Tony G Celebrity Shootout w/ Bounties Day 1 | 2008 PokerNews Cup Championships - Australia

We've reached the midway point of the 2008 PokerNews Cup Australia Championships, and that means it's time for the Tony G Celebrity Shootout Bounty Tournament. Tony Guoga and several local poker celebrities will be teaming up with senior members of the PokerNews team for this $550 no limit hold'em event, scheduled to begin at 7:10 p.m. local time this evening.

While the tournament has been deemed a 'Shootout' by its organizers, the structure plays a bit different than a typical shootout-style event. The tournament will be played just like any other multi-table freezeout until the field shrinks to 32 players. At that point, the staff will conduct a redraw of the final four tables, seeding the remaining players according to their chip stack size. The stacks will then be evenly distributed across four tables -- eight players at each -- and then the shootout portion kicks in. Each table will play down to two players, and the final two at each table will earn a spot at the final table. Chips carry over after each redraw, so players are forced to play with the chips they're able to accumulate throughout the tournament.

And last, but certainly not least, one player (or more) at each table will have a $500 bounty on his head to add to the madness. To follow the fun, check back at 7:10 p.m. local time for live updates, chip counts, photos and video interviews direct from the tournament floor. We'll see you then!