Bookmaker William Hill Announce First Major Poker Table Tournament

The 'William Hill Grand Prix', which will take place between 17th-25th October 2005 is William Hill's first move to a major table tournament and with over £100,000 of the sponsors money being added to the players stakes it creates a prize pool of £450,000, with the winner scooping a clear £150,000.

Presentable Ltd, arguably the best TV poker production team in the UK and responsible for the very successful Late Night Poker series, has been contracted by William Hill to produce the programme which is scheduled for airing in early December 2005 on the Poker 425 programme on Sky TV.

Only the leading players in the poker world will be invited in to the William Hill Grand Prix, as the whole concept behind the tournament is to put the skill back into the technical game, and move away from a 'blind structure' that is made for speed.

The William Hill Grand Prix will be structured with 7 heats of 8 people at each table, comprising 8 on-line qualifiers and 48 top international poker professionals. All entrants will be allowed to wear logos and branded merchandise. On-line qualification for the 8 on-line entries, begins on the 18th July via the williamhillpoker.com website.

Founded in 1934, William Hill is one of the best-known names in the UK betting industry. The company is one of the leading providers of fixed odds bookmaking services, offering odds and taking bets on a wide range of sporting and other events, as well as operating both online casino and poker sites, an interactive TV channel and 2 UK greyhound stadiums. Hills is the market leader in all major betting channels in the UK with an established international presence through its online businesses