By
Dan
On Saturday, December 2nd, the finale of the Ongame Network Poker Classic will kick off. The site: The Casino de Barcelona in beautiful Barcelona, Spain. 45 of the greatest names in online poker will battle for their piece of the $1.3 million prize pool. PocketFivesLive.com, providing live coverage of online players in the biggest live tournaments, will travel to Barcelona to provide comprehensive coverage of the event.
The Ongame Network Poker Classic, a $5,000 buy-in event, started with over 270 players over a month ago. Over a dozen countries are represented in the final 45 that will play live in Barcelona and each participant is guaranteed to leave with at least $9,962. The winner takes home $283,038. In addition to game play, Ongame is introducing a system that will allow betting by observers of the tournament throughout the final tables.
Several PocketFivers will battle in Spain for the $280,000 first place purse. They include Imper1um (left), the current chip leader who finished 10th in the UltimateBet Aruba Poker Classic. He heads into play in Barcelona with 103,000 chips, the only player to eclipse the 100,000 chip threshold: “The field was very weak in the main event, just as it was in the qualifiers. A lot of people were limping in out of position and then calling huge raises, just praying to hit a flop.”
Don’t forget about Brett Ho, 12th in chips with 40,000 chips, and BrooDogg, the 33rd ranked player on PocketFives.com, who is 13th in chips with 38,000 chips. Brett Ho won the Paradise Masters III, while BrooDogg recently cashed for over $20,000 in the FullTilt $216. Finally, Chris “MarvinGarden” Birchby (right), who qualified under the name “PotCommitte1,” represents the PocketFives contingent in 26th place. MarvinGarden placed 4th in the $1,500 No Limit event at the 2006 World Series of Poker for $145,000. The low stack heading into live play is just over 5,000 chips with blinds starting at 200/400.
PocketFivesLive.com live reporter Court Harrington is looking forward to heading to Europe: "This will be my first trip to Europe. I am really looking forward to it. The opportunity to be around the best of the best in poker and to be able to travel to some of the most amazing places in the world at the same time is just incredible." On Saturday, the field will trim from 45 to nine players, with the final table occurring on Sunday.
On December 14th, PocketFivesLive.com will be live on location in Las Vegas for the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic. This $15,000 buy-in World Poker Tour event will wrap up on December 19th. Anyone PocketFiver who plans to play in this or any major live event should register for coverage by visiting PocketFivesLive.com.