The Concept

In 2007 we decided that there were lots of great poker tournaments around but they were all bloody expensive to enter and if you were lucky enough to get to play in them it was all a bit too serious so we decided to run a Virgin Poker Festival - a big tourney for the smaller players!!

We wanted an affordable buy-in (approx £100), a deep structure (10,000 chips), a reasonable clock (40 mins) and extra value (£5000 added) so that everyday players could experience real live tournament poker as it's meant to be.

However, we are Virgin and have a reputation to live up to so there had to be fun involved too. Wii Bowling, player bounties, bar games, drinks promotions and fun side events were decided upon and we had just created the Virgin Poker Festival.

The first event was run in Birmingham in November 2007 and everyone enjoyed it so much that we now try to run 3 to 4 a year all over the country (and beyond…). It's a chance for us to meet all of you guys and an opportunity for all ours players to meet up in the flesh (i.e. rather than in cyber space - where everyone, well nearly everyone, wears clothes!) and share a beer or two.