Big buck Betfair poker tourney for london

The UK online gambling group Betfair has announced it is to sponsor an exclusive and televised poker tournament for the first time in its history. The Betfair.com Poker Masters of Europe is a 36-player invite-only event with a live audience, scheduled for the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith on the 11th-14th May and featuring players from around the world.

The tournament will be produced by Emblaze Productions, the same team behind the British Poker Open, Million Dollar Cash Game and the European Poker Masters.

"We aim to make this the most important invitational event of the year," said Betfair's Head of Poker Ben Fried.

"The Betfair Asian Poker Tour is a fantastic open tournament for our players but this event will be more exclusive. We expect some exciting characters from sport and screen as well as the top poker players; it will make great TV."

A series of six heats will feed into a final table where the winner will take home well over $100 000. The majority of players will each buy-in for $7 500 but six players will qualify exclusively online at Betfair Poker.