"This was a brilliant start to the festival. We had players from a myriad of countries play in the event, which I think illustrates that Ladbrokes is still the spiritual home of European Poker and just how important an event the LEOCOP is," said Edward Ihre, Ladbrokes Poker managing director.

"We expect around the same number of runners if not more for the opening tournament in our LEOCOP $50 Re-Buy tonight, the extra juice of $10,000 added and a chance to play in the PMVII semi finals definitely makes it one of, if not the best value tournaments around."

The online poker festival kicked off at 7 p.m. on Sunday with the rebuy tournament. Ladbrokes pitched in an extra $10,000 for the prize pool, and by the time the rebuys were all counted, players were vying for a $139,750 prize pool.

It took nine hours to bring play down to the top three - all look at five-figure payouts for their efforts. They were Hefaistos, 26; Akolas, 21; and slim_boy, 30.

slim_boy was the first of the three to be sent packing when he ran into Akolas' pocket kings. Third place wasn't too bad a place to be, though, with its $14,673 payout.

Akolas may have doubled up when he sent slim-boy to the rail, but he wouldn't last quite an hour longer either. His two pair was beaten when Hefaistos had the same hand with a higher kicker.

For second, Akolas took home $22,360, while Hefaistos picked up $34,937 for the win. Hefaistos also earns an invitation to the Ladbrokes Poker online Masters Event on Nov. 22 that will bring players from all the events together to compete for a seat in the semifinals of the Poker Million VII.

Taking a spot in the winner's circle isn't new to Hefaistos either. He's a regular player on Ladbrokes Poker and has twice won the Who's the Daddy $21k tournament that takes place on Tuesdays.

Tonight players can return to the LEOCOP for the $50 No-Limit Hold'em Rebuy event. Other events on tap for the 16-day series include a ladies event, lots of No-Limit Hold'em and some Omaha events.

The main event will take place Nov. 9 and has a $1,000 buy-in. Ladbrokes Poker will be sweetening the pots for all the events, but the main event will have the biggest boost of all, with $250,000 added in.

For your chance to pick up some of that extra cash, or just to see what else the poker site offers, visit Ladbrokes Poker.

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