(PRESS RELEASE) — Titan Poker, the largest online poker room on the iPoker Network, injects a dose of sunny Rio de Janeiro climes to the tables this winter with the announcement that its Rio Progressive Jackpot has soared to a record $125,000. A recent surge of competition has turned up the heat this week as players vie for a chance to take home the historic Jackpot prize at Titan Poker’s Rio Sit ‘N’ Go tournaments.

Rio Sit ‘N’ Go is among Titan Poker’s most popular daily Sit ‘N’ Go tournaments which run right around the clock all day every day. Rio Sit ‘N’ Go tournaments begin any time the required maximum of six players are seated at the table. In addition to regular tournament winnings, players also stand a chance at taking home the Rio Progressive Jackpot prize. The jackpot begins at $25,000 and increases by $10,000 each week until the accumulated grand prize is claimed. This week, the total in unclaimed Jackpot prizes has swollen to a record $125,000 with no end in sight.

Titan Poker players can lay claim to the sizeable Jackpot by winning six consecutive Rio Jackpot Sit ‘N’ Go tournaments within a fourteen day period. Not surprisingly, this considerable display of skill is difficult to achieve but the rewards speak for themselves. Those who fall short of six wins will not walk away empty handed. Players who place both first or second in six consecutive Rio Sit ‘N’ Go tournaments will be awarded a $300 cash prize.

The news has brought a fresh wave of activity to Titan Poker’s Sit ‘N’ Go tables. “As to be expected, the number of Sit ‘N’ Go tournament participants rises with the Jackpot size, but the number of tournaments we have run so far this week has already hit record levels. If the Rio Jackpot remains unclaimed, we can expect even more exciting times ahead as tournament numbers soar through the roof,” enthuses Titan Poker representative Robin Steele.

In addition to Rio Sit ‘N’ Go, Titan Poker offers other Progressive Jackpot Sit ‘N’Go’s, including Fort Knox $50,000 and Maui $15,000 Sit ‘N’Go tournaments. This week’s unclaimed Fort Knox Jackpot stands at $90,000, while the Maui Jackpot has reached $45,000.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker News, Press Releases | No Comments » November 30th, 2008

WARSAW, Poland –- (PRESS RELEASE) — After four days of fast and furious poker action at the PokerStars.com EPT Polish Open, it was Portugal’s João Barbosa who celebrated his 26th birthday by winning the Warsaw champion title and €367,140 ($457,489) first prize.

Barbosa – the first EPT winner from Portugal - was playing against an exceptionally strong field in Warsaw including ten former EPT champions. The final table started with several established stars still in contention including Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri and Arnaud Mattern.

Minieri, from Rome, had been hoping to better his EPT Season 3 Baden and Season 4 San Remo finishes, but was beaten into third place yet again. Arnaud Mattern, who won EPT Prague last season, had been gunning to become the first ever player to win two EPT titles but his hopes were dashed when Barbosa knocked him out in fifth place.

Barbosa, a former computer engineering student, has only played four EPTs so far and cashed in three of them. His victory today came after a fiercely-contested, three-hour heads-up battle against the 23-year-old German Nico Behling.

Barbosa, from Porto, said: “Things worked perfectly for me. For three hours, I was trying not to think about anything but winning. It’s the best birthday present I’ve ever had. It was great to win.”

The 21,000 Zloty buy-in event (approximately €5,200) at Casinos Poland at the Hyatt Regency attracted 217 entrants, including 48 who won their seats online with PokerStars. Three qualifiers made it to the final table: Atanas Gueorguiev, from Bulgaria, who came fourth, Russian Sergey Shcherbatskiy (6th) and Michael Muheim from Switzerland (9th). Shcherbatskiy earned his trip to Warsaw for a mere $7.50 after working his way up the PokerStars’ steps satellites.

A wealth of stars were also competing in Poland including Team PokerStars Pros Isabelle Mercier – who came 16th for €10,557 – Gavin Griffin, Marcin Horecki, Bertrand “ElkY Grospellier, Luca Pagano, William Thorson, Alex Kravchenko and Katja Thater. The PokerStars sponsored players Juan Manuel Pastor from Spain and Julien Lang Van from France also cashed.

The EPT founder John Duthie said: “Warsaw has always been a popular stop on the EPT train and this has been no exception. It was a particularly high quality final table and another five days of excellent poker.”

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker News, Press Releases | No Comments » November 25th, 2008

Titan Poker has announced the launch of its online Super Satellite series, offering players twice weekly chances to enjoy a taste of Irish Luck and poker celebrity buzz at the party capital of Europe’s most prestigious poker tournament, the Irish Open 2009.

The most important tournament on the European poker calendar has announced its long-awaited return to Dublin this April 2009 and TitanPoker.com, the largest online poker room on the iPoker Network, is offering players of all skill levels the opportunity to play with the biggest names in professional poker at the exciting world-class event with the launch of its twice weekly online Irish Open 2009 Super Satellites series.

The longest running Hold’em tournament in Europe, the Irish Open is the continent’s answer to the World Series of Poker and is certainly no stranger to hosting scores of poker celebrities. Last year’s event was televised and the line-up read like a roll call of top professionals, including Doyle Brunson, Sorel Mizzi, Padraig Parkinson, and Ciaran O’Leary. Which is not surprising, considering the €3,001,400 prize pool attracted 667 of the game’s elite players. But it was an Englishman, Neil Channing, who stole the show with his first place win worth €801,400.

This year promises even bigger surprises on the felt when the Irish Open returns to the country’s vibrant capital from April 10th to 13th, 2009. No doubt the line-up of contenders will once again feature the seasoned best in poker, giving players a chance to test their skill set against the top of the league. This is in addition to playing for a share of a prize pool worth over €3,000,000 (the exact amount is to be announced later on in the year). 

Buy-in to the Irish Open 2009 has been set at €3,200 + €300, but players can win their seats to the exciting event for as little as $2 + $0.2 at one of Titan Poker’s Sit ‘N’ Go satellites and daily qualifying tournaments. Prize packages to Dublin are valued at $6500 and include Main Event buy-in, five nights’ accommodation (worth approximately $800) and a generous allowance of up to $1000 for flights and spending money. Players will delight in the atmosphere of Ireland’s party capital and the celebratory buzz surrounding poker’s highest profile celebrities at the tables, while playing for a share of millions.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Press Releases | No Comments » November 23rd, 2008

GIBRALTAR — (PRESS RELEASE) — Playtech, the international designer, developer and licensor of software for the online and land-based gaming industry, announces today that it has extended its software licence with MANSION, the international online Casino, Poker and Internet Betting entertainment company, to include its full suite of market leading poker games.

MANSION, which is one of the world’s leading online gambling operators, migrated its poker operations to Playtech’s iPoker network, having previously migrated its casino products to Playtech’s platforms last year.

The iPoker network is ideally suited to the requirements of MANSION’s global client base because Playtech provides products which can be adapted to local gaming styles, language and currency. As the world’s largest poker network, iPoker continues to attract operators, who are able to maximise the cross-selling of additional products. With each additional licensee increasing the liquidity of the iPoker network, the platform becomes increasingly attractive to new players and licensees.

Mor Weizer, Chief Executive Officer of Playtech, commented today:

“We are delighted to be able to extend our relationship with MANSION, a highly valued licensee, to include its poker operations. This latest migration provides further evidence of the high calibre of our products and the strength of our relationships with our operators. We are looking forward to augmenting an already successful relationship in Casino with a long and productive poker partnership.”

Posted by Diana Sterling in Press Releases | No Comments » October 4th, 2008