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Party Poker Revamps Website, Launches New Advertisement Campaign

                Members of popular online poker network, Party Poker, will have noticed some fairly significant changes have been made to the site. The company has just completed a substantial overhaul that alters the look and functionality of the internet gaming software and website.
                Party Poker's newly updated site and software not only have a fantastic new look — they also include a variety of new features. Most significant of these is the addition of a new software client that allows Mac users to download a version of Party Poker designed for their operating system. This move means that the online poker network is now available for Windows and Mac computers as well as Android and Apple smartphones or tablets. Of the new functions added to the software, Party Poker has introduced a bevy of social features, redesigned poker rooms, and a "One Click Lobby" that makes getting into a game faster and easier than before. Party Poker has also created special "achievements" and "missions" that give players specific overarching goals to play toward. In order to promote its revamped website and software, Party Poker has also launched an advertising campaign that includes a brand new television commercial.
                Party Poker called the revamped software and website a release that "[mixes] the best of the old with the new." The company has also said that the redesign helps create "a player friendly environment" that members are sure to appreciate. The new version of Party Poker is available for download now.

PKR Introduces New Hand Replayer Video Editing Feature

                PKR.com is well known for having some of the most technologically advanced online poker software in the industry. The renowned gaming site has now taken its reputation one step further with the introduction of Hand Replayer, a new tool that helps players show off their best games through YouTube.
                PKR's Hand Replayer is, in essence, a simple video editor that gives site members the ability to capture, edit, and share footage. The new feature capitalizes on the detailed player avatars, tables, and room environments modelled in PKR's 3D poker software. Site members can use Hand Replayer to take footage from their games, edit using a variety of camera angles (either pre-set or full control options), then upload the finished product to YouTube as a shareable video. PKR hopes to see highlight reels and favourite gaming moments spread across social media platforms and its own site forums using the new feature.
                Leon Walters, PKR.com's Chief Operating Officer and Head of Product Development, said that the introduction of the Hand Replayer "was always the natural step for us given our products' advanced video game graphics." Considering the wide reach that a shared video, shot and uploaded via PKR, can have, the Hand Replayer seems to be a smart marketing move that will benefit both players and PKR.com alike. PKR's Hand Replayer currently allows users to edit video from the site's sit and go, ring, and multi-table tournament games.

Full Tilt Poker Opens UK and Ireland Poker Tour Satellites for London Main Event

                The 2013 edition of the UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) recently finished its first leg in Galway, but the tournament series isn't over yet. With the tour's London stop coming up in the near future, Full Tilt Poker is looking to help its best players earn a chance to compete in England.
                Online satellites have just been launched at Full Tilt Poker that give site members an opportunity to win their way into the UKIPT's London main event. Players who are unable to bankroll the main event's £1,100 buy-in will be happy to know that Full Tilt's satellites start at just $0.11 and are accompanied by qualifiers that begin at only $5.50. These stakes are a small price to pay for competitors who want a shot at winning a share of the UKIPT London main event's £500,000 guaranteed prize pool. For those who aren't able to win a main event seat, Full Tilt Poker is also offering a handful of extra rewards, like further UKIPT prize packages and more.
                Sarne Lightman, Full Tilt Poker's Head of Marketing, told press that his company is "delighted to give our players the opportunity to go to the UKIPT London main event" and is sure that their talented site members are sure "to make the most of it." The UK and Ireland Poker Tour London stop's main event will take place at Camden's Grand Connaught Rooms from Wednesday, 2nd to Sunday, 6th October, 2013

Paddy Power Poker Releases Full Schedule for the 2013 Irish Winter Festival

                It won't be long before Paddy Power Poker's Irish Winter Festival (IWF) returns. Fortunately, the online poker network has just released a final version of the schedule for the rapidly approaching event that provides plenty of information on what players and spectators can expect.
                The 2013 IWF sports a line up of seven events and is filled with the level of variety that has come to define the series. Aside from a lucrative main event, a special two-day mini event (with a €225 buy-in) and even a few rounds of beer pong, probably the most exciting — and strange — feature of this year's IWF is a brand new, €55 buy-in tournament called Crazy Pineapple. Crazy Pineapple is a poker variant that increases the excitement of what is otherwise a fairly typical event by giving every competitor three hole cards to play. After the flop one of these cards must be discarded. These extra factors introduce a new level of strategy to the game and should lead to some real surprises as its public premier plays out in a tournament setting.
                A statement from Paddy Power Poker called the IWF the "one event [the company] looks forward to every year" due to the fact that "there is always something a bit whacky to get involved in." The 2013 Irish Winter Festival will take place at Dublin, Ireland's Burlington Hotel from Friday, 25th October to Monday, 28th October, 2013. The series will conclude with a €1,125 buy-in no limit hold'em main event.

Full Tilt Poker Finally Set to Refund Members

                Good news has finally arrived for the many Full Tilt Poker members affected by the company's previous legal troubles. The Garden City Group, a settlement firm handling the online poker network's asset obligations, has told press that it believes player funds frozen since the Black Friday indictments will soon be paid out.
                Garden City Group has been working for the United States government since earlier this year, helping to keep players abreast of the latest developments in the Full Tilt Poker claims case. The group now states that, beginning on 16th September of this year, anyone who is waiting to receive their Full Tilt account refunds will be able to submit remission claims. Garden City will send emails to anyone believed to be anticipating the return of their funds (using information provided by Full Tilt Poker) with instructions that detail how to file for their refund. Petitions for fund remissions will remain open until 15th November, 2013 and, if all goes well, will ultimately see players being paid the full balance that was recorded in their Full Tilt accounts as of April 15, 2011.
                FullTiltPokerClaims.com, a site set up by Garden City Group, has been an enormous help for anxious Full Tilt Poker members who are still awaiting the return of money stored in their accounts during the Black Friday freeze. If the remission process goes as planned it should be able to put to rest one of the messiest and most frustrating chapters in the history of the online poker industry.

Paddy Power Poker Becomes UK News Betting Sponsor, Expands Into America

                Online gaming network, Paddy Power Poker, has just announced a number of business decisions that will see the company moving in exciting new directions. These include new advertising deals and an effort to gain operating licenses in American markets.
                First of the new moves is a partnership between Paddy Power Poker and one of the United Kingdom's top news providers. The online gaming network has signed on as a sponsor for News UK's Premier League content and will soon be able to place betting advertisements within mobile news apps for the Sunday Times, The Sun and The Times. For a total of three seasons, Paddy Power will enjoy the ability to spread awareness of its brand through one of the nation's most highly visited football news sources. Tom Wyse, Paddy Power Poker's Head of Media, attributed the partnership to the fact that "football plays a huge part in both [News UK and Paddy Power's] businesses."
                Paddy Power Poker has also begun the process of expanding its business in the United States. The company recently told press that it has made the preliminary move of applying for a New Jersey gaming license. Speaking of the decision to broaden its American market share, Paddy Power's Communications Director said that the gambling site is currently positioning itself in order to "make sure that we're in place and ready" if further opportunities to increase its presence in the United States arise.

PokerStars Finalizes 2013 World Championship of Online Poker Schedule

                With the 2013 edition of PokerStars' World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) fast approaching, the popular online poker network has just released a full schedule for the event. The site previously offered a tentative version of the line-up and solicited members for suggestions for improvements that have now been implemented.
                Now that the final version is complete anyone excited for the tournament series can begin planning to watch or take part in its most exciting events. The 2013 WCOOP features a staggering $40 million guarantee and will kick off on 8th September. Players can buy into the tournaments directly, but may also choose to take advantage of qualifiers. PokerStars has also packed the series with special incentives like Player of the Series and Woman of the Series, two promotions that will provide those with high positions on the tournament leaderboards with lavish Spring Championship of Online Poker, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and Turbo Championship of Online Poker prize packages. The WCOOP's most anticipated tournament, the no limit hold 'em main event set to take place over two days, sports a $5,200 buy-in and will feature an $8 million prize pool (with $1.25 million reserved for the winner).
                PokerStars  described the WCOOP "which began in 2002" as "the longest-running online poker series [and] also the richest with well over $300 million in prize money awarded to date." The World Championship of Online Poker 2013 will run from Sunday, 8th September to the 29th of the same month.

