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

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.

Paddy Power Poker , one of the leading online poker sites, today launches online registration for the Irish Winter Festival 2009 via a customised payment gateway on the Irish Winter Festival website. This gateway facilitates both individual and cardroom registrations with payment possible via credit cards, bank transfer and cheque.

Players can now register for any or all events of the Irish Winter Festival, including the Super Satellite tournament scheduled for 23rd October 2009, the Irish Masters €1,500 + €150 main event on 24th October and the two side events taking place on 25th-26th October.

“We are happy to launch an online registration gateway which will allow players to secure their seats in any Irish Winter Festival 2009 tournaments well in advance of October Bank Holiday weekend” said Eric Booth, Head of Poker for Paddy Power Poker. “Online registration and the recent launch of our Ticket-Only Satellites should really make things easier for those players who want to participate in this year’s Irish Winter Festival; we’re all really looking forward to the event!”