Uk-Poker.co.uk

The North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian has thus far proved how successful land-based tournaments can be when they are set up and managed by online poker sites. The NAPT Venetian had been a long time in the making for PokerStars, so its arrival last week was warmly welcomed throughout the poker community, especially amongst players who prefer live tournament action. On Tuesday, the NAPT Venetian $25,000 High-Roller Bounty Shoot-out kicked off with 49 of the biggest names in modern poker putting their skills to the test.

The tournament was unique in that each player who took part in it had a $5,000 bounty on his or her head. In order for a player to progress in the tournament, he or she would need to beat all other players on their particular table. Top names who took part in the NAPT Venetian $25,000 High-Roller Bounty Shoot-out included Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, JC Tran, Jason Mercier and Vanessa Rousso; however, none of these poker greats achieved success in the tournament. In fact, it was Scott Seiver who earned the most kudos (and prize money) en route to the final table, after the New York based player secured a total of six bounties.

Seiver achieved all six available bounties at his table and even managed a double knockout when Chau Giang and Brain Rast lost out to him in the same hand. Seiver’s success equates to $30,000 in bounty money and $75,000 for winning his table. Other players who reached the tournament’s final table event, which concludes today, include Hoyt Corkins, Faraz Jaka, Joe Cassidy, Brett Richey, Peter Eastgate and Ashton Griffin. The success of the NAPT Venetian is likely to inspire other international and UK online poker sites to launch more of their own live tournaments. Land-based UK poker tournaments are already popular but there is certainly room for more – especially where exciting bounty shoot-outs are concerned.