Tony G Joins Team Party Poker

UPDATE: Tony G is now blogging for PartyPoker, too.

Oops, I can\’t believe I forgot Tony G in my Power 20 rankings … the man who directly controls the paycheck of so many of my cronies and the bankroll of at least a handful of international tournament players is now officially on board with the crew Mike Sexton built/is building. Further evidence that PartyPoker/WPT is making serious moves (to challenge PokerStars and Harrah\’s?) … and re-enforcing Sexton\’s original vision that anybody is welcome to play at Party. Also makes Party\’s upcoming Premier League Poker in Las Vegas a lot more interesting …

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Click below for the full press release. We\’ll see if we can\’t figure out any more details about what went into bringing The G on board.

Meanwhile, speaking of G\’s, Kesan, the Napoleonic thug on Season 2 of From G\’s to Gents, is going to prison for beating a baby.

[Link thanks California Jen!]

ON YER BIKE! TONY G JOINS ‘TEAM PARTY’ AND IS CONFIRMED FOR PREMIER LEAGUE IV
TONYGPOKER.COM ASSETS ARE ACQUIRED BY PARTYGAMING

Gibraltar – 21st January 2010 – In a significant move for the industry, http://www.partypoker.com/ is delighted to announce that the one and only Tony G is the latest player to be added to the roster of ‘Team Party.’ Tony will make his debut in Party colours at the Aussie Millions. At the same time, it has been announced that ‘The Mouth From Down Under’ will take part in the eagerly awaited PartyPoker.com Premier League IV in Las Vegas in February and that the assets of http://www.tonygpoker.com/ have been acquired by PartyGaming.

Antanas Guoga, more commonly known as Tony G, is a businessman and respected professional poker player known for his entertaining outlandish table talk and aggressive play. Undoubtedly one of the biggest characters and hottest box office in the game today, Tony won the WPT Bad Boys of Poker II in 2006 and famously finished runner-up in the 2006 PartyPoker Intercontinental Poker Championship in Las Vegas. Tony has cashed 15 times at the World Series of Poker and historically won the inaugural Asian Poker Tour event in Singapore in 2006, giving half of his prize money to charity. Known for his extraordinarily big heart and philanthropy, Tony also generously donated the $205,000 he won at a big tournament in Moscow in November 2007 to local orphanages. Tony has accumulated over $4,000,000 in live tournament winnings.

“I cannot wait to start playing for Team Party on the circuit,” said Tony. “I’ve always loved Party and what better way to kick off than at the Aussie Millions. I am also really excited about the Premier League in February – it is the best event in poker in my eyes. After finishing runner-up and third in the last two years the title has to be mine! I just hope my rivals have the heart and commitment to the game to stop me!” Tony joins a line-up that also includes Phil Hellmuth, JC Tran, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Luke ‘FullFlush’ Schwartz and Roland De Wolfe.

Tony, whose poker catchphrase is ‘On Yer Bike’ – his ‘farewell’ message to opponents he knocks out – will be joined at the Crown Casino in Melbourne for the Aussie Millions by fellow Team Party players Bodo Sbrzesny and Stewart Scott as well as 43 online qualifiers who won packages online at PartyPoker.com. “If one of the Party qualifiers knocks me out of the Main Event I will buy them a bike. First of all though I will ride it out myself – I know when it is bike time!”

Tony’s landmark personal player deal incorporates live tournament buy-ins to events around the world. He will also be playing online under the screen name ‘TonyG’ and has already sparked plenty of debate with his presence at the cash game tables. Tony G joins Team Party alongside Mike Sexton, Kara Scott, Ian Frazer, Bodo Sbrzesny, Remy Biechel, Stewart Scott and Felipe ‘Mojave’ Ramos.

The acquisition of the assets of TonyGPoker.com sees all TonyGPoker.com players migrate to http://www.noblepoker.com. TonyGPoker.com is a well known online poker room with an extensive selection of games, tournaments, freerolls and promotions. As part of the deal, Tony will continue to run the Sunday Bike Ride, a popular bounty promotion, at NoblePoker.com, which is owned by PartyGaming.

“It’s business as usual for TonyGPoker.com. The exciting acquisition of its assets by the PartyGaming will create a larger more flexible and productive playing environment,” said Tony.

A PartyGaming spokesman said: “We’re delighted to welcome Tony to Team Party. Tony is undoubtedly one of poker’s biggest characters in the game – a personal deal for him made huge sense. We are also happy to have acquired the assets of TonyGPoker.com and look forward to welcoming his players on board.”