PartyPoker's Million V Tournament Set to Launch

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida -- What do you get when you mix over 500 poker players, over 100 Blackjack masters, 200 poker dealers, 600 decks of cards, 180,000 chips, the luscious Caribbean sun, two exotic
  ports of call and over $5 million of prize money?

You get PartyPoker.com Million V, the world's largest "limit" Texas Hold'em Tournament, which this year also includes the $250,000 World Blackjack Championships and a $50,000 slots tournament all staged aboard Holland America's ms Westerdam, departing from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, on 12 March and returns from the cruise in the Caribbean on 19th March.

Drawing over 500 online players and top professionals, the $10,200-buy-in event is known as the place where online players go toe-to-toe with pros, and everyone goes home having had a great time. The PartyPoker.com Million V will award in the region of $1 million to the first place finisher.

Among the players who will board in Ft. Lauderdale will be defending champion Michael Gracz, who claimed the first prize in 2005, and capped his rookie year by winning a World Series of Poker®* bracelet. He will be joined by Aaron Kanter, who finished fourth in the World Series of Poker®*.main event after entering the tournament through a PartyPoker.com satellite. Kanter, a former bank loan officer from Elk Grove, CA. converted a $50 investment into $2 million!

For all of the competitors, cruising to a victory is half the fun. Participants, including players and their guests, will enjoy the luxurious amenities of Holland America's ms Westerdam and the charms of the two tropical ports of call-Grand Cayman and Jamaica.

The ms Westerdam is one of the premium cruise ships in Holland America's elegant fleet. Guests experience a dazzling array of restaurants, nightclubs and entertainment options. The ship features a sun deck, a spa and salon, a fully-equipped fitness center, internet connectivity and spacious staterooms. Conde Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure magazines have awarded it five stars.

The majority of players earned their spot in the The PartyPoker.com Million V by going to PartyPoker.com and competing in $33 buy-in preliminary tournaments. There were also sub-qualifying tournaments with buy-ins of $5+1 and $10+1. Winners who qualified in those preliminary satellite tournaments received a $13,500 package-that includes the $10,200 buy-in to the finals, a cruise for two and spending cash.

Players begin the tournament with $10,000.00 in chips and play until they lose or until they make the final table on the fifth day. Players closing in on the PartyPoker.com Million V Championship will be sweating out bets and bluffs that risk hundreds of thousands per hand.

Gracz, a 24-year-old finance graduate of North Carolina State, quietly, yet masterfully wore down the field in last year's event and disembarked from the PartyPoker.com Million IV a millionaire. Runner up was David Minto, of Alamogordo, NM.

In March 2004, Erick Lindgren vanquished the field and won $1 million. A construction worker from Olympia, WA, Chris Hinchcliffe, took third place for more than $400,000 in what he termed a "life changing" experience. Both players entered the tournament by winning PartyPoker.com satellite tournaments.

Poker legend Howard Lederer, of Las Vegas, captured first prize in the PartyPoker.com Million II and the year before, Kathy Liebert of Las Vegas, became the first woman ever to win $1 million in a single poker tournament by triumphing in the inaugural event.

Launched in August 2001, PartyPoker.com is the world's largest multi-player poker room offering players a safe, secure and friendly environment to play poker. With millions of satisfied users, PartyPoker.com is the market leader in the popular and fast growing online poker games market. PartyPoker.com is licensed and regulated by the Government of Gibraltar and parent company PartyGaming Plc is a FTSE top 100 company listed on the London Stock Exchange.

* "World Series of Poker" and "WSOP" are registered trade marks of Harrah's, and no license, affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement, is claimed, or should be inferred from the use of these trademarks here. PartyGaming is not affiliated, licensed, by, or otherwise affiliated with Harrahs, in any way.