On Wednesday, September 27, 2006, the fifth annual UltimateBet Poker Classic will kick off from sunny Aruba. This $5,000 buy-in event is expected to draw over 800 poker hopefuls, including many of online poker’s greatest stars. More than fifty of PocketFives’ (www.pocketfives.com) online poker players will compete for their chance at poker glory. PocketFivesLive.com, providing live coverage of online poker players in the biggest live tournaments, will be on the scene in Aruba to cover this marquee poker tournament. 
This tournament has historically been dominated by the “young guns” of poker. In 2002, the first year of the Poker Classic, relative unknown Finnish poker dealer Juha Helppi emerged victorious. In 2003, newcomer Erick Lindgren defeated a final table that included Barry Shulman to take home $500,000. 2004 saw Eric Brenes overcome some of poker’s greatest players including Layne Flack, Mike Matusow, and John Juanda for a million dollars. Last year, poker pro Freddy Deeb outlasted a final table comprised of two online poker stars: Devin Porter (pictured at right) and Josh Schlein. This year’s tournament will be an independent event, no longer a World Poker Tour staple as it was for the past four years.PocketFivers in the 2006 UltimateBet Poker Classic include #5 ranked player ActionJeff; #20 ranked player P0ker H0, who is a member of Team UltimateBet; Devin “TranquilChaos” Porter, World Poker Tour final table veteran and the newest member of Team UltimateBet; KrazyKanuck (pictured at left), UltimateBet representative; and poker pro Annie Duke, frequent contributor to PocketFives.com. “We are very excited to be covering our online poker players in Aruba,” said PocketFives.com President Cal Spears. “Because of its sponsorship by ub.com, the Poker Classic has a large amount of online poker players, both amateurs and professionals, in attendance. It is a unique opportunity to bring together online poker players in a live setting. Anyone who is playing in this poker tournament should register at www.pocketfiveslive.com and we will cover you. Tell your friends and family back home that they can find out all about your progress at PocketFivesLive.com.”
The action starts Wednesday, September 27 at noon from the Radisson Aruba Resort and Casino. The final table will take place on Saturday, September 30 and will be aired on television at a later date. Please visit www.pocketfiveslive.com for more details.
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