Play The Gamer

Play the Gamer (PTG) the UK’s first national live console gaming league, will be officially launched on the 2nd and 3rd September in the stunning surroundings of The Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square ( www.thecasinolsq.com). Run over 2 days in parallel with the Poker in the Park international poker tournament, there will be a 2 day free to enter micro-tournament for members of the public, with some fantastic prizes on offer.

Poker in the Park ( www.pokerinthepark.com) Europe’s largest poker festival will attract 20,000 poker players and fans eager to compete in the pavilions erected for the tournament in the centre of Leicester Square. Evander Holyfield will also be attending for the Heads Up tournament and this might be a perfect opportunity to meet the former world heavyweight champion in person.

Play the Gamer ( www.playthegamer.com) provides a national league for thousands of gamers across the UK to play weekly in hundreds of local venues. Designed very much as a grass-roots gaming league, PTG, for the first time, renders competitive video gaming accessible to the man/woman on the street, in addition to providing an entertaining experience in a local community venue.

The PTG tournament area will be open from 10am until 4:30pm on each day, with gamers being able to walk in, register and then play for their chance of winning one of the superb prizes on offer. Members of the press wishing to attend are asked to do so between 2:30 and 3:30 on each day, at which time we will also be hosting exhibition matches from some of the world’s top gamers. The world champions of FIFA, Need for Speed and Call of Duty will all be attending, and may even be available to play selected members of the public.

All attendees should be aware that the casino is an over 18 venue and operates a strict challenge 21 policy (anybody suspected of being under 21 will be asked to confirm their age) so be sure that you bring ID with you if attending. Kick Energy will be providing free drinks in the tournament area, and there are likely to be freebies on offer too with the Kick girls being on hand to make sure that the event really goes with a bang.

Tournament gameplay will be organised by Multiplay ( www.multiplay.co.uk) hard on the heels of the i40 event to be held at Newbury Racecourse this bank holiday, now the largest live gaming event in the UK.

The prizes on offer will include copies of Call of Duty (for PS3) and FIFA 11 (which will be sent to winners just before the public launch of the game). Steel Series, the world’s leading gaming peripherals manufacturer will also be providing a number of prizes including three headsets (one for each overall game winner). There will also be two brand new Xbox 360s, a year’s free supply of Kick Energy and, a drive with Craig Breen who, on 21st August, recorded his first BRC win with his International Rally Northern Ireland victory ( http://craigbreen.com/).