BC Poker Championship winners announced

RICHMOND , BC, Nov. 23 /CNW/ - In partnership with PlayNow.com, the River Rock Casino Resort is proud to announce that the winner of the BC Poker Championships Mr. Sophon Sek of Cloverdale took home the grand prize of $364,364 beating out over 680 players.

During the BC Poker Championships, local poker enthusiasts had a chance to face-off against a number of international poker players such as Maria Ho , Tiffany Michelle , Lacey Jones , Liz Lieu , Gavin Smith , Brad "Yukon" Booth and Greg 'FBT' Mueller and Liz Lieu .

The second place winner of the tournament Mr. Rob D'amato took home $233,359 while the third place winner Mr. Kyriakos Nicolaou received $147,236 .

Last year, the BC Poker Championships was won by Daniel Negreanu, who has won four World Series of Poker Bracelets and two World Poker Tour Championship titles.

"Every year the BC Poker Championships bring in amazing poker players from around the world and this year it was quite competitive. We were excited to host one of the biggest poker tournaments in Canada and look forward to next year's tournament," said Howard Blank , Vice President, Media, Entertainment and Responsible Gaming with the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation.

This year, the BC Poker Championships had a prize pool of $2.5 million with 1750 seats available and 11 days of tournament play.

A list of all the winners from each event is available on the 2009 BCPC website www.riverrock.com/bcpc.

For further information: For all media inquiries please contact: Howard Blank, Vice President Media, [phone]; Sonja Mandic, Manager, Media and Responsible Gaming, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, [phone], [email protected]