The lineup is set for the partypoker Premier League VII (yes, partypoker no longer uses capital letters) as the popular poker competition kicks off today. Last night a draw party was held at the W Hotel in downtown Montreal to determine when each of the 12 participants will play.
First, let’s take a look at the player roster, each of whom put up $125,000 to enter the tournament:
Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari
Dan Shak
Phil “The Unabomber” Laak
Vanessa Selbst
Scott Seiver
Daniel “Jungleman” Cates
Jason Koon
Jeff Gross
Sorel Mizzi
Daniel Colman
Jonathan Duhamel
Brian Rast
Each player will compete four eight-handed heats; there are six heats total spanning the next six days. Players will receive points based on order of finish in each of these Sit-and-Go mini-tournaments and will also receive $2,000 for each point accumulated throughout the heat stage. The top four points earners after all six heats are completed will move on to the Premier League final table. To determine the other two spots to fill out the final table, the next four highest points earners will square off in best-of-three heads-up matches; the two winners will advance.
Of course, even more cash will be awarded at the final table with $400,000 going to the winner.
Now let’s see what the heats look like (order is not indicative of seat assignments):
Heat 1 – Wednesday, November 20th
Jeff Gross
Antonio Esfandiari
Daniel Cates
Sorel Mizzi
Jason Koon
Brian Rast
Dan Colman
Scott Seiver
Heat 2 – Thursday, November 21st
Jonathan Duhamel
Daniel Cates
Jason Koon
Dan Shak
Phil Laak
Brian Rast
Vanessa Selbst
Scott Seiver
Heat 3 – Friday, November 22nd
Jeff Gross
Jonathan Duhamel
Sorel Mizzi
Jason Koon
Dan Shak
Phil Laak
Vanessa Selbst
Dan Colman
Heat 4 – Saturday, November 23rd
Antonio Esfandiari
Daniel Cates
Sorel Mizzi
Jonathan Duhamel
Phil Laak
Vanessa Selbst
Dan Colman
Scott Seiver
Heat 5 – Sunday, November 24th
Jeff Gross
Jason Koon
Antonio Esfandiari
Daniel Cates
Dan Shak
Phil Laak
Brian Rast
Dan Colman
Heat 6 – Monday, November 25th
Jeff Gross
Jonathan Duhamel
Antonio Esfandiari
Sorel Mizzi
Dan Shak
Brian Rast
Vanessa Selbst
Scott Seiver
Last year, Dan Shak won the partypoker Premier League VI, besting Sam Trickett heads-up for the title.
Heat 1 of this year’s Premier League will begin tonight at 6:00pm ET at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal. All the action will be filmed for television, with partypoker’s Kara Scott serving as host and Jesse May leading the commentary team.
