PartyPoker names Duthie as CEO for live event tour

PartyPoker has appointed John Duthie, founder of the European Poker Tour, as chief executive of its new ‘Party Poker Live’ global live event series.

Announced last month, the inaugural tour will be headlined by the ‘PartyPoker Million’, with each of these events to feature multi-million dollar prize pools.

Duthie will oversee the debut series, having founded the European Poker Tour in 2004 and serving as chief executive of the series for some time.

“I have been impressed with the progress of PartyPoker and, in particular, the number of trusted, experienced and well-respected individuals and organisations that have chosen to put their support behind the PartyPoker brand,” Duthie said.

“I believe there is a gap in the market for an operator whose primary focus is poker and who will listen to and work with the poker community, as this was something that was absolutely key to the growth and success of the European Poker Tour.”

Tom Waters, managing director of PartyPoker, added, “We are thrilled that John has joined us at the beginning of this journey; very few people in the world have made such a significant contribution to poker and his experience, relationships and understanding of players will be a huge asset to us.

“Our guarantees are ambitious, but our marketing strategy is to provide value to players instead of investing money outside of the poker community and we are confident that with John's guidance we can optimize this strategy for the benefit of the live poker market.”

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