Paul Dooley today became the IWF Sole Survivor and won a €20,000 package by outlasting the 61 other players who were Paddy Power Poker online qualifiers at the Irish Winter Festival of Poker.  Dooley also picked up a €22,400 prize for finishing in 7th place in the Irish Masters itself, so won a total of €42,400 over the weekend.  The 37-year old Tipperary man is a well-known player, whose most significant result was finishing 8th in the Paddy Power Irish Poker Open in 2007, winning €50,000.

The Irish Winter Festival’s main event, the Irish Masters, is a three-day tournament costing €1,650 to enter; it kicked off on Saturday 24th October in Citywest Hotel with 398 players.

The Irish Winter Festival Sole Survivor promotion was created solely for players who qualified for the Irish Masters via Paddy Power Poker’s online satellites. Each online qualifier was automatically entered into the Sole Survivor promotion; all they needed to do was outlasted all other online qualifiers in the Irish Masters to win a €20,000 package. Whether the Sole Survivor finished 1st or 200th in the Irish Masters tournament did not matter, so long as he became the last Paddy Power Poker online qualifier standing – a competition within a competition exclusively for the Paddy Power Poker players!

Interest in the IWF Sole Survivor promotion peaked on Monday evening when the final table was reached, as two of the final nine players were eligible to win the €20,000 package. However, fellow Paddy Power Poker qualifier John Cassidy just missed out on the IWF Sole Survivor title by being knocked out in 9th place, when his Ace-King was unable to outdraw Igor Kurganov’s pocket aces.

Paddy Power Poker today announces the Irish Winter Festival Online, a series of online tournaments scheduled to run concurrently with the Irish Winter Festival of Poker in Dublin, Ireland.  The tournaments will take place from October 23rd through 26th and include freerolls and money-added events.

Passwords to the IWF Online freeroll tournaments will be posted on the official Irish Winter Festival blog two hours before the start time of each, and players will be encouraged to follow the live action in Dublin via the blog and live stream at the same time as playing online.

“Even though our main focus of attention this weekend will be the live event of the season, the Irish Winter Festival, we’d never forget our loyal online players” said Paddy Power, Communications Manager for Paddy Power Poker.  “The IWF Online allows players to take part in what will be a great weekend of poker, both online and off, and take advantage of the cash we’re adding to each tournament!”

Irish Winter Festival Online tournaments can be accessed via the poker software lobby; select the ‘Tournaments’ tab in the left-hand column and click on ‘PPP Exclusives’ to find the tournament you want to register for.

Join Paddy Power Poker today and participate in Irish Winter Festival NOW!!

Paddy Power Poker today announces that the Irish Winter Festival of Poker will be broadcast live via web stream.

Coverage will begin on the evening of Friday, October 23rd when play on the Paddy Power Poker Pro final table commences at 8pm.  The live streaming will continue on Saturday, October 24th when the Irish Masters main event begins at 2pm and concludes with the presentation of the champion’s trophy on Monday, October 26th.  The live stream will be accessible via the official Irish Winter Festival blog page.

“Our live stream is another string in the bow of the Irish Winter Festival of Poker” said Eric Booth, Head of Poker for Paddy Power Poker.  “Poker fans sitting at home will be able to see who becomes the very first Paddy Power Poker Pro on Friday night, and then follow the Irish Masters action over the rest of the weekend.  Combined with the live updates from our blogging team, blog visitors will have a better handle on the state of play at the Irish Winter Festival than most of us in the tournament hall!”

The live video stream can be accessed from October 23rd via the official Irish Winter Festival blog

Paddy Power Poker today announces the Irish Winter Festival Last Chance Saloon, a series of ticket-only satellites.  The seven Last Chance Saloon grand final tournaments are scheduled October 13th – 22nd, with feeder satellites running from October 11th.  One Irish Masters main event ticket will be awarded for every $2,450 in the prizepool.

Winners of the Last Chance Saloon will also qualify for the poker room’s IWF Sole Survivor promotion, which will award a €20,000 package to the longest-lasting paddypowerpoker.com online qualifier in the Irish Masters main event.

“The Irish Open and Irish Winter Festival Last Chance Saloons of the past two years were so popular that we didn’t hesitate to schedule it again this year” said Eric Booth, Head of Poker for paddypowerpoker.com.  “The Last Chance Saloon will be players’ final opportunity to qualify online for the Irish Winter Festival, chase the €20,000 Sole Survivor prize and win almost €200,000 as the Irish Masters champion!”

Irish Winter Festival Last Chance Saloon satellite tournaments can be accessed via the poker software lobby; select the ‘Irish Winter Festival’ tab in the left-hand column and search for the tournament you want to play in.

Players can also register for the Irish Masters via a holding tank in the poker software; select the ‘Irish Winter Festival’ tab in the left-hand column, open the ‘Irish Winter Registration’ lobby and register.

Register NOW for Last Chance Saloon and qualify for the poker room’s IWF Sole Survivor promotion.

Main Event starting stack increases from 10,000 to 15,000 chips

Paddy Power Poker today releases details of the improved tournament structures for the Irish Winter Festival 2009, running from 23rd – 26th October. The starting stack for the Irish Masters, the headline event of the festival, has increased to 15,000 chips from last year’s 10,000 and the tournament retains 60 minute blind levels.

The structure for the €500 No Limit Holdem side event (scheduled for 25th October) has also been improved, with the starting stack increasing to 10,000 from last year’s 7,000 and blind levels set at 45 minutes. The new €300 Round-Of-Each (ROE) tournament scheduled for 26th October will feature an 8,000 starting stack and 35 minute blind levels.

“The improvements made to the tournament structures have further cemented the Irish Winter Festival’s status as one of Europe’s top poker festivals”, said Paddy Power, Communications Manager for paddypowerpoker.com. “More chips, long blind levels and lots of play – this is what players’ want and paddypowerpoker.com is more than happy to deliver!”

All paddypowerpoker.com Irish Winter Festival satellite tournaments can be accessed via the poker software lobby; select ‘Scheduled MTT’s’, ‘Specials’ and then the ‘Irish Winter Festival’ tab.