluck2me wrote:

what was wrong with Burlo/Jurys?

was that not sold off at the start of the year - and they closed!!?

PPP-Pit Boss

Don't worry about the tea and coffee bar the first year have we ever even made you pay for it
Believe it or believe it not there are very few hotels in Ireland with a hall large enough to host the Irish Open. We are extending capacity to 1,000 as we had a couple of hundred on the waiting list last year.
Anyhoop you can rest assured we will be providing for everyone. We did extensive negotiation and research before agreeing the venue and I think you may see a new side to poker in CW hotel this coming Easter...
I know as I write shall be hearing ALL about it if we don't deliver

Mellor

capacity i think, it won't take more than 700. PPP will be eager to top lasts years record, esp if the IPO pips it from them

nicnicnic

sickpuppy wrote:

Good old city west really know how to treat a player.
After the main event a couple of years ago couldnt even get a cup of tea there.
Spend 4500 and get treated like a leper no thanks.

think the city west will be grand and pp have made sure all the trimmings surrounding the tournament over the last two years were spot on, if i remember right they spent 10k making sure that a constant supply of free coffee was available to players. With there record of planning for the event I'm sure it will run as smoothly as the last two.

Now if only they would tweak the blind structure a little

PPP-Pit Boss

Mellor wrote:

capacity i think, it won't take more than 700. PPP will be eager to top lasts years record, esp if the IPO pips it from them

Not really. In fact it is doubtful we will make any attempt to make the Irish Open any "Bigger" than 2008. The last thing we want to do is turn the Irish open into a major crapshoot with thousands of players.
The fact that we got such numbers in 2007 was fantastic but our goal is to be the most prestigiious and fun not the biggest.

carfax

PPP-Pit Boss wrote:

our goal is to be the most prestigiious and fun not the biggest.

I think you will find that most players would like it if you tried to be the biggest......Do you call the WSOP a crapshoot?

Mellor

Your not trying to make it bigger, yet the Guarantee is increased as well as capacity??

nicnicnic

carfax wrote:

....Do you call the WSOP a crapshoot?

lol was thinking the same thing. pp really need to look at the blinds this year

valor

is there a poker rate for rooms?

BIG-SLICK-POKER

Have they not tweaked the blinds already ? 20,000 stack would be unreal at this same as wsop

http://www.irishpokeropen.com/tournament/main-event-2008.php.

connie147

PPP-Pit Boss wrote:

Not really. In fact it is doubtful we will make any attempt to make the Irish Open any "Bigger" than 2008. The last thing we want to do is turn the Irish open into a major crapshoot with thousands of players.
The fact that we got such numbers in 2007 was fantastic but our goal is to be the most prestigiious and fun not the biggest.

TO be the most prestigious and fun! I really hope you mean that.It means a lot to Irish poker community as well as PP that the Irish Open is as described.

With that in mind, you really do have to look at the blind structures. There are many tourneys in ireland now(buy ins from €500 up that would put last years IO structure to shame.) Surely you can put that part right? I heard a good few well known international players critisizing your blinds structure last year. Its only a stroke of a pen to insert the missing levels!!

mdwexford

PPP-Pit Boss wrote:

The last thing we want to do is turn the I wrish otpen into ia major crapshoot

LMFAO, it was the biggest crapshoot ever last year, the average stack at the FT was 13 bb's or so as im sure nicnicnic will clarify. Hopefully the blinds will be reset and frozen as needs be much earlier this time around as aside from that it was a quality setup.

nicnicnic

BIG-SLICK-POKER wrote:

Have they not tweaked the blinds already ? 20,000 stack would be unreal at this same as wsop

http://www.irishpokeropen.com/tournament/main-event-2008.php.

didnt see that they seem to have put in the 75/150 and 500/1000 which is a big improvement. lets push for a 1200/2400 and a 2500/5000 now and we have a brilliant structure

Jayminator

nicnicnic wrote:

didnt see that they seem to have put in the 75/150 and 500/1000 which is a big improvement. lets push for a 1200/2400 and a 2500/5000 now and we have a brilliant structure

I would of thought that such a prestigious event with such a large buy in that all blind levels should be played. I agree completely with Nicky on this one. I myself found the pinch of the blind structure late on the 2nd day last year and found myself needing to GAMBOOL way to early for my liking. PP should take on board what is being said here and do the right thing.

Average stack 13 x BB @ FT = CRAP SHOOT... And a pretty expensive crapshoot at that

Jay

The Clamper

if i have any cash left over from xmas, i will be there

thats a prize pool big enough to interest even me

City West is a nice place for any event, and dont forget the championship golf course

room rates are generally v good

i will ask my contact over there and see if i can get a nice friendly rate card for players, tho i guess Paddy Power have that in hand

i would imagine that this time, players will arrive into Dublin with a pre registered seat, to avoid the disappointment of last year, its hard to believe that players travelled from all over europe, booked flights and rooms etc, but not a seat in the event, then ended up in a queue of 100, begging players to sell their seats at crazy over the top prices


www.pokerireland.ie
home of the International Poker Open
Dublin 6th Oct 2007

Ollieboy

great event and really looking forward to this.

