SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Manchester235 Casino is to play host to the Madchester Poker Open, Paddy Power’s first ever offline poker tournament in England. It will be biggest poker event on Manchester235’s 2014 calendar, with a buy-in of £500 + £50 reg for the main event. A minimum prize pool guarantee of £100,000 is set to draw fans in their hundreds to the casino, events will be taking place across 235 Live, Vega Lounge and The Poker Lounge.
With Carlsberg the drinks sponsor for the event, the Madchester Poker tournament will offer a number of side events, including two feeders; a Texas No-Limit Hold’ Em Rebuy on Wednesday 19 November (with a guarantee of five seats to the main event), and a Texas No-Limit Hold’ Em Rebuy plus one add on taking place on Thursday 20th (with a guaranteed 5 seats to the main event). Side events will take place on Friday 21(small stakes £20 buy-in), Saturday 22 (£150 buy-in) and Sunday 23(small stakes £30 + £5) and cash games will be ongoing in The Poker Lounge over the course of the five days.
There will be numerous other opportunities to get involved via satellite events, including online events on the Paddy Power website and four additional events at Manchester235, taking place on Thursday 30 October (1 seat guaranteed), Thursday 6 November (1 seat guaranteed), Wednesday 19 November (5 seats guaranteed), and Thursday 20 November (5 seats guaranteed), all with a £50 buy-in.
Austin Graham, Venue Director at Manchester235 said: “Paddy Power’s Irish Open is one of Europe’s biggest poker events and the fact that they’ve chosen Manchester235 to host their first English event is true recognition of the casino’s standing and profile in the North West. With a prize guarantee of £100,000, we’re expecting a real buzz about this tournament and anticipating a lot of the game’s big guns will turn up for the Main Event.”
Patrick Thornton, Head of Paddy Power Poker, said: “We looked at a lot of venues in and around the region and Manchester235 stood out head and shoulders above its competitors as the ideal host for the Madchester Open. Paddy Power has a strong customer base in the North West and we felt the time was right to have an offline event in England. With a £500 buy-in, who’s mad enough to call our bluff?”