New Zone Poker Format Launched at Bodog Poker

                Online poker players looking for a fresh take on their game of choice will be pleased to hear that Bodog Poker has just launched a brand new format with Zone Poker, a style of play that is designed to appeal to those who want to pack as much action as possible into their time at the tables.
                Bodog's Zone Poker is meant to give players the ability to compete quickly and is built to accommodate fast movement from table to table. This is accomplished through a pool of special Zone tables. Once the player has entered into these games they can use Fold Now and Check/Fold Now buttons to make the process of swapping one table for another extremely easy. Zone Poker software enhances the speed of switching to a new game by instantly transitioning from the player's fold on one table to their placement at another. The length of time set between each hand is also much shorter than at Bodog Poker's standard tables. Zone Poker currently supports no limit and pot limit Omaha (with either $0.02/$0.05 or $0.05/$0.10 stakes), but is set to expand to include other stake levels and play styles over time.
                Bodog Poker called Zone Poker a game that lets players "take [their] thrill ride to another level" by giving them "the chance to see more cards and play more hands in a shorter period of time." Zone Poker is now available for European and American players.

Jonathan Bredin Wins 2013 PokerStars Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Queenstown Main Event

                The Queenstown leg of the 2013 PokerStars Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) has recently come to a stunning conclusion. The tournament's main event was exciting for its high-stakes action, but what is most likely to be remembered is the player who triumphed over the table: a young Australian suffering from cerebral palsy named Jonathan Bredin.
                The ANZPT Queenstown main event marked the first time that Bredin had participated in a major tournament and, given the outcome, it's very unlikely that it will be his last. The Melbourne native came to the main event without much experience at high-profile games and, because of his palsy, also required an iPad and companion in order to properly relay his decisions throughout the landmark game. Despite these limitations, Bredin ended up beating out a pool of 126 players to become the winner of the Queenstown main event. Bredin entered the last day of the games with a chip lead and used this advantage to fight his way to a heads-up showdown against Daniel Laidlaw.
                If his strong poker debut wasn't exciting enough already, Bredin cemented his legend by beating out Laidlaw with a final hand that included a king of clubs and king of spades. While these cards might not have seemed special on their own, Bredin's carer later told the crowd that champion had a picture of those same two cards tattooed on one of his arms. Jonathan Bredin is sure to be talked about for some time to come, his incredible skill and the incredible coincidence of his first major winning hand matching his tattoo marking an highly memorable start to a promising poker career.

2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Mega Path Satellites Launched at PokerStars

                Now that the 2014 edition of PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) has been announced, many players are likely looking for a way to win their way into the series. Fortunately, PokerStars is providing just that with the launch of its Mega Path satellite promotion.
                Entering the 2014 PCA directly is expensive, but the Mega Path satellites now available through PokerStars offer an alternative approach that's far gentler on the bankroll. The new satellites are scheduled to run several times every day and can be bought into for four or more Frequent Player Points. Competitors who are able to make their way to the eighth round of the satellites will have a shot at entering one of six Mega Path Finals and winning a fantastic prize package valued at $15,460. This award will provide players with entry to the PCA Main Event, accommodations and extra cash to cover trip expenses. The eight rounds of the Mega Path and the six Mega Path Finals can also be bought into directly.
                David Carrion, PokerStars' Director of Live Operations for PCA and Latin American, promoted the satellite series by detailing how "last year more than 400 players won their seats to the PCA event online." He elaborated on the 2013 satellite winners, telling press that 53 of these satellite players cashed at the PCA, "taking home more than $3.5 million between them." The 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure will take place at the Bahamas' Atlantis Resort from 5th to 13th January, 2014.

Full Tilt Poker Selects Professional Representatives for UK and Ireland Poker Tour 2013

                Full Tilt Poker has prepared for this August's UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) by carefully choosing a squad of professional players to act as its ambassadors at the games. The team of representatives is drawn from some of the online poker network's very best pros and will be hoping to make an impressive showing at the tables.
                The four ambassadors coming to this year's UKIPT include Martins Adeniya, Ben Jenkins, Sinem Melin and Dermot Blain. This group of pros will kick off their participation by joining the UKIPT for its Galway Festival leg, battling it out in the €1,100 buy-in no limit hold'em main event and a number of other tournaments taking place during the Irish series. The Galway Festival will serve as a homecoming of sorts for Dermot Blain, an Irish poker player who rocketed into the professional ranks after winning the 2009 Asian Poker Tour's Macau main event and taking fifth place at the 2011 World Series of Poker Europe's main event. Blain's fellow Full Tilt ambassadors — Adeniya, Jenkins and Melin — hail from the United Kingdom and are similarly accomplished.
                The four sponsored professionals playing at this year's UKIPT mark the third time that Full Tilt Poker has created small groups of players specifically to advertise the company at live international events. A statement from PokerStars' Pro, Celebrity and VIP Marketing Senior Manager, Dustin Iannotti, said that the four "tour ambassadors will help redefine what it means to represent a poker site."

PokerStars Wraps Up iPad Giveaway Promotion

                Fans of online poker who had been looking for a chance at winning some fancy tech were recently given a shot at taking home a 16GB iPad from PokerStars. The popular online poker network has just concluded a short promotion that saw one lucky site member take home a complementary tablet.
                Pokerstars' iPad giveaway promo saw players entering the competition by showing off just how well they could relax while enjoying a spot of online poker. PokerStars members were encouraged to take a snapshot of themselves playing the site's mobile app with their feet up. The picture then had to be uploaded to an Instagram account and marked with the special #PSFeetUp hashtag. The community voted on what they considered the best photo and the ten best shots were then submitted to judges for final consideration. Once Sunday, 28th July rolled around PokerStars awarded the coveted iPad 4 to a player who submitted his photo under the handle, "Bobbytabarsi." According to PokerStars, Bobbytabarsi "took [the competition] down with a torrent of votes" that granted him the attention of the judge's panel. The winner edged out two other popular users, "Fredyekivia" and "Madavaster," who just barely missed taking first prize — and the free iPad 4.
                Those who are interested in checking out some of the iPad giveaway promo pictures can head over to the PokerStars blog to see the winning entry alongside a selection of photos submitted by the runner ups.

Real Money PokerStars App Removed from Australian App Store

                The recent release of PokerStar's real money mobile application has given most iPhone and iPad owners a great way to play online poker while on the go. Not so for Australians who are unable to access the app now that it has been pulled from Apple's App Store.
                News of the app's removal was reported by the Herald Sun, a paper that attributed Apple's decision to the Australian government's ongoing efforts to further regulate online gambling. The Australian government section responsible for regulating online gambling — the Federal Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy Department — called for the removal of the PokerStars mobile app after determining that its use was illegal in light of the nation's Interactive Gambling Act of 2001. While Apple had contacted the app's developer, asking PokerStars' software creators to rewrite the program in accordance with Australian law, the company eventually decided to simply remove it from their App Store. Apple has responded to complaints and questions regarding the app removal by advising Australian customers to get in touch with local authorities.   
                The legal concern that is currently keeping the app from circulating is especially frustrating to Australian players since the PokerStars software has been continuously offered through the App Store from May 2012 until just now. This annoyance is only worsened by the fact that PokerStars can still be accessed through web browsers and Android-based smartphones.

PokerStars Reveals Preliminary Schedule for Latest World Championship of Online Poker

                PokerStars' World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is fast approaching, the event capping off the busy summer poker season by taking place at the beginning of September. Now PokerStars has released a preliminary version of the upcoming WCOOP's schedule in order to give fans a look at the kind of games they can expect to watch or play in the near future.
                The latest edition of WCOOP will include a massive 65 events in total that range across a wide variety of gameplay formats. PokerStars has begun discussing the prize pool guarantee, for now saying only that it hopes to exceed the $55 million that was awarded during the 2012 WCOOP. What the site has locked down is the presence of features like two-day tournaments, a $1.5 million main event and buy-ins that range from as low as $215 to as high as $25,500. The poker site is also soliciting feedback on the current, preliminary schedule throughout the coming weeks. PokerStars has asked members to send their thoughts on the current schedule before the final version is unveiled. All feedback will be considered and implemented in an effort to make the 2013 WCOOP the best it can be.
                A statement from PokerStars confirmed that WCOOP "satellites should be live from August 8th" with "the confirmed schedule" being set for release "before then." PokerStars' World Championship of Online Poker will kick off on Sunday, 8th September, 2013.

Full Tilt Poker Details Full Tilt Online Series XXIII

                Full Tilt Poker has always enjoyed success with its Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), a selection of tournaments typically paired with enormous prize pools. This doesn't look to change anytime soon now that the latest edition of FTOPS has been announced, the event consisting of nearly 40 tourneys and fantastic cash rewards.
                Full Tilt Online Poker Series XXIII features a guaranteed $8 million prize pool that is set to be spread across a total of 39 events. These include huge tournaments like 18th August's $1.5 million guaranteed no limit hold 'em main event (which sports a $635 buy-in) and Steps Tournaments that provide a less expensive shot at winning entry to larger, more lucrative games. To complement the main FTOPS XXIII events, Full Tilt will also be offering the special Bouncebackability Freeroll promotion on 24th August. Since Full Tilt Poker understands that "finishing on the bubble can hurt" they're giving players "the chance to bounce back" by providing a freeroll that will reward entry to "the last player eliminated before the money in any FTOPS XXIII event." The winner of the Bouncebackability Freeroll will receive buy-in to the forthcoming FTOPS XXIV's main event.
                In order to make it easier for all types of players to get into FTOPS XXIII, Full Tilt will also be offering a smaller-stakes version of the tournament series dubbed "Mini FTOPS." Full Tilt Online Poker Series XXIII's main games will run from 4th to 18th August, 2013 while the Mini FTOPS is scheduled for 8th to 22nd September, 2013.

