Home / Poker News February 2013 / The Poker Grapevine – Cates to Play in Premier League VI
The Poker Grapevine – Cates to Play in Premier League VI
Posted by: Mark Baldwing - Tue, 2013-02-19 04:52
PartyPoker’s Premier League has always been the playground of high-profile poker royalty, but this year, it’s shaping up to be bigger and better than ever. After the additions of Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Hellmuth (a first-time Premier Leaguer) to the Premier League VI lineup, two more heavy hitters were added a few days ago:
online poker mastermind Daniel Cates and Luke Schwartz. The event, which features a buy-in of $125k and which kicks off on March 17, already boasts a more than impressive roster: Daniel Negreanu will play in it as well, together with Phil Laak, and the previous winner, Scott Seiver.
Unlike Hellmuth, Cates is no stranger to the Premier League: he finished runner-up last season, taking home a pretty handsome prize of $300k.
Cates said he enjoyed the Premier League and the format it offered. He did mention though that he intended to change one thing from last season: his finishing position. The odds say he may in fact accomplish that change, although it’s much less likely he will improve on it. The fact that last season’s champion, Seiver, will be back as well, will certainly add even more appeal to the event for Cates.
Seiver took down a prize of $500k last season, topped off with a seat in the WPT’s Championship Event at the Bellagio, worth $25k. This year’s top reward will be a more modest one: the winner will only take home $450k this time, and there won’t be a $25k seat slapped onto the side either.
Luke Schwartz played last year too, but he probably doesn’t nurture any fond memories of his performance: he was the first one to bite the dust. Hyped-up about his participation, he said he was planning to steamroll the field this time around.