I love to see more levels added, anything to increase the value in what should be a great game in a great little country. Fair play to PP, they always look after there players and I expect the same treatment at this event. Just hope the baby comes on time or I could miss this, counting the days already.

Will be also playing the Waterford & Cork event and hopefully the GJP event in the next 6 months, which are all excellant valuy

cooker3

Ollieboy wrote:

Just hope the baby comes on time or I could miss this, counting the days already.

Your pregnant, congrats!

Meh, I really dislike the citywest strongly. I hope the food is a whole lot better then whenever I have been there

Goodluck2me

BIG-SLICK-POKER wrote:

Have they not tweaked the blinds already ? 20,000 stack would be unreal at this same as wsop

http://www.irishpokeropen.com/tournament/main-event-2008.php.

to be fair to this guys, on closer inspection the Ante structure going with the blinds is very impressive, they remain at less than 10% through out the tournament which is A+ imo. i found at 200-400 last year i felt under pressure which is wrong. good to see they have tweaked it just enough this time to solve that.
now if i could only learn to play properly id be sorted...

edit one small complaint prizes are moeny back for the first 10 in the money, surely they should be changed to 5K or something?

Jesus Wept

PPP-Pit Boss wrote:

“Citywest Hotel is the ideal location for the 2008 Irish Open,” confirms Paddy Power, Communications Manager for paddypowerpoker.com. “We searched the length and breadth of the country to find a venue that could provide players with the famous atmosphere and communal spirit of the Irish

lol

It was only ever going to be in Dublin.

---

I echo sentiments that the the structure needs to be improved significantly compared to last years.


I believe that the integrity should also be improved.

Table draws should be random, that includes the TV table, far too much Irishness, winks and nods and people who know some people
arriving at the TV Table for their 15 mins type sh1te.

And no table (i.e TV Table) should be playing the whole tournament with less players than the standard tables (TV/Featured table
was 8 handed throughout the tournament last year), that's ridiculous.

The only time a table should have less than the standard is when they are being balanced, etc.

TV Should fit around the poker tournament, not the other way around like last year.

Also silly rules regarding players wearing hats at the TV table should be abolished (and not just ignored in certain cases
because no one wants to ask Dan Harrington to take off his lucky green hat).
It was a load of balderdash then, and it still is now. (hats ftw).

I'd love if these improvements were made and the tournament achieved the prestigious level it markets itself at.

I want the event to be success, it feels to me that the predominant parameter that PP used to gauge the success of
last years Irish Open was increasing the entrant number while failing to increase the level of integrity in the running of the tournament.

Paddy Power as a company are usually very good at listening and reacting to their customer base imo, and I hope that this finds it's way into the
running of their poker events.

Goodluck2me

Far too top heavy imo.

Mellor

I was thinking that myself. Fair play for going to the effort of a graph
Take some cash off the top and spread it about the 64-11.
Money back for the first few cashes is silly, and easy to fix.

The Clamper

the worst case of top heavy i ever saw was the 1st poker million event in the Isle of Mann, (put the winner John Duthie on the map)
up until about an hour before the event started, there was a shortfall in the cash taken in and it looked like there was only going to be 1 prize i.e. the million
however the sponsor added approx 250k at the last minute and there was a few spartan prizes for the final table

so why not make the Irish Open a bit different and make it a "winner takes all " tournament

the differential between 1st and even 5th can be horrendeous


www.pokerireland.iehome of The International Poker Open
dublin oct 6th RDS AT 12 noon

nicnicnic

The-Rigger wrote:

TV Should fit around the poker tournament, not the other way around like last year.

I'd say the TV production had a huge influence in what happened late on day 3 and day four last year. The initial plan was to play to six on day 3 but when De Wolfe went into free fall dropping from 1.6million to 320k they stopped play due to technical difficulties. The more i thought about this after the event it seemed he was needed for prestige ont the Sunday similar to the wsop/espn accommodating Hellmut with a 10 man final table when he was extremely short in an event this year ( all other events were 9).

Also I'm sure the blind structure would of been adjusted on the final table if they hadn't a show going out at 11 that night on RTE.



Can I add I think paddypower got an excellent final table last year which really helped the profile of the event. If would be a great publicity stunt to give free entry this year to all last years finalists for this years event. Well the Amsterdam tournament do it for there finalists with added wsop packages and the wsop had the tournament of champions so paddypower dont want to be seen lagging :rolleyes: worth a try;)

Jesus Wept

nicnicnic wrote:

Can I add I think paddypower got an excellent final table last year which really helped the profile of the event. If would be a great publicity stunt to give free entry this year to all last years finalists for this years event. Well the Amsterdam tournament do it for there finalists with added wsop packages and the wsop had the tournament of champions so paddypower dont want to be seen lagging :rolleyes: worth a try;)

I think adding something would be a great idea.

