iPoker Network site William Hill has teamed up with the No Surrender Charitable Trust to bring the first ever No Surrender UK Poker Classic to life. The online event will raise money for a cancer-related social network and research.
The tournament is slated for Friday, June 26th and has an expected prize pool of $30,000. Its grand prize winner will take home a one-of-a-kind VIP trip to Las Vegas, Nevada worth $10,000. Tournament organizers are gunning for 1,000 players in the online event, which will play out on the virtual felts of William Hill. A longstanding fixture in the online poker industry, William Hill is a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, where it can be found under the symbol “WMH.” The UK Poker Classic comes with a price tag of $30 with $20 rebuys available for those finding themselves short on chips.
Its winner and a very lucky guest will jet set to Sin City in style aboard British Airways in the carrier’s luxurious Club World class. While in Las Vegas, the duo will call the Bellagio, a Strip casino, home for four nights. The venue is rich in poker lore, playing host to the annual World Poker Tour (WPT) end-of-season Championship event each April as well as the Bellagio Cup, Festa al Lago, and Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. It’s the equivalent of Ground Zero for the WPT tournament series and also hosts Bobby’s Room, the home of high-stakes cash games featuring poker’s biggest names.
Marc Maley of the No Surrender Charitable Trust commented in a press release distributed by William Hill, “We are always looking for new ways to raise funds and keep within the spirit of the No Surrender Trust, which ultimately is to do it having fun! Jason would have loved this event. As a city trader before he contracted pancreatic cancer, he was hugely competitive and loved synergy between the city and a game like poker.” The “Jason” in question is Jason Boas, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two years ago at age 33. Nevertheless, he has raised over £150,000 for cancer-related causes, including research and a helpful social networking site for patients.
The tournament kicks off at 8:00pm. A total of 70% of the prize pool will be donated to the charity, while the remaining 30% will serve as the event’s purse. In addition, William Hill will add $1,000. The $10,000 travel package is good for non-blackout dates before December 1st. Travel is not permitted on Independence Day (July 3rd and 4th), Labor Day (September 7th), Columbus Day (October 12th), Veteran’s Day (November 11th), and Thanksgiving (November 26th), all major U.S. holidays when tourists flock in droves to Las Vegas.
The iPoker Network’s weekly major is the $250,000 Guaranteed, which runs on Sunday nights at 19:00 UK time. The tournament sports a $320 buy-in and satellites start as low as $3.80. On Friday, the family of sites hosts a $150,000 guaranteed prize pool event, which comes with a $109 buy-in and unlimited rebuys are available. The high-stakes contest kicks off at 20:00 UK time and qualifiers start at an affordable $1.20. Finally, Saturday night sees the running of the $50,000 Guaranteed, which has a $109 price tag. Thee freezeout starts at 18:30 UK time and satellites begin at $8.80.
Players on William Hill battle with competitors from across the iPoker Network, which also includes CD Poker, Mansion Poker, Noble Poker, Paddy Power, and Titan Poker. The Network is the third largest worldwide and the biggest that does not accept players from the United States. According to PokerScout.com, which monitors online poker room traffic, the iPoker Network features a seven day running average of 5,900 real money ring game players with a 24 hour peak that is double that amount. Its traffic is comparable with that found on PartyPoker.
