Last year, as part of the Irish Open 2009 tournament, Paddy Power Poker introduced a new promotion, know as Sole Survivor. The promotion generated so much excitement in the online poker world, that this year Paddy Power decided to reintroduce it ahead of the Irish Open 2010 event.

The promotion comes with a whopping €100,000 prize pool and is open to Paddy Power Poker players. The gist of the promotion is that you remain the last standing ‘survivor’ out of all the other players who take place in qualifiers at Paddy Power Poker for the Irish Open. Your prize is a €100,000 package, thanks to this site’s generosity.

Last year, 31 year old Marcel Koch from Germany won the first Sole Survivor event, encouraging others to take part.

The steps to enter the Sole Survivor promotion are simple. Players simply need to qualify for the Irish Open at Paddy Power Poker, outlast all other qualifiers at the Irish Open in April and then take home the €100,000 prize package.

The package itself is made up of €75,000 in cash and €25,000 for live event buy ins and expenses.

“Our qualifiers to this year’s Irish Open were really excited about participating in the very first €100k Sole Survivor promotion and it was great to find such a worthy winner as Marcel”, said the Communications Manager for Paddy Power Poker.

“We can’t wait to kick off the search for the next Sole Survivor; there are 100,000 reasons why it makes sense for players to qualify for the Irish Open 2010 on paddypowerpoker.com and nowhere else!” said the Communications Manager.

Next year’s Irish Open will take place from April 2nd to April 5th, 2010.

Buy ins have already been set at €3,200 + €300, although players can qualify for the tournament for as little as 0.50 through Paddy Power Poker.

The online poker room is already starting Irish Open action from the first of next month with Super Satellites taking place on a regular basis from then on.

Peter Laak has described his victory at the latest Party Poker World tournament as a “wild roller coaster ride” and was thrilled to have beaten such a top class final table.

The fifth annual tournament took place this week, boasting a quarter of a million dollar first place prize and maximum exposure. The event took place at the Palm Beach Casino in Mayfair, London and was by invitation only, meaning that only the best players in the industry were in attendance. Added to that was a whopping $10,000 buy in fee, which only emphasized the exclusivity of the event.

The final table was made all the more interesting by the fact that Laak was seated next to his girlfriend Jennifer Tilly, who eventually left the table in fifth position.

Others at the table included Luke “Full_Flush1” Schwartz, Mike Sexton (who was recently appointed to the Poker Hall of Fame) and Andy Black.

The four left standing at the final table were the German Bodo Sbrzesny, Jan Veit from Austria, Luke Schwartz and Phil “Unabomber” Laak.

Veit elminated first Sbrzesny and then Schwartz, to see him meeting Laak in the heads up stage of the game.

After an intense and particularly aggressive match, Laak ended Veit’s dream of taking home the $250,000 prize and Party Poker World tournament title.

When interviewed after the tournament, a glowing Laak said: “This was a wild roller coaster ride and I am proud to have shared it with this amazing cast of characters. They were a tough bunch.”

“Wow – what an honor,” he could not help exclaiming.

Laak has won over $1,400,000 in live tournaments since he started playing in 2005.

The player who is best recognized for his trademark hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses around the poker table, has peppered the poker lingo with some interesting new terms, including “felted” (meaning: to lose all your chips in a game).

“Congratulations to Phil for his deserved victory,” said a spokesperson for Party Poker online poker room. “We’re delighted with how the tournament has gone this week and we had a fantastic final table.”