PokerStars Enhances Player Security with SMS Validation

                Account security is a significant concern for serious online poker players. PokerStars recognizes how important it is to protect their members' privacy (and bankrolls) and has just launched a new security measure meant to provide complete peace of mind.
                PokerStars has revealed its implementation of a text/short message service (SMS) system that allows players to receive notifications warning them of irregular account usage. The SMS feature is meant to serve as a countermeasure against hackers attempting to access a player's private information or bankroll. After registering their mobile number with the site and turning on the feature PokerStars is able to send out a text if the network detects suspicious activity. When this happens real money actions (like cashing out, transferring or depositing funds, signing up for tournaments or joining cash games) are temporarily blocked. The SMS sent to the user's phone includes a security code that can be input in order to regain full access to their account. Passwords can be changed via text messaging as well, an additional security feature that makes it easier for players to have full control over their accounts at all times.
                A press release from PokerStars called the SMS validation feature "an additional security mechanism to help PokerStars player accounts remain safe and secure against online threats." The new feature is built into PokerStars' most recent software update and can be opted into for free by players in select regions.

Party Poker Offers Daily Satellites and Great Prizes with The Road to Old Trafford

                Party Poker is bringing football and poker together in a fantastic new promotion that aims to give talented players a chance to compete in their favourite game alongside famous athletes. The Road to Old Trafford promo has already started and will award competitors with great prize packages until early next month.
                Party Poker's The Road to Old Trafford consists of satellite tournaments that will reward seats to a three day live poker event. The tournament itself is scheduled to take place at the renowned Old Trafford football stadium in Machester, England and will see members of Manchester United in attendance. The prize package awarded weekly includes three nights of accommodations (from 8th August through to the 10th), $550 in cash, buy-in to the event itself and VIP perks like a tour of Old Trafford stadium, an exclusive party invite and more. Those who wish to buy into the event directly can spend $400 to gain entry ($35 of which is given to charity). Party Poker will also be hosting daily qualifiers and weekly satellites (with an $85 buy-in) that offer a shot at winning a seat into the unique tournament.
                A statement from Party Poker called The Road to Old Trafford "the chance [of] a lifetime" to both "play at [an] iconic venue" and "[rub] shoulders with some true Manchester United legends." The Road to Old Trafford has already begun and will run daily until Sunday, 4th August 2013.

Full Tilt Poker Celebrates Twitter Achievement with Freeroll Tournament

                Full Tilt Poker recently achieved a social media milestone, accruing more than 50,000 followers on Twitter. In order to mark the occasion the popular online poker network offered a freeroll tournament designed to reward its most dedicated fans.
                The Followers Freeroll was held on Sunday, July 8th and provided members of the site with entry to a potentially lucrative event. To gain access to the freeroll tournament players had to watch the company's @FullTiltPoker account for secret words embedded in tweets labelled with the #FollowersFreeroll hashtag over several weeks. Those who were vigilant enough to record the three secret words were able to combine them together into a single lowercase password that granted entry to the tournament. The Followers Freeroll proved to be worth the effort. It took the form of a turbo event that awarded a prize pool of $2,700 in Full Tilt Tournament Tickets across 250 competitors. The winner of the freeroll received a special $215 Tournament Ticket.
                Smart businesses count on social media as the cornerstone of their marketing efforts. With Followers Freeroll Full Tilt Poker did just that, offering an incentive for fans of the network to get online and engage with the company as it promoted itself. The innovative use of Twitter that Full Tilt demonstrated with its Followers Freeroll is sure to be emulated in some form by other savvy online gambling businesses hoping to drum up attention for their sites.  

Bodog President Leaves Company, Hints at New Online Gaming Business

                Bodog Poker Network's president, Jonas Odman, has announced that he has left the company in order to start a new business. The former president was responsible for turning Bodog into the successful online poker network it is today by introducing the popular anonymous playing model.
                Odman hails from Sweden and began working in online poker in 2004 by joining the Ongame Poker Network. From there he developed the anonymous poker model — a form of play that helps keep professionals and opportunist sharks from winning money from less experienced players — that came to define Bodog Poker. This focus on catering to recreational poker fans paid off for Bodog and set a new trend in the industry that was later adopted by competing sites. Now that Odman has stepped down as president of the company he has begun hinting at the start of a new business venture that will continue to focus on anonymous play.
                Jonas Odman  told press that he is seriously considering launching "a start-up company, based in [California]" which will bring anonymous play to the U.S. online poker market where "nobody else is offering anything tangibly different." Many American states have begun legalizing and regulating online poker, a trend that Odman believes will eventually open the wealthy state of California for business. If this proves to be the case the former Bodog president would be able to "do things right from the start and launch with a recreational poker model instead of trying to implement it later."

PKR Brings Mobile Gaming to Android Users

                PKR.com's mobile gaming application rollout continues with the release of a new version of the site for Android devices. Like the recently launched iPhone and iPad PKR apps the Android program will let players enjoy real-money poker play while on the go.
                The Android version of PKR.com brings a faithful version of the popular online poker network to smartphones and tablets powered by Google's operating system. Players can enjoy real-money sit and go and ring games after downloading the free application. The app's ring game tables range from as cheap as $0.01/$0.02 to as expensive as $25/$50 while sit and go games will feature stakes from an inexpensive $0.10 to a substantial $1,000. PKR plans to add further game types, tournament multi-tabling features and more in the future.
                PKR.com's Chief Operating Officer, Leon Walters, said that it was important for his company to develop an Android version of the app since "we've always appreciated the importance of offering our unique software across a wide range of mobile devices." Now that the majority of smartphone and tablet owners can access PKR from anywhere they wish, Walters said that his business is "ready for a full scale assault on the mobile market." PKR.com's Android app is compatible with devices such as the LG Nexus 4, HTC One and phones from Samsung's Galaxy series.

Paddy Power Poker Offers Irish Winter Festival 2013 Satellites

                Paddy Power Poker's Irish Winter Festival 2013 may seem a long way off, but the Irish poker network is already busy helping its members prepare for the live autumn event with over €5,000 in prize packages that provide buy-ins to the Dublin-based competition.
                Those who hope to win their way into the Winter Festival can compete in regular promotional events hosted by Paddy Power that reward buy-in prize packages. Satellites are currently featured every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Tuesday qualifiers sport a €66 buy-in while Thursday nights ask players for €22. Both weekday satellites are no-limit hold 'em competitions that reward winners with seats to the Irish Winter Festival. The Sunday night satellites are €130 no-limit hold 'em freezouts that provide seats to the Festival as part of their prize packages (valued at €1,700). Paddy Power has also rounded up their offering by kicking off another Cheap Seats promo that will award two seats with each week's grand final.
                A statement from Paddy Power Poker called the satellite promotion a great way to "get your seat early" and then "relax for the summer knowing you're guaranteed a place in the most fun poker festival around." Paddy Power Poker's Irish Winter Festival 2013 will run from 25th to 28th October, 2013 at Dublin's Burlington Hotel. The Festival will feature a variety of side events, the Six Survivors promotion (which awards top players with entry to the 2014 Festival) and a €1,125 buy-in no-limit hold 'em freezout main event.

PKRs Real Money Poker App Leaves Beta Testing

                PKR.com has finally finished the long process of bringing its 3D online poker software to British iPhone and iPad owners. After extensive testing the application is now available, allowing players to enjoy a great poker experience while on the go.
                The iOS version of PKR.com has only just now become available after a slow roll-out of mobile PKR products. Months of beta testing and software refinement appear to have paid off. After a short time on Apple's App Store the full version of PKR's app has received an average user review score of 4.5/5. The warm reception is likely due to the care that PKR's team has taken in translating their popular computer-based platform to mobile devices. The PKR iOS app brings lifelike graphics to players, making the program's selection of games — a line-up that includes Omaha (pot-limit and hi-lo), Texas hold 'em sit and go tournaments and a variety of ring games — extremely lifelike and immersive.  
                A statement from PKR.com stated that the company "couldn't be any more psyched about launching [its] real-money poker on mobile." PKR added that it was extremely excited to offer players the ability to "whip out the iPhone and enter a sit-and-go" in situations like "[waiting] around in the airport for three hours before [a] flight." The PKR.com iOS app is available now and is compatible with the iPad, iPhone 4 and newer models of Apple's smartphone.

