With Grosvenor Casino threatening to take over the live poker scene with their impending, and admittedly rather exciting Grosvenor UK Poker Tour, Gala Casino are fighting back by associating themselves with 'The Great British Poker Tour'.
Set to be staged in 5 locations - Edinburgh, Teeside, Nottingham, Bournemouth and Bradford (the former hosting the inaugural event this February) - the 2007 Tour will culminate with a Grand Final in October in which the buy-in will amount to a potentially huge prizepool creating figure of £2,500.
Running over two days, the £500 Main Event of each stop will be a No Limit Hold'Em Freezeout and will reward its winners with not only the lion's share of the prizepool, but also a VIP seat into the Grand Final.
In addition to the title of Great British Poker Champion 2007, the Grand Final winner will also receive an all-expenses paid trip to the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas in December 2007. Runners up prizes also include trips and buy-ins to the Aussie Millions in Melbourne, Australia and European Poker Tour events.
As with the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour, there will also be satellite seats available for the Great British Poker Tour. As well as gaining entry through the various live satellites (to be hosted by Gala Casinos across the nation), players will also be able to qualify online with satellites being staged at www.galapoker.co.uk from Monday 18th December.
Nick Potter, Gala Casinos Managing Director said, “We are very excited to be staging the Great British Poker Tour. This is a fantastic opportunity for poker players of all levels to show the world how seriously we take our poker here in Great Britain. With the quality of player talent we have, we hope to see some thrilling clashes all the way up to the final. They’ll also get to enjoy some of the best casino and poker venues in the country."
So, if you fancy giving the Great British Poker Tour a crack, then be sure to check out the following schedule for 2007:
21-25 Feb -- Gala Maybury Casino, Edinburgh
4-8 April -- Gala Casino, Teeside
9-13 May -- Gala Casino, Nottingham
13-17 June -- Gala Casino, Bournemouth
15-19 August -- Gala Casino, Bradford
29 Oct - 4 Nov -- Grand Final (Venue to be announced)
And good luck!