Great Poker TV For UK Fans

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Set your TiVO or stay up on May 22 for the Party Poker Premiere League show

UK poker fans are in for a feast of quality poker entertainment later this month when Party Poker's Premiere League poker tournament, featuring world class players, airs on May 22 on Channel 4.

The poker room has teamed up with Matchroom Sport to offer a sneak preview of the tournament, which can be viewed at www.matchroompoker.com/promo, where 12 of the world's top poker players compete for $500 000.

Exchanging bets, challenges and taunts were Phil Hellmuth, David "Devilfish" Ulliott, Tony G, Andy Black, Kiril Gerasimov, Liz Lieu, Ian Frazer, Roland De Wolfe, Vicky Coren, Juha Helppi, Kenna James and Eddy Scharf.

The series, which was filmed for television in February and March in the U.K., features 12 professional poker players who competed six times in preliminary stages to progress to the final table. Each pro bought in for $20 000 and Party Poker.com added $260 000 to the prize pool. After each pro played six times, the top four advanced to the final table, with the bottom four waging a heads-up battle for the two remaining seats.

Reality TV fans won't be disappointed. Or, at least, "Devilfish" Ulliott doesn't think so. "This is a totally different concept and will make great television, it's like a poker Big Brother," he said. "It sets a new bar for televised poker."

The result of the tournament has already been announced and ended in a tense heads up between Eddy Scharf and the eventual winner, Finnish player Juha Helppi.

After the first four seats were taken, there were two play-off heads-up matches to determine who would get the last two spots at the table. Liz Lieu beat Kenna James, and Vicky Coren eliminated Andrew Black, adding a welcome feminine element to the final mix.

The final table line-up was:

Phil Hellmuth, 350 000
Eddy Scharf, 310 000
Juha Helppi, 260 000
Ian Frazer, 250 000
Liz Lieu, 230 000
Vicky Coren, 200 000

Frazer was the first out, knocked off by Helppi, who shortly afterwards also eliminated Coren. He went on to send Lieu and Hellmuth to the rail, leaving the heads up between himself and Eddy Scharf. But there was no stopping the Finnish juggernaut, and in the final hand Scharf moved all-in with 5-6 suited and Helppi called with A-2 off-suit. Helppi's ace held up as the board was no help for Scharf.