The PartyPoker World Open V action gets underway on Sunday and some last-minute additions to the lineup have made the event even more of a star-studded affair. The roster of players, which already included the likes of World Poker Tour (WPT) host Mike Sexton, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, J.C. Tran, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, and Luke “Full_Flush1” Schwartz, added new names to the fold, including several players who have been on some serious hot streaks as of late.
The newly confirmed players include World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Layne Flack, Andrew Feldman, Bruno Fitoussi, Teddy Sheringham, Roland de Wolfe, Sammy “Any Two” George, and recently-crowned poker endurance world record holder Paul Zimbler.
Three other players recently agreed to participate in the event and may be ones to watch considering their string of recent results. November Nine member Antoine Saout will be playing in the World Open V. The Frenchman appears to be squeezing in as many tournaments as he can between now and the WSOP Main Event final table in November. He is fresh off a final table showing at the WSOP Europe, where he finished in seventh place.
World Open V participant J.P. Kelly also had a successful run at the WSOP Europe, winning a bracelet in the first preliminary event. With his win in London, Kelly became the first British player in the three-year history of the WSOP Europe to win a bracelet at the London-based event. In addition to his WSOP Europe victory, Kelly won a bracelet earlier this year at the WSOP in a $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event.
Online poker pro Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko also signed on to play in the World Open V. Timoshenko has had an amazing run in 2009. He took down the WPT Championship back in April, won the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event last month, and made a deep run in the WSOP Europe Main Event. At 21-years old, Timoshenko already has tournament poker winnings in excess of $6 million.
PartyBets set odds on all 48 of the participants and Dwan is currently the favorite, with odds currently going off at 11-1. Even PartyPoker is inclined to agree with that assessment, as a spokesperson for the site noted, “The early money is for Durrrr, which isn’t really a surprise, but favorites do not have a good record in this competition.” The spokesperson continued, “We’re delighted with the field. Every heat features a super strong line-up. For example, two online qualifiers have to deal with the likes of Yevgeniy Timoshenko, James Akenhead, [Schwartz], and Ian Frazer, and that is only in heat one!”
As the spokesperson noted, online cash game player Schwartz is scheduled to play in Heat One, while his self-proclaimed nemesis durrrr will be playing in Heat Six along with Fitoussi, Felipe “Mojave” Ramos, J.C. Tran, and others. Though Schwartz and Dwan will not meet in the preliminary heats, there are still a couple of scenarios that could pair the two at the same table. Should both players win their heats, they will advance to play each other at the final table. If one or both of them finishes as the runner-up in their heat, they will advance to the second chance heat, where the six runners-up will vie for a spot at the final table.
Action will take place at the Palm Beach Casino in London, England and PartyPoker says spectators are welcome to come by and watch the action. The event will be taped and televised on the Five network in Britain later this year and will feature commentary from Jesse May.
