Fastest Growing Online Poker Destination sees its first lucky Shoot out winner square off against resident pro Mark Seif to win a WSOP seat!

Online poker players interested in trying their hand at beating a pro and winning a $10,000 seat at the Richest Sporting Event in the World – the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP) ( www.worldseriesofpoker.com ) – take notice; this Friday Mark puts the first seat on the line!

Every Saturday at 2 p.m. EDT leading up to the WSOP main event in Las Vegas which starts July 7, AbsolutePoker.com"s resident pro Mark Seif takes on the AbsolutePoker.com weekly Tournament Leader Board winner. The FreeRoll prize pool starts at $1,000, and Absolute Poker adds $1,000, a custom Absolute Poker jacket, and an opportunity to win a WSOP Seat every week. Any player that beats Mark in the "Mark Seif Heads-Up Shoot Out" will win that week"s prize pool and will automatically qualify to play him again the following Friday at 9 pm Eastern for a chance to win a $10,000 World Series of Poker Seat.

This past weekend Mark Seif was engaged in a hard fought match, but lady luck went astray on Mark and the first AbsolutePoker.com WSOP Shoot Out contestant was the last man standing. As a result, this Friday, April 22nd, Violentfish - as his screen name appears - will focus on repeating this hard fought victory and attempt to land himself a lucrative seat in this year"s WSOP. "It"s every poker player"s dream to compete there (2005 WSOP)" said the ex-sales executive who quit his day job just over a year ago to play poker full time. Shortly after he realized that he had to face Mark again this upcoming Friday he commented "Mark is strong; I hope I have what it takes to repeat." Violentfish also came in 3rd last week in the 25K point challenge and won over $1000.

AbsolutePoker.com, which provides games 24/7 for thousands of concurrent players around the world, is also active qualifying players for the WSOP main event in Las Vegas through daily online poker satellite tournaments in which players enter for as little as $5. Players that win their WSOP seat not only receive buy-in to the WSOP main event, but money towards airfare and accommodations. To participate, players simply need to download the free poker software at www.absolutepoker.com .

"This is a great way for players to test their skills and try their hand at getting to the World Series of Poker for free," said Seif. "The Tournament Leader Board winner gets a shot at winning at least $1,000 and a seat at the Big One in Vegas all without additional entry money or ever having to leave their computer. Our players have come out in droves to compete in the Tournament Leader Board contest and now AbsolutePoker.com is adding a $10,000 WSOP Seat. All they have to do is beat me heads up."

The 36th annual World Series of Poker begins June 2 at the Rio Casino in Las Vegas. The Rio will host all but the final two days, which will be played July 14th and 15th at the Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas, the original home of the tournament. With more than 6,000 expected entries, the WSOP"s $10,000 buy-in main event is expected to generate a prize pool of US$60 Million, making it the richest sporting event in the world.

There are an estimated 2 million active poker enthusiasts around the world and the numbers continue to increase, leading analysts to predict that online gaming will soon become the largest industry on the Internet, outpacing both retail and travel in revenue. AbsolutePoker.com, which is five times larger than the largest land-based poker room in the world, is the fastest-growing online poker site out of an estimated 260 virtual poker sites, regularly attracting more than 10,000 players.

About AbsolutePoker.com
AbsolutePoker.com is the world's fastest growing online poker destination offering worldwide access to multi-player online games 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Driven by proprietary software, AbsolutePoker.com offers the most comprehensive, interactive online poker room providing such features as the ability to upload your own image (photos, logos, etc.), player note taking and chat, locate a player, hand history and stat retrieval, and three-table play. Multi-player games offered include Texas Holdem, Omaha High, Omaha Hi/Lo, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, One on One, and Tournaments. AbsolutePoker.com ensures the security and integrity of its games through advanced proprietary technology. Established in 2003, AbsolutePoker.com is licensed and regulated in Canada.

Complete listing of the 2005 WSOP events
2005 World Series of Poker Schedule of Events

Date Tournament Buy-In
June 2, Thursday Casino Employee No-limit Hold'em $500
June 3, Friday No-limit Hold'em $1,500
June 4, Saturday Pot-limit Hold'em $1,500
June 5, Sunday Limit Hold'em $1,500
June 6, Monday Omaha Hi-low Split $1,500
June 7, Tuesday Short Handed (6/table)No-limit Hold'em $2,500
June 8, Wednesday No-limit Hold'em w/rebuys $1,000
June 9, Thursday Seven Card Stud $1,500
June 10, Friday No-limit Hold'em $2,000
June 11, Saturday Limit Hold'em $2,000
June 12, Sunday Pot-limit Hold'em $2,000
June 13, Monday Pot-limit Omaha w/re-buys $2,000
June 14, Tuesday No-limit Hold'em $5,000
June 15, Wednesday Seven Card Stud Hi-low Split $1,000
June 16, Thursday Limit Hold'em Shootout $1,500
June 17, Friday No-limit Hold'em Shootout $1,500
June 18, Saturday Limit Hold'em $2,500
June 19, Sunday Seven Card Stud Hi-low Split $2,000
June 19, Sunday Pot Limit Omaha $1,500
June 20, Monday Pot-limit Hold'em $5,000
June 21, Tuesday Omaha Hi-low Split $2,500
June 22, Wednesday No-limit Hold'em $1,500
June 23, Thursday Seven Card Stud $5,000
June 24, Friday No-Limit Hold'em $2,500
June 25, Saturday Pot-limit Hold'em $2,500
June 26, Sunday Ladies No-limit Hold'em $1,000
June 26, Sunday Pot-limit Omaha w/re-buys $5,000
June 27, Monday Limit Hold'em $5,000
June 28, Tuesday No-limit Hold'em $2,000
June 29, Wednesday Seven Card Razz $1,500
June 29, Wednesday Short handed (6/table) No-limit Hold'em $5,000
June 30, Thursday Omaha hi-low split $5,000
July 1, Friday No-limit Hold'em $3,000
July 2, Saturday Seniors No-Limit Hold'em $1,000
July 2, Saturday Pot-limit Omaha $10,000
July 3, Sunday Limit Hold'em $3,000
July 4, Monday No-limit Hold'em w/re-buys $1,000
July 5, Tuesday Super satellite day (10a.m./3p.m./8p.m.) $1,000
July 5, Tuesday No-limit 2 to 7 Draw Lowball w/re-buys $5,000
July 6, Wednesday Super satellite day (9a.m./2p.m./9p.m.)
July 6, Wednesday Media/Celebrity Event

No Limit Texas Hold'em World Championship: Date Tournament Buy-In

July 7, Thursday Day 1A, First 1,000 - 2,200 play to 500-650 $10,000
July 8, Friday Day 1B, Second 1,000 - 2,200 play to 500-650
July 9, Saturday Day 1C, Third 1,000 - 2,200 play to 500-650
July 10, Sunday Day 2, Play down to 500-1,000
July 11, Monday Day 3, Play down to 200-400
July 11, Monday No-limit Hold'em 1-day event $1,500
July 12, Tuesday Day 4, Play down to 100-150
July 12, Tuesday No-limit Hold'em 1-day event $1,000
July 13, Wednesday Day 5, Play down to 27
July 13, Wednesday No-limit Hold'em 1-day event $1,000
July 14, Thursday Day 6, Play down to 9 (Binion's Horseshoe)
July 15, Friday Day 7, Final table (Binion's Horseshoe)