I don't think any tournament can claim to be the most prestigious unless they are the best.

And the Master Classics are currently, imo the most player friendly and best structured events in Europe.

gigetheman

it was worth a try nicky (JJ) i will have to call the next time

Mellor

Got an email from ppp, rack up 750,000 points between now and the open and get a free buy-in

thechamp87

Mellor wrote:

Got an email from ppp, rack up 750,000 points between now and the open and get a free buy-in

Is there a similar scheme on GJP???

Mellor

If you rake up those points on GJP. You would get a 14k bonus, as long as you have been at that level for the last while, I imagine that both sites use the same point rate, they mighr not thought at PPP awards more points to people on higher tiers.

Shortstack

thechamp87 wrote:

Is there a similar scheme on GJP???

No, because if you get that amount of points you will have been given more than the entry fee back in cash plus had the chance to win seats at many other events (of which anyone who plays that much would have won at least one).

Goodluck2me

Shortstack wrote:

No, because if you get that amount of points you will have been given more than the entry fee back in cash plus had the chance to win seats at many other events (of which anyone who plays that much would have won at least one).

GJP FTW!!

LuckyLloyd

thechamp87 wrote:

Is there a similar scheme on GJP???

lol at the idea that PPP could compete with GJP in terms of looking after regular players.

I am not even going to attempt to qualify for the most branded tournament in all the land.

30something

LuckyLloyd wrote:

lol at the idea that PPP could compete with GJP in terms of looking after regular players.

I am not even going to attempt to qualify for the most branded tournament in all the land.

You buying in direct Lloyd?

carfax

LuckyLloyd wrote:

lol at the idea that PPP could compete with GJP in terms of looking after regular players.

Where is PPP_Pit_Boss to defend the mighty Paddy Power from these scurrilous remarks?

In the days of Karl H you would not be getting away with comments like that Lloyd, PPP offer lots of free-rolls on their site ya know...:D

kincsem

The price of poker has gone up ...

2003 Irish Open
Thu 17/04/03 €200 NLHE re-buys 90 mins
Fri 18/04/03 €400 PLO re-buys 90 mins
Sat 19/04/03 €1000 NLHE re-buys 90 mins
Sun 20/04/03 €100 NLHE re-buys 90 mins

33% inflation each year

And it seems advertising a large top prize in 2008 is the organisers aim.

LuckyLloyd

30something wrote:

You buying in direct Lloyd?

Nah. I'm like, not going to bother.

LuckyLloyd

carfax wrote:

In the days of Karl H you would not be getting away with comments like that Lloyd, PPP offer lots of free-rolls on their site ya know...:D

Sorry Ste - I also forgot about the fact that paddy points can be redeemed for stuff in their store. What was I thinking!!

nicnicnic

carfax wrote:

In the days of Karl H you would not be getting away with comments like that Lloyd, PPP offer lots of free-rolls on their site ya know...:D

is Karl finished with them, big loss

Wisesmurf

Unfortunately so, top guy!

BigCityBanker

LuckyLloyd wrote:

Nah. I'm like, not going to bother.

Why not Lloyd?

Its gonna be a 1000 runner tourny with massive value. Surely every serious/semi serious tourny player would consider this a mouthwatering opportunity?

The Clamper

if they let me play, i will be there

i will win a seat, just like other domestic players, just like me and then hope i get reeel lucky

dont forget that the ipo is on 1st,
6th oct rds dublin 12 noon sharp

Ollieboy

BigCityBanker wrote:

Why not Lloyd?

Its gonna be a 1000 runner tourny with massive value. Surely every serious/semi serious tourny player would consider this a mouthwatering opportunity?

PP hat Noel...lol

I've to agree, why would you not want to play the biggest and most Irish tournament....I just cant understand your reasons Lloyd. But your welcome to your own view.

LuckyLloyd

BigCityBanker wrote:

Why not Lloyd?

Its gonna be a 1000 runner tourny with massive value. Surely every serious/semi serious tourny player would consider this a mouthwatering opportunity?

I didn't enjoy it last year Noel. End of. I don't buy into all of the branding and the marketing. My experience on the TV table indicated to me that the players are not the key concern of the organisers. And, at the end of the day, there are much, much, better tournament structures available in this country for a fraction of the price. And the Citywest really does suck as a venue.

Soooo - good luck to all those that do give it a shot. I personally am not interested.

58o

BigCityBanker wrote:

Why not Lloyd?

Its gonna be a 1000 runner tourny with massive value. Surely every serious/semi serious tourny player would consider this a mouthwatering opportunity?

Are you working for PPP now noel?
If so i suggest you have a word with them about the shirts they hand out to their internet qualifiers. Seriously. The place looked like a building site last year.

newbie2

58o wrote:

i suggest you have a word with them about the shirts they hand out to their internet qualifiers. Seriously. The place looked like a building site last year.

put me off trying to qualify online this year