Will The Poker Ladies Love Ladbrokes?
Published: Saturday, May 06, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
WILL THE POKER LADIES LOVE LADBROKES?
European women's poker tourney will offer big money
Ladbrokes has joined the growing number of online poker companies offering
special tournaments for women, underscoring the rising importance of
the feminine demographic in the popular game.
The UK gambling group announced this week that it is hosting the first European
women’s poker championship, playing for cash prizes and the opportunity
to qualify for a seat at the Ladbrokes Poker Million V tournament.
The Ladbrokes European Ladies Championships will be held at the Riverside
studios in Hammersmith today (May 6).
The total prize pool for the tournament is US$48 000, with a first prize of
US$15 000. The Poker Million V has a first prize of US$1.2 million. Famous faces
from the poker world such as UK glamour model Leilani Dowling, who goes
by the name The Vixen, will be present.
“Competition to secure a place in the first European Ladies Championship
final has been fierce," revealed David Briggs, managing director
of Ladbrokes eGaming. "All 48 seats have been secured yet we are still
receiving requests from women wishing to enter. We are already planning a bigger
tournament next year to cater for the demand.”
Around 25 percent of players on the Ladbrokes Poker.com website are female,
says Briggs and that number is anticipated to increase as poker is increasingly
perceived as a mainstream activity. Familiar names such as celebrity chef Nigella
Lawson, Paris Hilton and Sky Sports presenter Helen Chamberlain
are all cited as enthusiastic players by Ladbrokes.
The tournament will be recorded by Sky Sports, which will air the footage
over a six-week period as a precursor to the Poker Million V finals, also shown
by the channel.
Bingo players have not been neglected by Ladbrokes, either. In a seperate
announcement the gambling group launched a bingo product on its Ladbrokes
Games.com site, giving customers the opportunity to play online for 5p a
game.
Virtual dabbers will be used by players to mark their cards, with prizes available
for a variety of lines. A live chat network is part of the offering, and new
games will start every seven minutes around the clock.