100 Billionth Hand Celebrations Come to PokerStars

                PokerStars has a history of celebrating its business milestones by providing cash bonuses and other awards to site members lucky enough to be a part of record-breaking games. The site's 100 Billion Hands Celebration has been no different, giving those who happened to be playing as the landmark was reached huge rewards for their good fortune.
                The 100 billionth hand was recently hit, marking a huge accomplishment for the eleven year old PokerStars. The site member who played the hand in question uses the name 'Microulis69' and was awarded more than $103,000 in cash. Microulis69, who hails from Greece, was playing micro-stakes poker on PokerStars' Euryalos XI (at $0.02/$0.05) when the milestone was triggered. While Microsoulis69 took home a $31.55 pot for his win the more impressive prize came from the massive $103,800 awarded by PokerStars for triumphing during the 100 billionth hand. The hand also saw other competitors playing against Microsoulis69 receiving cash awards. 'Mayers666' took away the lowest amount (a still substantial $12,460) while both 'HeyitsClay' and 'doc836' received the highest award ($13,440 each).  
                PokerStars Head of Poker Communications, Lee Jones, revealed that a total of 9,471 site members received part of the stake share ($830,790) set aside to celebrate the 100 billionth hand. The average share provided to this group of players was $84.72. PokerStars will continue to offer 100 Billion Hands Celebration promotional events throughout the coming weeks, extending the festivities beyond the monumental hand itself.

Titan Poker Offers 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event Satellites

                It's not easy for amateur poker players to make their way to the venerable World Series of Poker (WSOP), but Titan Poker is looking to help through its latest promotional offering. The popular online poker platform will make two satellite tournaments available to WSOP hopefuls this month, providing a great way for talented players to win a seat at the upcoming tournament series' main event.
                Titan Poker's WSOP Main Event Mega Super Satellite will award ten prize packages (valued at $13,400). The satellite can be bought into directly for $525. Seats will also be made available to players who triumph in qualifying tournaments (with buy ins set at less than $1). The first event will award a prize package that includes seven nights of accommodations at the Wynn Las Vegas, WSOP main event buy-in and $1,850 in cash. The second satellite series, WSOP Experience Mega Super Satellite Freezeout, features a $215 buy-in and will provide 15 prize packages (valued at $4,000). These packages include the $1,500 buy-in to the WSOP's 5th July no-limit hold 'em side event, five nights of accommodations at the Wynn Las Vegas and spending money.
                A statement from Titan Poker called the WSOP Main Event Satellites two great ways for skilled competitors "to win their way to the WSOP in Las Vegas [through] inexpensive buy-ins." The 2013 WSOP no-limit hold 'em main event sports a $10,000 buy-in and is set to take place on Saturday 6th July at Las Vegas' Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.

Full Tilt Poker Reveals Micro Turbo Online Poker Series

                Talented poker players looking for an opportunity to turn a small bankroll into a larger one are now being given a great opportunity by Full Tilt Poker. The site's newly revealed Micro Turbo Online Poker Series (MTOPS) is set to target those with big ambitions and modest poker funds.
                The Micro Turbo Online Poker Series will consist of 75 events that includes a wide range of micro stakes and low-stakes tournaments. It will culminate in the $15 buy-in, $1 million guarantee no limit hold'em turbo main event scheduled for Sunday, 23rd June. Full Tilt has designed the series for multi-entry play as well, allowing competitors to try their hand at as many of the array of available games as they wish. The styles of play on offer during MTOPS will include five-card stud, Courchevel, Irish, Texas hold 'em poker and more. Full Tilt members can compete the events through inexpensive buy-ins that start at only $0.11.
                Full Tilt Poker's Sarne Lightman told press that the decision to couple the MTOPS' "big prize pools and [small buy-ins]" was made in order to give "players the best value possible." Lightman also credited the multi-entry turbo format as a way to ensure that "even the most time-constrained players will be able to compete in one of our most exciting and affordable tournament series yet." The Micro Turbo Online Poker Series will run from Sunday, June 9th through Sunday, 23rd June at Full Tilt Poker.

Bodog Pokers Anonymous Poker Series Comes to the WSOP

                Bodog Poker, after being impressed by the enthusiastic response garnered by the first two editions of its Anonymous Poker Series, has decided to launch a new version of the special event that ties into this year's World Series of Poker (WSOP).  
                Bodog's Anonymous Poker Series (APS), previously held in Macau and London, has proven to be a hit for the online poker network. The unorthodox promotion was designed to celebrate Bodog's anonymity-focused poker platform by rewarding not only those who triumph in the web-based events, but also players who photograph themselves in Zorro costumes while competing at live events. The World Series of Poker edition of Anonymous Poker Series will continue this tradition, providing extravagant prize packages to  the winners of the series and two WSOP competitors dressed like the masked hero. The prize package in question is worth some $6,600 and includes the $2,000 buy-in to the Anonymous Poker Series $100,000 Guaranteed Live Invitational Finale in Manila, Philippines, $700 in spending money, flight and hotel accommodations, an invite to an APS party and assorted Bodog swag. Site members can vie for the prize by entering into online qualifiers with buy-ins set as low as $0.66 USD.
                Bodog Poker Network's President, Jonas Odman, explained that his company "designed [the Anonymous Poker Series] to give those who've had a bad poker experience a better one." The online gaming network's latest edition of the promotional series should help to prove this sentiment true.

Full Tilt Poker to Broadcast NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship

                Fans of televised poker will be thrilled to learn the latest news from Full Tilt Poker — an announcement revealing that the online poker network has secured the rights to bring next year's NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship to screens across the globe.
                NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship took place in January and will be televised in twelve episodes drawn from the live, Las Vegas-based event. Full Tilt Poker, through deals with worldwide broadcasters, has gained the rights to air the competition. After premiering in the United Kingdom on Channel 5, Full Tilt will show the tournament in nations including Germany, Canada, Russia, Poland, Hungary and more. The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship drew top poker players like Viktor 'Isildur1' Blom, Phil Hellmuth, Erik Seidel, Tom 'durrrr' Dwan and others to Nevada for a night of intense competition that will be well worth tuning in for. Each episode will show some of the game's most talented players battling it out for a share of the $100,000+ prize pool, pulling out all the stops to best their opponents in one-on-one showdowns.   
                Full Tilt Poker's Sarne Lightman told press that securing the international distribution rights to NBC's event is "just the start of many exciting and unique television products from Full Tilt." Lightman went on to say that "plenty of [these TV events] will have the opportunity for players to qualify and take part."

Full Tilt Poker Schedule New Land-Based Galway Festival

                Full Tilt Poker has added an exciting new land-based event to this summer's line-up with the Galway Festival. The brand new tournament series will include some 55 events and mark the recently re-launched Full Tilt's return to hosting live events.
                The Galway Festival is set to take place later this summer and will be hosted in a custom made "poker village" created by Full Tilt Poker in Galway, Ireland. The 55 events that make up the Galway Festival will include unique competitions like the UK Versus Ireland Heads-Up Challenge, the Irish Poker Championships and the UKIPT Galway Main Event which sports an incredible €1 million guaranteed prize pool. The Main Event will run for five days (from 8th to 12th August) and will see Full Tilt's Poker Ambassadors and Gus Hansen (of Full Tilt's Professionals line-up) in attendance. Members of the online poker network can compete in online qualifiers (starting at a $1.10 buy-in) for a chance at winning a seat to the lucrative showdown. Bounties will also be placed on Full Tilt Ambassadors competing in the Main Event.
           Full Tilt Poker's Marketing Head, Sarne Lightman, told press that his company was excited to make its "first live poker festival since re-launch" a memorable one. A wide variety of events and an impressive prize pool should help to make good on Full Tilt's intentions. The Galway Festival is scheduled to take place from Monday 29th July to Monday 12th August this summer.

Felix xflixx Schneiders Joins PokerStars Team Online

                PokerStars' Team Online has just grown by one member with the signing of Felix "xflixx" Schneiders. The latest addition to the online poker network's team of professional players comes to the site with plenty of experience in competing against the best of the industry as well as teaching other poker fans how to succeed at the game.
                Schneiders hails from Germany and has been engaged in playing and teaching poker since 2005. xflixx is known as a six-max no-limit hold 'em player who frequents small and mid stakes tables, but he has also found success in coaching other competitors. Schneiders has taught poker with PokerStars' PokerSchoolOnline and IntelliPoker as both a trainer and private coach. Though he has earned a name for himself in competition xflixx is better known in Germany for his work in imparting poker lessons and strategies to other fans of the game, an aspect of his career that he says offers "a great feeling" when compared to the intensity of solo play.  
                Speaking to press about his new position as a member of Team Online, Schneiders said that he feels "honoured to be [included among] great inspiring poker players and proud because [the accomplishment] reflects all the effort and passion" he's put into poker over his career. Felix xflixx Schneiders will be able to continue demonstrating his love of poker by competing in events as a PokerStars' Team Online member.

