GIBRALTAR, November 9 /PRNewswire/ --

- Mike Sexton and Elusive 1999 World Series Champion Noel Furlong Added to Line-Up

Exclusive online qualification for the PartyPoker.com Irish Poker Championship 2008 is underway! The tournament will be held at the fabulous Radisson Hotel & Spa, Galway, Ireland, from Jan 3 to Jan 6, 2008. The PokerEvents.ie organized event is the first major sponsorship in Ireland by PartyPoker.com and is Europe's first major tournament of 2008.

http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071109/281095

The main online US$220 satellite is every Tuesday but lower buy-in tournaments where entry into the main satellite can be won are available every day of the week on PartyPoker.com. For every 25 players in the main satellite, PartyPoker.com will provide one seat. Qualification for the US$5,000 package starts at US$3.

The EUR2,000 (9 percent withheld) buy-in is expected to attract 400 players from across Ireland, the UK, Europe and the United States and will be recorded for six hour-long broadcasts on RTE, Ireland's national broadcaster and distributed internationally. Amongst those who have indicated that they will attend are `Ambassador of Poker' Mike Sexton, WSOP bracelet winners Ciaran O'Leary and Michael Keiner, Padraig Parkinson, Scott Gray, Bruno Fitoussi, Rehne Pederson And Jan S0rensen. 1999 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Noel Furlong has also been coaxed out of retirement to take part!

A spokesman for the event sponsors, PartyPoker.com, said: "We are delighted that the tournament organizers have secured Noel Furlong's participation. Imagine winning the WSOP Main Event, vanishing into thin air and retiring from the game, exactly what Noel did! We expect him to run well in the tournament as getting a read on him is likely to be very hard. There will be very little television coverage that gives pointers to how he plays."

Over 500 qualifying satellites are also being held in pubs and clubs across Ireland.

The schedule for the event is:

Thursday 3rd January 2008

- Super Satellite - EUR200 + EUR20

Friday 4th January 2008

- Main Event Day 1 - EUR2,000 (9 percent withheld) No Limit Hold'em Freezeout

Saturday 5th January 2008

- Main Event Day 2 - EUR2,000

- Supporting Event - EUR800 + EUR80 No Limit Hold'em Freezeout

Sunday 6th January 2008

- Main Event Day 3 - EUR2,000

- Supporting Event - EUR400 + EUR40 No Limit Hold'em Freezeout

For more details on qualifiers see: http://www.partypoker.com/news/items/irish_poker.html

For further details contact: Brendan Murray, brendan.murray@pokermediaconsulting.com, Tel: +353-86-305-7469; Warren Lush warrenl@partygaming.com Tel +353-3507-8700