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With the first event getting underway last night, the Party Poker Irish Poker Championship Tour has kicked off at Eglinton Card Room and Casino, its first stop of eight across the island.

 "The 2008 Irish Poker Championship was seen as a big success and still attracted 298 runners, despite the fact that Ireland was engulfed in a snowstorm at the time that limited the options of many to get to Galway." Said a spokesman from Party Poker.com.

"The introduction of the Irish Poker Championship Tour this year shows just how much this tournament is on the up-and-up. There are stops all over the Emerald Isle and online qualifiers will be introduced on PartyPoker.com later in the year that will give players from all over the world the chance to witness the famous Galway hospitality."

Winners, and set number of runners up, from each stop get an invite to the first major UK tournament of 2009, the 2009 Irish Poker Championships

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"Professionals regarded the 2008 PartyPoker.com Irish Poker Championship as one of the best craics of the year on the circuit and there is nobody from last year who isn't keen to return. The one thing that will not happen in 2009 is an attempt by the hotel to close the bar during the final table as we don't want a mutiny."

Ireland has started on its way to becoming a hotbed of poker and poker players most recently with Marty Smyth winning himself a 2008 WSOP bracelet. The 2008 Irish Poker Championships attracted many players of note to the event including 'Ambassador of Poker' Mike Sexton, Noel Furlong, 'Flying Dutchman' Marcel Luske, Ciaran O'Leary, Michael Keiner, Robert Williamson III, Padraig Parkinson, Jon Kalmar, Scott Gray, Bruno Fitoussi, Jan Sørensen, Roy Brindley, Mad Marty Wilson, Marty Smith, Katharine Hartree, Jeff Duvall, Alan Vinson, Tom Franklin, Steve Wong, Neil Channing, Tony Cascarino and Rory Liffey; all of whom are likely to be involved with the 2009 event.

Written by Sean Lind

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