Hellmuth & Esfandiari Italy Bound; UKIPT Ireland On the Horizon

Hellmuth and Esfandiari Heading for Venice

Next month’s WPT Venice Grand Prix Main Event will welcome a duo of international poker stars in the form of Phil Hellmuth and Antonio Esfandiari according to a recent press release.

The American pros have recently confirmed their intentions to play the €3,300 event which takes place in the plush surroundings of Casino de Venezia.

Making their way directly from PartyPoker’s $125,000 Premier League event in London, both Hellmuth and Esfandiari are keen to sample Venice and compete with some of Europe’s best.

Phil Hellmuth has already said he’s “strapped up” and ready to play what he believes will be a “special tournament held in a special city”.

The annual WPT Venice festival is scheduled to run from March 22^nd until March 26^th and will feature the WPT’s National Venice event (€1,650).

UKIPT Ready to Uncork in Ireland

Love may be in the air on Thursday for many couples around the world, but the only hezarts of any importance in Ireland will be coming from a deck of cards.

Kicking off on Wednesday 13^th February, PokerStars’ UKIPT Cork event is expected to welcome a plethora of poker stars from across Europe.

Indeed, once the opening €110 six-max event has concluded, the €770 Main Event (up from €560 last year) will begin on Valentine’s Day.

Last year a total of 602 players took part in the Main Event which was eventually won by British favourite, Sam Razavi.

Last year’s event furnished Razavi with €71,000 and this year the winner is expected to take home even more money thanks to the increased entry fee.

Also on this year’s UKIPT Cork schedule is a €2,150 High Roller event and a €220 PLO tournament.