Texas Holdem Poker Tournament Expected to Boast $7 Million Prize Pool.

PartyPoker.com Million IV

More Than 100 Have Already Qualified for $12,600- Buy-In Package Aboard Holland America%u2019s ms Oosterdam. The Largest Cruise Ship Ever Chartered Solely For Poker Will Tour The Mexican Riviera

One whale of a tournament is waiting for the 700 fortunate souls who will make the field in the 2005 Partypoker.com Million, setting sail from San Diego harbor on Saturday, March 19, 2005. The prize pool for the world%u2019s largest limit Texas Hold %u2018Em poker tournament is likely to reach $7 million. The tournament will be filmed for airing on The Travel Channel%u2019s World Poker Tour.

Partypoker.com Million IV will shatter the record set in the PartyPoker.com Million III earlier this year--a tournament that had a $3.82 million prize pool and 546 players.

PartyPoker.com Million IV will again pay the winner a million dollar prize, but with such a hefty prize pool, many others deep into the field can expect to see a handsome return.

Cruising to a victory is only half the fun. All the participants will enjoy the luxurious amenities of Holland America%u2019s ms Oosterdam and the charms of the two ports of call%u2014Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta.

The ms Oosterdam is one of the premium cruise ships in Holland America%u2019s elegant fleet. Guests experience a dazzling array of restaurants, nightclubs and entertainment options. The ship features a spa and salon, a fully-equipped fitness center, Internet connectivity and spacious staterooms. Cond%u05D9 Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure give it five stars.

More than 100 players have already earned a spot in the The PartyPoker.com Million IV by going to PartyPoker.com and competing in preliminary tournaments. Winners who qualify in those preliminary satellite tournaments receive a $12,600 package%u2014which includes the $10,200 buy-in to the finals, a cruise for two and spending cash. PartyPoker.com hosts over 100,000 online poker players daily, offering them a safe, secure and friendly environment to play poker.

Players will begin the tournament on the first day with $10,000 in chips and play till they lose or until they make the Final Table on the fifth day. That final table of six players will be filmed for airing on the hugely popular World Poker Tour television series. Players closing in on the PartyPoker.com Million IV championship will be sweating out bets and bluffs that risk hundreds of thousands per hand.

The PartyPoker.com Million IV is the fourth installment of the fabulously successful tournament. In March, Erick Lindgren vanquished the field and used his $1 million victory in the PartyPoker.com Million to springboard into position as the World Poker Tour%u2019s Player-of-the-Year and leading money winner for 2004. A construction worker from Olympia, WA, Chris Hinchcliffe, took third place for more than $400,000 in what he termed a %u201Clife changing%u201D experience. Both players entered the tournament by winning PartyPoker.com satellite tournaments.

Howard Lederer, of Las Vegas, a World Champion and two-time winner of 2003 World Poker Tour tournaments, captured Partypoker.com Million II and the year before, Kathy Liebert of South Gate, CA, became the first woman ever to win $1 million in a single poker tournament by conquering the inaugural event.

Launched in August 2001, PartyPoker.com is the world%u2019s largest multi-player poker room offering players a safe, secure and friendly environment to play poker. With more than one million satisfied users, PartyPoker.com is the market leader in the popular and fast growing online poker games market. PartyPoker.com is fully licensed and regulated by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, Quebec, Canada. The site typically hosts more than 45,000 simultaneous players playing an assortment of live classic poker games including Texas Hold%u2019em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Low, and Seven Card Stud and single and multi table tournaments.