Bodog Poker Sends Lucky Player to 2014 Asian Poker Tour

                Bodog Poker helped celebrate the upcoming Asian Poker Tour (APT) Philippines 2014 by not only promoting the site's accomplishments, but sending one lucky player to the real-world event as well. This player travelled to Manila dressed as the character of Zorro and competed at the tables with a $1,000 bounty on their head.   
                In order to make for a truly memorable promotion Bodog Poker hired on Tara O'Callaghan (who previously worked as a hat maker for Zara Philips) to create a one-of-a-kind Zorro hat. This hat was paired with a mask in order to make the player anonymous while they competed at the APT. While this bit of theatricality may seem strange without context, Jonas Odman, President of the Bodog Poker Network, told press that the get-up was designed as a nod to his company's recreational poker model. This model was created by Bodog in an effort to provide players with "the fairest place to play poker online" by masking identities and warding off the kind of professional sharks who can ruin a more casual competitor's experience. Odman called the "costume and bounty for our anonymous [APT] player partly a bit of fun, but [also] a reminder" of Bodog's commitment to its recreational business model.         
                The Philippines leg of this year's Asian Poker Tour took place at Resort World Manila, wrapping up on Wednesday, 24th April. Bodog's Zorro player received entry to the 2013 APT Philippines along with a buy-in to the upcoming Anonymous Poker Series' $100,000 final.

PokerStars Confirms Official Spring Championship of Online Poker Schedule

                PokerStars previously released a placeholder version of the schedule for its upcoming Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP). Now, after soliciting suggestions for improvements from its player base the company has finalized and released the official series details.
                The 2013 SCOOP will mark the fifth edition of the popular event and, as mentioned in the unofficial schedule, consist of 44 events. An impressive $40 million prize guarantee is up for grabs through the series' tiered buy-in events. As previously described, these three levels will allow all kinds of players to enter into the games, regardless of the size of their bankroll. Accordingly, the prize pot will range in size, the lowest amount doubling in size for the medium buy-in level and tripling for the highest. The three levels will also be reflected in the buy-ins, which range from $5.50 to $21,000. PokerStars promoted the tiered SCOOP design as providing "the only tournament series in the world to offer the same tournament at three different buy-in levels simultaneously." A statement detailing the series called SCOOP a great way for poker players of all stripes to "have fun competing for life-changing amounts of money."
                The 2013 Spring Championship of Online Poker will kick off on 12th May with a no-limit hold 'em six max tournament (buy-ins set at $27/$215/$2,100) and run for two weeks before concluding with 26th May's main event ($109/$1,050/$10,300). Interested players can buy into events directly or look out for PokerStars range of upcoming qualifying competitions.

PokerStars Partners with Guangdong Ltd. for Guangdong Ltd. Asia Millions

                PokerStars has doubled down on its commitment to engage the Asian market with the announcement of a brand new tournament set to take place in Macau next month. The event — the Guangdong Ltd. Asia Millions — is meant to entice some of the region's most talented players with impressive prizes and expensive buy-ins.
                Guangdong Ltd. Asia Millions has been organized in collaboration between online poker site PokerStars and local gaming company, Guangdong Group Macau Ltd (previously known as Neptune Group). The event in question is intended for high rollers, sporting an HK $1,000,000 buy-in (roughly $129,000 USD) and a maximum of two HK $1,000,000 re-buys. If the event manages to achieve its current buy-in forecast the total prize pool will likely be no smaller $30 million USD. Guangdong Ltd. Asia Millions will take place at Macau's City of Dreams venue and will run from Tuesday, 4th June to Friday, 7th June. PokerStars and Guangdong will kick off the festivities with an HK $250,000 (approximately $32,200 USD) "warm up" tournament on the first day of the event.    
                Danny McDonagh, PokerStars' Director of Live Poker Operations for Asia Pacific, told press that his company expects "over 100 players" to compete for "one of the biggest prize pools for a poker tournament outside of the World Series of Poker." Winnie Wong, Guangdong Group's CEO, shared McDonagh's excitement while predicting that the tournament "will leave a mark in Macau poker history" and strengthen the "strong synergy between Guangdong  and PokerStars."

Bodog Poker Offers Players Entry to the 2014 World Series of Poker

                The poker world's most highly anticipated event — the World Series of Poker (WSOP) — is less than three months away and, to celebrate it, Bodog Poker is helping send its players to the illustrious series.
                2013 marks the 44th edition of the annual WSOP series, the event kicking off on 6th July and running through 15th July at Las Vegas' Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. With an enormous prize pool (speculated to be even larger than the 2012 WSOP's $62 million pool) up for grabs the tournament will no doubt attract many of poker's biggest stars. Bodog wants to make the event accessible to talented players who are unable to buy into the WSOP's $10,000 main event as well. To this end the online poker platform has just launched a series of satellite tournaments that award prize packages (worth an estimated $15,000) and main event entry. For stakes as low as $1.10 players can battle it out for a shot at a prize package containing $5,000 in cash, the $10,000 main event buy-in, a plethora of Bodog swag and a meeting with one of Team Bodog's sponsored pros upon arrival in Las Vegas.
                Bodog Poker told press that it was excited to offer its players a shot at the 2013 World Series of Poker main event, "where fortunes are won and legends are made." Bodog's promo series runs from 2nd April to 23rd June, offering more than 2,000 qualifiers and weekly satellite tournaments.

Black Card Loyalty System Returns to Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker has been on a fast track toward getting its site back in order ever since its relaunch late last year. Now, with the return of its Black Card loyalty rewards, it's finally catering to the most devoted online poker players on the web again.

The Black Card loyalty program is intended to reward Full Tilt's most prolific competitors with cash and prizes. The relaunched system will allow members of Full Tilt Poker to convert the site's Full Tilt Points into real money. It will also offer players who have achieved VIP status at other sites to join in on the program through a "VIP Amnesty" incentive set to run during the entire month of April. Any player able to produce a photograph proving their VIP status at another poker platform is eligible for entry to the Black Card program. Full Tilt will also be giving its members even better reasons to vie for Black Card status by offering performance-based sponsorship contracts to the most talented players on record during the last six months of play. Black Card holders will be able to help shape the manner by which performance is ranked when the sponsorships are launched this July.

Sarne Lightman, Full Tilt Poker's Head of Marketing, told press that the VIP Amnesty program was designed to give those affected by Full Tilt's non-operational months a chance to return to the site without losing the status they've gained at competing online poker platforms. The move to accommodate them is a great step toward making Full Tilt Poker the ideal home for serious poker players.

PokerStars Offers a First Look at the 2014 Spring Championship of Online Poker Schedule

Online poker players excited for some news on PokerStars' annual Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) have just been provided with a first look at the 2013 edition of the series. While the schedule PokerStars has recently released is subject to change in the future, the poker network has offered an initial draft that showcases its current plans for this spring's events.

The tentative 2013 SCOOP schedule looks to drastically expand on previous years offerings, featuring a tremendous 42 events and a total of 126 individual tournaments in all. Aside from this change much of the upcoming SCOOP will remain similar to prior schedules. Players will be able to compete in styles of poker including badugi, Omaha hi-lo, no-limit draw, seven card stud, no-limit hold 'em and more. Each of the games will also allow PokerStars members to compete through either low, medium or high buy-in tiers, a decision meant to make SCOPP inclusive to all contenders, regardless of bankroll size.

In order to make this year's SCOOP the best it can possibly be PokerStars is also asking its fans to send their comments and suggestions to the site. PokerStars plans to incorporate some of these suggestions to the schedule in order to refine its tournament offerings before finalizing in the weeks to come. As it stands now, the 2013 Spring Championship of Online Poker is set to kick off on Sunday 12 May with a six max no-limit hold 'em tourney and wrap up on Sunday 26 May with the main event's conclusion.

