In the coming weeks, players will not only be trying to satellite their way into the fourth installment of the PartyPoker Premier League tournament, but they are also vying for a sponsorship contract that could be worth $100,000.
The list of top pros taking part in the February event is starting to come together and the winner of the previous Premier League installment, J.C. Tran, will be back to defend his crown. In December of 2008, Tran defeated a tough final table lineup that included Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Juha Helppi, Peter Eastgate, Roland de Wolfe, and Tony G. Heads-up play came down to Tran and Tony G, with Tran prevailing over the Aussie pro to take the title.
Tran commented on his return to the Premier League in an official statement from PartyPoker: “I am very much looking forward to defending my Premier League title. It was a fantastic experience last year and is an amazing format. I am certainly not going to be giving up my crown without a fight!”
This year, a PartyPoker online qualifier will join Tran and the other pros in the event, which features a prize pool of $1.5 million. The site is giving out 16 packages worth $9,000 that include a trip to Las Vegas and a chance to compete in a Premier League qualifying tournament. Each prize package includes a $6,250 buy-in into the qualifying event, hotel stay, and $2,000 in spending money. The qualifier will run from February 9th to 10th and its winner will stick around from the 11th to 18th, when the actual Premier League IV tournament takes place.
As for the $100,000 sponsorship deal, it is available to any one of the 16 players who makes the trip to Vegas, not just the person who wins the seat in the finals. Representatives from the online poker room will be on hand to evaluate players on their skills on the felt and other factors like marketability and personality. Of the 16, one will be chosen to join the grassroots team of sponsored pros, which already includes World Poker Tour host Mike Sexton, Felipe “Mojave” Ramos, Ian Frazer, and others.
A PartyPoker spokesperson spoke about the decision-making process in a press release from the online poker room: “One amazing element of this promotion that provides a truly fantastic opportunity is that one of the 16 qualifiers will be chosen by PartyPoker to receive a $100,000 Team Party contract to be a sponsored player. This decision will be made by PartyPoker within two weeks after the event takes place. We will only get a flavor of who we want to sponsor once we have had a chance to meet and interact with the 16 players that make it out to Las Vegas.”
Players interested in satelliting their way into the event can do so for as little as $2 thanks to three-tiered series of online qualifiers. PartyPoker will be running $2 and $6.50 tournaments daily and winners will advance into a $52 buy-in event that will run at 3:20pm ET every day. One in every ten players in those tournaments will earn a seat into the final online qualifier. The finals will run each Sunday at 3:20pm and the $480 buy-in tournament will award one prize package for every 20 entrants.
For those who want to avoid playing too many satellites, PartyPoker is also running a rake race exclusively for Palladium Lounge members. Palladium Lounge is the VIP customer rewards club for PartyPoker players. The top 600 finishers in the points race, which is running from December 7th to January 3rd, will compete in a freeroll on January 10th to win two of the $9,000 packages. The top 250 finishers will also be rewarded with a share of a cash prize from a $155,000 prize pool. The winner will receive a Premier League package and the runner-up gets $6,000. The remaining 248 players will receive anywhere from $4,500 to $100.
