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Nautica Charity Poker Festivals Bring Texas Hold 'Em to Cleveland This Summer
Published: 2005-03-20
 Nautica Charity Poker Festivals Bring Texas Hold 'Em to Cleveland This Summer
PR Newswire, March 20, 2005
CLEVELAND, March 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Plans are underway for a series of weekly Charity Festivals that will bring poker, including Texas Hold 'Em, to the Nautica Entertainment Complex on the west bank of the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio this summer. The Nautica Charity Poker Festivals will consist of up to 12 four-day festivals operated by different charities that feature poker played inside a 20,000 sq. ft. air-conditioned Festival Center. Over 1,000 greater Clevelanders will be volunteering their time as card dealers and concessionaires during these Charity Festivals.
Created to generate revenue for local charities, as well as generate public awareness of the economic benefits of gaming, Nautica Charity Poker Festivals will serve to draw thousands of visitors to downtown Cleveland. "The Poker Festivals will demonstrate the phenomenal demand for gaming in Ohio and show people that gaming is a viable source of revenue -- in this case benefiting charities," said Dave Grunenwald, Vice President of Development/Leasing for Jacobs Investments, which owns the Nautica Entertainment Complex. "Additionally, we believe that these Charity Poker Festivals will reveal to statewide voters and to statewide elected officials that this job-creating, revenue-generating industry is a plus for Cleveland as well as Ohio. Ohioans are traveling to surrounding states to spend their entertainment dollars on gaming, and now that Pennsylvania has legalized slot machines, additional business will be drained away from cities like Cleveland, and entertainment venues like the Nautica Entertainment Complex" he added. Pennsylvania recently passed legislation that will allow as many as 61,000 slot machines at casinos and racetracks. States surrounding Ohio with legalized gambling include New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, plus Canada.
Nautica Charity Poker Festivals will feature two popular poker games -- Texas Hold 'Em and Seven Card Stud, played at 30 tables that seat up to 10 players each. As planned, the 4-day Festivals will run from Thursday through Sunday, 8-hours a day, beginning June 16th and continue through Labor Day weekend.
Each Festival will be operated by a qualified charitable organization that will receive 100% of the proceeds. Proceeds will come from an hourly seat fee paid by each player, donations made by patrons, food and beverage concessions and sponsorship.
Jacobs Entertainment, Inc., an affiliate of Jacobs Investments, will serve as an unpaid consultant to each charity. The Denver-based corporation is a licensed gaming operator in Colorado, Virginia, Louisiana and Nevada with casinos that include slot machines and poker rooms, and a horse race track with off-track wagering facilities. Consulting services provided at no charge will include training volunteers.
"In addition to poker, all of the Festivals will offer other activities, including cultural and artistic events, charity demonstrations and information booths relevant to each charity," noted Grunenwald. "Although wheels are in full motion on this, many details still need to be worked out, including negotiating a lease with Cuyahoga County and/or the City of Cleveland," he added. A government lease is necessary to allow multiple festivals to take place at the Nautica Entertainment Complex over the summer. "We will request from a local government that multiple charity poker festival leases only be entered into with Nautica, Tower City, Northfield racetrack and Thistledown racetrack as these are the four Cleveland area entertainment venues most affected by emerging out-of-state gaming developments," added Grunenwald.
Representatives from the Nautica Entertainment Complex are in the process of meeting with charities and will announce participating charities at a later date. "Large, qualified 501(c)(3) charities interested in hosting a Festival should contact us via our web site as we have not finalized the list of participating charities," advised Paul Ertel, a Jacobs' representative.
For more information on charity qualifications visit http://www.nauticacharitypoker.org/.
CONTACT: Tim Knudsen, Knudsen, Gardner & Howe, Inc., +1-216-781-5000, tk@KGHinc.com, for Jacobs Investments, Inc.; Paul Ertel of Jacobs Investments, Inc., +1-216-861-4080, paul@nauticaflats.com
Web site: http://www.nauticacharitypoker.org/
COPYRIGHT 2005 PR Newswire Association LLC
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group
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PartyPoker.com Million IV—World's Largest ''Limit'' Texas Hold 'Em Poker Tournament
Published: 2005-03-14
 PartyPoker.com Million IV—World's Largest ''Limit'' Texas Hold 'Em Poker Tournament Expected to Boast $7+ Million Prize Pool for WPT Tournament on the High Seas
Business Wire, March 14, 2005
CURACAO, Netherlands Antilles -- 670 Online Players Qualify for $10,200-Buy-In Package Aboard Holland America's MS Oosterdam, to play along with 50 Top Pros
Largest Cruise Ship Ever Chartered Solely For Poker Will Tour The Mexican Riviera
One whale of a tournament is waiting for the approximately 725 fortunate players who make the field in the 2005 PartyPoker.com Million, setting sail from San Diego harbor on Saturday, March 19, 2005. The prize pools for the world's largest limit Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament is likely to be around $7,200,000. The tournament will be filmed for airing on The Travel Channel's World Poker Tour.
PartyPoker.com Million IV will shatter the record set in the PartyPoker.com Million III last year--a tournament that had a $3.82 million prize pool and 546 players.
PartyPoker.com Million IV will pay the top two finishers over a million dollars each - the winner will take home $1.5 million and the second place finisher will take home $1 million. Given the hefty prize pool, many others deep into the field can expect to see a handsome return.
Cruising to a victory is only half the fun. All the participants will enjoy the luxurious amenities of Holland America's MS Oosterdam and the charms of the two ports of call--Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta.
The MS Oosterdam 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 spa and salon, a fully-equipped fitness center, Internet connectivity and spacious staterooms. Conde Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure magazines give it five stars.
More than 670 players have earned a spot in the The PartyPoker.com Million IV by going to PartyPoker.com and competing in $32 buy-in preliminary tournaments. Winners who qualified in those preliminary satellite tournaments received a $12,600 package--that includes the $10,200 buy-in to the finals, a cruise for two and spending cash.
Players will begin the tournament on the first day with $10,000.00 in chips and play till they lose or until they make the Final Table on the fifth day. That final table of six players will be filmed for airing on the hugely popular World Poker Tour television series. Players closing in on the PartyPoker.com Million IV Championship will be sweating out bets and bluffs that risk hundreds of thousands per hand.
The PartyPoker.com Million IV is the fourth installment of the fabulously successful tournament. In March 2004, Erick Lindgren vanquished the field and used his $1 million victory in the PartyPoker.com Million III to springboard into position as the World Poker Tour's Player-of-the-Year and leading money winner for 2004. 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.
Howard Lederer, of Las Vegas, a World Champion and two-time winner of 2003 World Poker Tour tournaments, 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 more than one million 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. The site hosts more than 70,000 simultaneous players at peak times and over 250,000 online poker players daily, offering them a safe, secure and friendly environment to play poker. Players can play an assortment of live classic poker games including Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Low, and Seven Card Stud and single and multi-table tournaments.
For more information go to www.PartyPoker.com.
Images are available at http://www.PartyPoker.com/press.
COPYRIGHT 2005 Business Wire
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group
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