Ladbrokes Prepares to Move to iPoker Network

                Ladbrokes, one of the industry's most popular online gaming and sportsbooking platform, has announced plans to move from its current home at MPN/Microgaming to the iPoker network. The gaming site's decision comes as the result of a deepening business relationship with the latter company and will be carried out gradually.  
                The move to iPoker does not yet have a concrete date, but Ladbrokes has stressed that players should not experience any jarring changes during the process. The first step in the transition demonstrates the truth of these claims, Ladbrokes adding a Vegas tab (leading to several of the newly offered Playtech games) to their platforms while otherwise leaving the core experience intact. Ladbrokes will continue shifting their services from Microgaming to iPoker as their contractual obligations to the former network begin to expire. The transition to iPoker-based online poker has been revealed as the next step in the ongoing process.
                Mor Weizer, Playtech's CEO, told press that he is excited for a future that sees "Ladbrokes' brand strength [and] core technology" combined with "Playtech's proven track record in growing digital revenues." Investors seem to agree, a fact evidenced by Ladbrokes' share prices increasing some 6.5% (the company's highest share value since 2008) following the move's announcement. Once Ladbrokes finishes its transition to iPoker it will exist as part of the same network as prominent sites like Titan Poker, bet365, Paddy Power Poker and William Hill.

Jay Tan Renews Bodog Poker Sponsorship Deal

                Jay Tan, one of the poker world's most recognizable up and comers, has just announced the renewal of her sponsorship agreement with Bodog Poker. Following a fantastic win at the recently concluded Aussie Millions Tan has signed on for at least one more year of representing Bodog at the tables.
                Jay Tan, born in California and raised in both Hong Kong and Sydney, has made a big name for herself since moving on from a burgeoning career in investment banking to playing professional level poker full time. Tan holds a Masters of Business in Finance and Accounting, speaks three languages and has cashed at renowned live series like the Asian Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker. Her most recent accomplishment took place at the 2013 Aussie Millions Main Event, an event that saw Tan finishing 7th overall at the final table. The win earned Tan $150,000 AUD, bringing her total live tournament take to a considerable $252,707.
                Bodog's President, Jonas Odman, called Jay Tan "an integral part of the ongoing Bodog Poker story" and said that his company is "thrilled to have her back on board for another year." Tan echoed Odman's enthusiasm, stating that "becoming a sponsored player has always been a dream" and that she "[feels] very at home with Bodog and [is looking] forward to carrying on where [she] left off" with her sponsorship.

Full Tilt Poker Nears American Payment Decision, Plans .eu Domain Launch

Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the American group helping to guide disgruntled Full Tilt Poker players through the reimbursement process that followed 2011's Black Friday legal scandal, has reported some progress in its work with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The good news surrounding Full Tilt Poker continues with word of the company's plan to launch a new .eu domain.

The PPA recently informed concerned players of the US DOJ's efforts to determine who would administer the payout reimbursement process. Once the American government has decided on who the best administrator may be it can then begin to process claims and end the Black Friday troubles that have seen Full Tilt's members left out in the cold while trying to cash out their bankroll. While Full Tilt players from other nations have been reimbursed following the company's PokerStars buyout, Americans continue to wait for the DOJ to find a way to return their funds. Now, the PPA forecasts an impending DOJ announcement that will help get the process moving.

The upcoming launch of a new Full Tilt Poker domain may make the site more appealing for Europeans, too. Following in the footsteps of its owner, PokerStars, Full Tilt is working toward establishing a .eu platform that would provide players in nations such as Germany, Poland, Sweden and the Netherlands with tax free winnings. The new .eu site will avoid certain European income tax laws and allow some Full Tilt Poker players to cash out their earnings without having to subtract a portion of their money.

PKR.Com Announces Easter Weekend PKR Live VII Tournament Schedule

The latest edition of PKR.com's PKR Live tournament series has finally been announced, the popular online poker network having scheduled the event for this year's Easter Weekend. The seventh PKR Live is set to include plenty of action for both competitors and fans alike.

PKR Live VII will consist of three days of no-limit hold 'em competition. The event will bring hundreds of excited and talented players from across Europe to London, England for a chance at making their name — and, of course, some cash — in the poker world. More than 300 players culled from PKR Italy, PKR France, PKR Sportsbook and PKR.com can buy a seat for PKR Live VII directly (for $500) from PKR's multi-table tournament lobby, but may also earn their entry by competing in upcoming satellites. These qualifiers will provide prize packages (worth $800) that send winners to PKR Live's new home at Westfield Stratford City's Aspers Casino in London in style. PKR describes Aspers Casino, a brand new venue with 500 person capacity located near the 2012 Olympic Village, as "the UK's first 'super casino'" and "a true taste of Las Vegas" within England itself.

PKR.com told press that it believes PKR Live VII "will set the standard for friendly and affordable live poker" through its "outstanding venue, more than 300 expected entrants and six-figure prize pool." PKR Live VII will kick off on Friday, 29th March, 2013.

PKR.Com Extends into Mobile Marketplace with New iPad App

Never a company to balk at technological innovation, PKR.com has just launched its latest foray into the rapidly expanding mobile gaming market. The new PKR.com iPad application brings the company's critically acclaimed software to a new platform and is looking to provide plenty of on-the-go fun for online poker fans.

iPad owners are now able to enjoy a portable version of the PKR.com experience through a free download available from Apple's App Store. Though this iteration of the online poker experience is missing some of the desktop PKR's features it does come equipped with some of the site's most famous trademarks. These include unique player avatars, emotes, 3D environments, real-money sit and go, ring games and more. PKR has already announced future updates that will help achieve feature parity between the desktop and mobile clients, too. Upcoming revisions will see the PKR iPad app gaining multi-table tournaments and support for other smartphones.

Leon Walters, PKR.com's Chief Operating Officer, told press that he is "pleased to have launched the [iPad] app after several months of hard work by [our] team." Walters went on to say that the app "represents one of the most significant steps forward for PKR.com since our inception in 2006" and that his company now plans to begin creating iPhone and Android versions that will cater to other segments of the mobile marketplace.

Paddy Power Poker Provides Full Year Leaderboard Battle

Frequent online poker players now have the chance to take home part of the $100,000 prize pool just made available by Paddy Power Poker as part of Paddy's Tournament Championship Leaderboard Battle, its latest promotional series.

Paddy's Tournament Championship is tailored toward Paddy Power Poker members who regularly play at sit-and-go competitions and multi-table tournaments. Those who compete in these types of games will be ranked on a weekly basis, their performance from the last seven days determining their leaderboard position. Each of the top thirty players will receive a cash reward with the top one hundred taking home a handful of extra leaderboard points for the month. The highest ranked competitor on the weekly leaderboards will be awarded with $100. Monthly editions of the new leaderboard battles will provide the top player with $500, the best 75 with a share of $2,000 and the highest 150 members with yearly leaderboard points. The ultimate form of Paddy's Tournament Championship, the yearly leaderboard, is set to give out $50,000 in cash, Champion Rewards and more. The most skilled player of the year will also be provided with a 2014 Irish Open prize package valued at $6,000.

The official statement released by Paddy Power Poker said that Paddy's Tournament Championship should appeal to its members as "poker players are a very competitive bunch" who will be eager to compete for $100,000 in total cash prizes. The Leaderboard Battle has already begun and is set to continue for the rest of the year.

New Sign Up Bonuses from Titan Poker's Network Help Kick Off 2013

The new year is already getting off to a good start with Titan Poker's announcement of a brand new line-up of sign up bonuses for its online gaming network. The recently launched promotion is available to players of both the Titan Poker and Titan Bet (online sportsbooking) sites and can be taken advantage of now.

In order to attract new members Titan is offering a healthy first deposit bonus that will provide new registrants with complementary vouchers valued at amounts of $20 or lower. The value of these vouchers ranges depending on whether players sign up to Titan Bet or Titan Poker. Titan Poker members will be given $3 for use at low stakes and/or micro stakes tables and $7 for use in online tournaments while Titan Bet fans will receive $5 that can be used in placing a few initial bets at the virtual sportsbook. As part of the promotion Titan's online poker players will also be provided with tickets to events such as the $10,000 Monthly Bonanza, the $2,500 New Depositors' Freeroll and entry to $20,000 freeroll tournaments. Regardless of whether players sign up to Titan Poker and/or Titan Bet they will also receive extra vouchers that can be used at either site's range of casino side games.

The generous sign up promotion should offer an influx of excited new players to both Titan Poker and the newly revamped Titan Bet. Anyone interested can head to their site of choice now to sign up and get started playing (or betting) with their extra funds.

New Sign Up Bonuses from Titan Poker's Network Help Kick Off 2013

The new year is already getting off to a good start with Titan Poker's announcement of a brand new line-up of sign up bonuses for its online gaming network. The recently launched promotion is available to players of both the Titan Poker and Titan Bet (online sportsbooking) sites and can be taken advantage of now.

