Punters Gamble on Helen Chamberlain Winning Poker Million – August 19th, 2005
Ladbrokes is facing a payout of over £100,000 if Soccer AM’s Helen Chamberlain continues a sensational run of luck at the poker table by winning Friday’s Ladbrokes Poker Poker Million event which is screened live tonight on Sky Sports at 8pm.
Odds on the ladette TV presenter have been slashed from 6/1 to 9/2 with soccer fans up and down the country betting on the Torquay United fan to triumph against some of the world’s best poker players. If Helen does win the event she’ll pocket the richest payout in European televised poker – a cool $1 million.
The gamble follows Helen’s shock win on Wednesday in a ‘Superstar Showdown’ against seven of the best players in world poker including the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion, Joseph Hachem; Andrew Black, the highest placed European at the 2005 WSOP, and Europe’s greatest online poker player, Erik ‘The Salmon’ Sagstrom.
The online event, on ladbrokespoker.com was billed as a training session for Helen ahead of Friday’s final, but she ended up winning $80,000 against poker professionals who in the last year have won over $10 million in poker winnings. Hundreds of online poker fans followed the action online and backed Helen on the strength of her performance.
Ladbrokes Poker spokesman Warren Lush commented: “This is the biggest betting gamble on poker ever. Helen’s army of Soccer AM followers are backing her with hard cash to become a dollar millionairess by the early hours of Saturday morning.”
The Ladbrokes Poker Million 2005 is the richest televised poker tournament in Europe, with $1,935,000 of prize money. $855,000 has been added by the sponsors, Ladbrokes Poker – the most money added by a sponsor in the history of poker.
Helen Chamberlain goes into Friday’s tournament with 289,000 chips, second only to chip leader Martin Wendt with 335,000. Guaranteed at least $20,000 to add to the $80,000 she won on Thursday, she’ll be aiming for the first prize of $1 million – Europe’s riches prize for televised poker.
