ISLE OF MAN, Feb. 15, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Prima Poker, the world's largest online poker network, announced today its $1.25 million sponsorship of The Hendon Mob, four of Britain's top professional poker players. The sponsorship will send the fabulous foursome jet-setting on the 2005 Prima Poker Tour that includes 15 of the most exciting poker tournaments of the year. The Mob will be kicking off this month's tournaments on February 18th in Los Angeles, CA for the televised, WPT Poker Classic.
Prima Poker first sponsored the Hendon Mob in 2004, setting a new trend in the poker industry as the first ever $1 million sponsorship of a professional poker team. "The Mob" became media stars, demonstrating their poker skills on Fox Sports Net, tutoring 'Cousin Sal' on Jimmy Kimmel Live and being featured in cameo appearances during the 2004 WSOP on ESPN.
The Hendon Mob members include:
-- Ram "Crazy Horse" Vaswani is best known for his many different
styles of play; he can be quick and aggressive or slow and
methodical. Ram played his way to three final tables at the 2004
World Series of Poker as well as winning the European Poker
Tour's Irish Masters.
-- Barny Boatman burst onto the international poker scene in 1999
when he became Europe's top ranked Seven Card Stud player. He is
recognized on the poker circuit as a formidable and daring
opponent, rising to victory at the 2004 Helsinki Freeze Out,
after finishing a close second in 2003.
-- Joe "The Elegance" Beevers; a former banker, Joe paid for his
B.A. in Finance by giving poker and blackjack lessons to his
teachers and friends while in school. In 2004, Joe won the
Four Queens Poker Classic main event at the Bellagio in Las
Vegas, followed by a second place finish at The Gaming Club
World Poker Championship.
-- "Rocky" Ross Boatman is pure theater. Well-known for his eight
years as playing the loveable "Kevin" in Britain's most
successful TV drama series, London's Burning. His years in
front of the camera and on stage have made him one of the
world's most unreadable players. Ross is currently the
British Hi-Lo Omaha Champion.
Outside of numerous tournaments in the U.S., the 2005 tour will take the Hendon Mob to Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Vienna, Dublin, Monte Carlo and London, where they will match wits against the top professional and online players in the world. The tour includes such premier internationally televised tournaments as the World Series of Poker, the Master Classics of Poker, the Commerce Invitational and numerous WPT and EPT events.
The 2005 Prima Poker Tour
Date Event Location
18 - 22 Feb WPT LA Poker Classic Commerce Casino, Los Angeles
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23 - 24 Feb WPT Invitational Commerce Casino, Los Angeles
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27 Feb - 2 Mar WSOP - Circuit Harrah's Casino, Las Vegas
Championship Event
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10 - 12 Mar EPT WSOPT CCC Concord Card Casino, Vienna
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15 -19 Mar EPT Monte Carlo Monte Carlo Sporting Club &
Casino
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12 - 25 April Five Star World Bellagio, Las Vegas
Poker Classic
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15 - 24 May World Heads Up Casino Barcelona
Championship
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3 Jun - 15 Jul 2005 World Series Rio and Binion's, Las Vegas
of Poker
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25 - 29 Jul WPT ACF Paris Aviation Club de France, Paris
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5 - 15 Aug Borgata PPT / WPT Borgata, Atlantic City
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4 - 10 Oct EPT London Grosvenor Victoria Casino,
London
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27 - 30 Oct EPT Dublin Merrion Card Casino, Dublin
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5 -12 Nov Master Classics Holland Casino, Amsterdam
of Poker
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12 - 18 Nov WPT Foxwoods Foxwoods, Connecticut
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29 Nov - Dec 20 Bellagio PPT / WPT Bellagio, Las Vegas
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"This is going to be an exciting year for the all of us," said Barny Boatman of the Hendon Mob. "We are looking forward to celebrating our successes with Prima Poker, their card rooms, and all the satellite winners. We believe 2005 is going to be a brilliant year for The Hendon Mob."
Each of the 30 card rooms on the Prima Poker Network offer online players a chance to join the Hendon Mob on the Prima Poker Tour. Online players can enter satellite tournaments at any time in Prima Network card rooms. Winners of these satellites get to meet and gain valuable insights into the game from The Hendon Mob while going head-to-head against their poker idols. The card rooms also hold monthly satellites where players can "Beat the Mob" online for cash prizes.
Satellites are running now for the World Poker Tour's 2005 World Series of Poker at the Rio in Las Vegas and the World Poker Tour's Bay 101 Shooting Star in San Jose.
About Prima Poker
Prima Poker is the world's largest online poker network. Powered by Microgaming software, the leading developer of Internet gaming systems, Prima Poker licenses to more than thirty operators worldwide to form a global poker network. The Prima Network ensures that a critical mass of online poker players and a wide variety of games and tournaments are available at all times. Sought by online poker players and operators, The Prima Poker seal is a symbol of quality, representing the highest standards in online poker play, fairness, and credibility. For more information, please visit, www.primapoker.com.