In order to attract new members Titan is offering a healthy first deposit bonus that will provide new registrants with complementary vouchers valued at amounts of $20 or lower. The value of these vouchers ranges depending on whether players sign up to Titan Bet or Titan Poker. Titan Poker members will be given $3 for use at low stakes and/or micro stakes tables and $7 for use in online tournaments while Titan Bet fans will receive $5 that can be used in placing a few initial bets at the virtual sportsbook. As part of the promotion Titan's online poker players will also be provided with tickets to events such as the $10,000 Monthly Bonanza, the $2,500 New Depositors' Freeroll and entry to $20,000 freeroll tournaments. Regardless of whether players sign up to Titan Poker and/or Titan Bet they will also receive extra vouchers that can be used at either site's range of casino side games.

The generous sign up promotion should offer an influx of excited new players to both Titan Poker and the newly revamped Titan Bet. Anyone interested can head to their site of choice now to sign up and get started playing (or betting) with their extra funds.

Bodog Poker Announces New Tournament Series for 2013

January is looking to be a busy month for Bodog Poker. The popular online poker network has entered into 2013 with a host of new promotions and business plans, including concentration on catering to Asia's poker market and, probably most interesting, the launch of a freshly created tournament series that ties into this effort.

Anonymous Poker Series, the new tournament venture in question, is set to consist of a combination of online and real world qualifying events. These qualifiers will provide amateur poker players with chances to win their way into lucrative online games as well as European and Asian land-based games leading up to the massive Philippines finale (scheduled to take place in 2014 in Manila). In an innovative move, Bodog's tournament series will also feature anonymous tables that are meant to ward off cheating players. This move has been described as a way to gain the trust of the Asian poker market (where providing a safe playing environment is essential to success).

Jonas Odman, the Bodog Poker Network's Managing Director, told press that his company created Anonymous Poker Series in order to "highlight exactly how and why . . . our poker network is the best and safest place for recreational poker players." Anonymous Poker Series will run throughout 2013 before concluding next January with a $100,000 finale set to take place in Manila, Philippines. Partnering poker operators will be revealed in the weeks to come.

Paddy Power Poker Adds Extra Irish Open 2013 Prize Packages

Paddy Power Poker players who are eager to take part in next spring's Irish Open 2013 tournament are being given more chances to win their way into the series.

Until now Paddy Power Poker has been offering up three Irish Open 2013 prize packages each week. A great fan reception has led the online poker network to increase the excitement surrounding the satellites, though, and now four packages will be handed out every Sunday evening. These prize packages consist of transportation money (worth €525), a five night stay at Dublin's Burlington Hotel (a €395 value) and, of course, a seat at the Irish Open's main event. Players can buy into the satellites directly for €176. This buy-in also includes access to the Sole Survivor promotion running alongside the qualifiers, an event that provides competitors who hold out the longest in each night's satellite with main event seats for the Irish Open 2014 and World Series of Poker 2013 as well as €50,000 in cash.

Paddy Power Poker explained that increasing the scale of its Irish Open 2013 satellites was due to "the appetite players have to take part" in the series — something attributed to this year's reduced buy-in costs and the addition of the Sole Survivor promo. The Irish Open is one of Europe's longest running tournament series and is scheduled to take place at Dublin, Ireland's Burlington Hotel from 29th March through until 1st April, 2013.

PKR.com's PKR TV Records More Than 500,000 Total Views

PKR.com always attempts to provide online poker players with something different. From the site's emphasis on a lively avatar system to its PKRTV videos, fans have rewarded PKR's innovative business practices with plenty of attention and praise.

The most recent demonstration of PKR's success involves PKRTV, the platform's dedicated YouTube channel. PKR.com recently celebrated the popularity of PKRTV after achieving more than 500,000 video views, a feat that proves the value of the channel to the site's fans. PKRTV features expert gameplay commentary and analysis from members of Team PKR Pro and is presented by Dan Grant and Rachael Downie. A diverse line-up of shows, ranging from footage of prestigious tournaments to poker tips and strategies meant to improve a viewer's poker game, have helped PKRTV to garner acclaim both on the web and through international Poker Channel broadcasts. To date, PKR.com has recorded and presented incredible wins from the final tables of events like PKR Masters, capturing high level play for casual or serious video reference.

PKR.com's Media Manager, Dan Grant, explained that PKRTV was started with the goal of recording memorable moments like beautifully executed tournament wins or "huge cash game bluffs." Grant went on to describe PKR's commitment to providing "every level of PKR.com player" with access to professional analysis of these moments in order to share the excitement — and learning opportunities — offered by their recordings.

New bet365 Poker Promotion Offers Cash Prizes and a Free Car

bet365 Poker is hoping to make this holiday season a memorable one for many of its members through the launch of a brand new Christmas themed promotion. Composed of a series of raffles and tournaments, the $100,000 Xmas Giveaway is set to award the site's luckiest and most talented members with fantastic prizes.

The $100,000 Xmas Giveaway, just recently launched, will run throughout most of the month of December and is designed to give back to some of bet365 Poker's most active competitors. Members of the online poker network can take part in Xmas Giveaway by earning as many bet365 Merit Points as possible while playing at Premium Table sit-and-gos or special tournaments. Every 15 of these points can be cashed in for a raffle ticket to be used in daily prize draws that award iPads, iPhones and a large number of cash prizes. There are no limitations on how many tickets a player can choose to enter each day and a dedicated Xmas Giveaway section has been added to the lobby to help members keep track of their points. bet365 Poker members who manage to accumulate at least 500 Merit Points will also be entered in a grand prize raffle (to be held on Friday, 28th December) that will provide entrants with a shot at winning one of three Mini First cars.

bet365 Poker's Xmas Giveaway press release urged members to "get as many tickets as [they] can in order to increase [their chances] of winning" before December comes to an end. The $100,000 Xmas Giveaway kicked off on Saturday, 2nd December and stops awarding tickets on Thursday, 27th December.

PKR.com Cashes Out $400,000 Jackpot, Achieves Five Million Registered Members

PKR.com has had a very eventful week, the online poker network celebrating a major business milestone and awarding two lucky members with massive cash payouts.

Donegal, Ireland's "jayleigh76" has just received a $408,479 windfall after wagering only twenty cents at one of PKR.com's slot side games. The player, a 36 year old mother of two, hit the biggest progressive jackpot ever amassed at PKR.com by playing on PKR's Adventures in Wonderland slot. After triggering the jackpot jayleigh76 reported that her big win felt "surreal" and that she plans to take her children to Disneyland with some of her earnings. The same day saw another Irish player, "lucky4345" from Belfast, take home the Chain Reactors Super Trails progressive slot for a $63,514.

jayleigh76's and lucky4345's wins came just after PKR.com achieved the landmark of signing on a total of five million players. PKR.com's Marketing Director Simon Prodger reported that the company is "delighted" at arriving at the 5M milestone and looking forward to "continuing to welcome more and more poker players" through upcoming "marketing initiatives, product developments" and its "first mobile poker product." Prodger acknowledged the consistent growth of registered members that have flocked to the site since its launch only six years ago and went on to attribute the ongoing success of PKR.com to its innovative software offerings and business approach.

Ladbrokes Poker Reveals Monthly Promo Line-Up

Ladbrokes Poker has prepared a full month of exciting promotional offers for fans of its site. From freerolls to qualifiers, Ladbrokes is making the coming weeks well worth the attention of eager online poker players.

The bulk of Ladbrokes' big November promotional schedule is made up of the poker site's Points Grab freeroll series. Points Grab comes with a £10,000 guarantee and is set to take place each Sunday evening. Every Ladbrokes member with at least 50 poker points in their account are eligible for freeroll qualification and can enter into these proving rounds until the second last week of November. Aside from Points Grab, the site is also offering eight races awarding a total of €20,000 in cash prizes and the Poker Casino Bankroll Surge promo. The $20,000 Bankroll Surge final will be pre-empted with a series of qualifiers throughout November and December. Players who have spent/won a minimum of $200 in a given week will be eligible for entry to the qualifying rounds while those who have used the same amount of money over a two week period will have two special opportunities to compete in qualifiers as well. Ladbrokes Poker members who spend/win at least $10,000 throughout all of November will also be invited to compete in a bonus "high roller tournament" set to take place on Saturday, 1st December.

Online poker players have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks and should head over to Ladbrokes Poker now to get started in taking advantage of the site's promotional offers.

Full Tilt Poker Requires Members to Continue Waiting for Refunds

Full Tilt Poker's recent re-launch has gone fairly well, the site returning to business with plenty of exciting gameplay promotions and a stable software offering. Despite this level of success the many American members of the site still awaiting refunded money are likely disappointed to find that their funds are still unavailable.

The latest news from Full Tilt Poker comes through the political advocacy group, Poker Players Alliance (PPA). The PPA's Executive Director, John Pappas, recently met with representatives from the U.S. Department of Justice and ZwillGen PLLC legal counsels, Ken Dreifach and Marc Zwillinger. The PPA came to the Department of Justice with the issues most important to Full Tilt players, raising concerns regarding full refunds of account balances (both real money and loyalty point totals) still unpaid from before Full Tilt's Black Friday shutdown. While the PPA described its "thoughts on these matters" as "well received", it also mentioned that "it was clear from our discussion that no decisions have been made at the Department of Justice regarding [player repayment]" and that the goal of actually returning these funds is likely still "a long way away."

The Full Tilt Poker members who have been awaiting the return of their bankroll and loyalty points are likely frustrated with the slow process of receiving their frozen funds, but the PPA's agitations are still providing the best hope for a speedy resolution. For now, the Poker Players Alliance promises the many online poker players counting on their work that it will "remain vigilant" and "do everything it can to help get the process moving."

PKR.com Provides Players with Even More Software Updates

PKR.com has received plenty of accolades for its fantastic 3D poker software. Now, with the announcement of yet another substantial software update, the online poker network looks to continue providing its members with one of the most immersive gaming experiences available.

The last PKR.com software update saw the site adding the ability for players to buy virtual cocktails for themselves and their fellow competitors. Following in the same vein as those features, PKR is expanding its offering with digital food, new drinks and more. The addition of new beverages (such as Mexican beer, vodka tonics and lemonade) are joined by foods like cookies, pizza and sushi. Most interestingly, PKR.com has added collectable "lucky items" (like horseshoes and toys) and a number of new avatar animations. These animations play out while the player's avatar eats or drinks, but also allow competitors to perform new chip tricks that add a bit of flash to table play. Lastly — and as usual for most PKR software updates — avatar clothing and accessory options have also been expanded, providing even greater customization options.

A statement from PKR.com's Chief Operating Officer, Leon Walters, discussed the new additions, explaining that the "goal at PKR.com has always been to deliver an engaging and entertaining experience." Walters said that the expanded drinks options, virtual food and avatar expressions will "take PKR.com to the next level of immersion."

PKR.com Launches Oktoberfest Tournament Series Long After Oktoberfest Ends

Real life Oktoberfest celebrations may have come to an end, but PKR.com is extending the holiday with the return of its Oktoberfest autumn tournament series. Set to run over the next several weeks, the series in question consists of 51 events, all contributing to a total of approximately $450,000 in prizes.

PKR.com's Oktoberfest kicked off on 27th October and is set to run until 18th November. The beginning of the tournament series saw players entering into competition with the first of the daily tournaments — ongoing events featuring low, mid and high stake varieties meant to appeal to all types of players. PKR has also provided an exciting leaderboard promotion alongside these daily events. Players who earn enough ranking points to climb the boards will gain entry to a six-handed freeroll event (set to take place after Oktoberfest concludes) that offers the incredible incentive of earning the title of Oktoberfest Champion and a $3,000 World Poker Tour National Dublin prize package. PKR has also set up $3,500 of tournament ticket prizes to be awarded to lower ranking leader board positions.

PKR.com's Card Room Manager, Neil Wright, told press that the decision to revive its Oktoberfest series for 2012 was easy, describing how the site has "always had a soft spot for this particular series." Wright went on to mention PKR's happiness with its decision to mix "old favourites [with] new and entertaining game types." Oktoberfest event buy-ins start at $1.50.

Full Tilt Poker Announces ReLaunch Date, Deal Me In Promotion

Full Tilt Poker's long road toward re-opening for business is almost at an end as the site has announced its relaunch, scheduled for Tuesday, 6th November. To help celebrate its return to the online poker industry the network will be greeting its members with a new promotion.

Full Tilt's Deal Me In will be launched along with the site on 6th November and will consist of a wide range of freeroll tournaments. The total $250,000 prize pool available to competitors is also set to grow daily as the promotion goes forward, enticing competitors with increasingly lucrative games. Alongside these freerolls, Full Tilt will be hosting a series of ten $10,000 events on 11th November and an additional promo that temporarily allows loyalty points to be used toward event entry. Site members who buy Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) and/or Steps Tournaments ring game or daily/weekly tournament tickets will be able to enjoy discounted buy-ins to fantastic events. If that wasn't enough, the newly re-opened Full Tilt will offer double loyalty points games in order to help players earn their way toward discount tournament entry.

A statement from Full Tilt Poker describing the re-launch and Deal Me In promotion discussed the full range of special offers while also outlining the basics of the upcoming FTOPS XXI Satellite Frenzy, an event that will provide "hundreds of bonus entries to FTOPS XXI events worth more than $300,000." Interested players should keep their eyes on the site in the weeks to come for more details on the satellite series.

Sky Poker Opens Up New Priority Club Loyalty Program

Serious online poker players are being given a better way to enjoy their favourite game through Sky Poker. The launch of its new loyalty program, Priority Club, is meant to provide the site's most devoted fans with bonus rewards and a better way to get into games.

Sky Poker's Priority Club gives, like its name suggests, priority access to the network's most active competitors. Club members receive a wide array of special privileges, including the ability to buy-in directly to upcoming tournaments like the Sky Poker Tour Events and receive exclusive invitations to freerolls, competitions and other promotional events. These players will also enjoy access to Cash for Points bonuses before other Sky players and will be paid out on the first business day of every month. Maintaining Priority Club membership for more than three months provides improved Cash for Points rates as well.

Gaining membership to Priority Club is simple, Sky Poker allowing all players who have earned a minimum of 10,000 poker points in a given month (for three months) to enroll in the Club. Taking advantage of Priority Club benefits is made easy, too. Sky Poker automatically calculates its members' poker point total and sends out notification emails at the beginning of each month that let them know about the special events they've become eligible for. Players only need to set their accounts to "contactable" status or speak to account managers to take make sure they get the most out of their Priority Club accounts.

Full Tilt Poker Signs Blom and Dwan to Its Team of Professional Players

When Full Tilt Poker re-signed Gus Hansen to its team of poker professionals it served as an indicator of the previously troubled site's financial and legal health. Now, with its sponsorship of former member Tom 'durrrr' Dwan and Pokerstars veteran Viktor 'ilsildur1' Blom, Full Tilt is demonstrating just how far it's come since the Black Friday legal scandals that nearly ended the company.

One of the best ways for Full Tilt Poker to show the online poker world that it's back on its feet is signing on poker pros as brand ambassadors. With the site kicking off real money play again later next month it has started preparing for its return with a pair of new sponsorships. The 26 year old Dwan and 23 year old Blom return/come to Full Tilt with impressive legacies, Dwan previously taking part in high-stakes games through the site's Durrrr Challenge and Blom having made a name for himself via huge wins at events like the 2010 World Series of Poker Europe and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

In a press release detailing the sponsorships Tom 'durrrr' Dwan said that he was "very excited that Full Tilt Poker is re-launching" and was "excited to be a part of it." Viktor 'ilsildur1' Blom expressed similar sentiments, saying that playing as a regular member of the Full Tilt network was "where I made my name and enjoyed some of my greatest victories" and that joining the site in an official capacity was a perfect fit for his career.

Paddy Power Poker Outlines Student Masters 2013 and Offers Freerolls

Players interested in taking part in next spring's Student Masters 2013 tournament series are now being given a shot at entering without having to break the bank. Paddy Power Poker, always eager to promote Irish events, will be offering freerolls that reward winners with entry to the Dublin-based series.
                From the end of this October through to the last Sunday of February, 2013, Paddy Power Poker will be offering weekly freeroll tournaments that give both the winners and runner-ups a seat at the main event of Student Masters 2013. Competitors who finish between 3rd and 11th place will also receive tokens for an additional weekly satellite that awards a seat. If that wasn't enough, Mondays will see Paddy providing €5.50 buy-in no limit hold 'em re-buy satellites and Wednesday €1.10 re-buy feeder freezouts with main event seats up for grabs. Direct buy-ins to the main event are set at €110 and are only available to players over 18 years old who hold an applicable student I.D. card. Aside from the bragging rights and cash prizes available to Student Masters' players, a main event seat at 2013 Irish Open will also be given to winners, complements of Paddy Power Poker.
                Student Masters 2013's €110 buy-in no limit hold 'em freezout will take place over two days in Dublin's Ballsbridge Hotel and Jackpot Casino on 2nd/3rd March, 2013. Paddy Power Poker has worked with the hotel to offer special rates as well, something that is sure to help the starving students its catering to with the event.

Gus Hansen Returns to Full Tilt Poker as Brand Ambassador

Since its purchase by former competitor, PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker has appeared to be overcoming its troubled past and embracing a brighter future. As a sign of its renewed place as a major player in the online poker market, the site has re-hired former brand ambassador Gus Hansen.

A year ago it would have been difficult to imagine that Full Tilt Poker would recover from its legal troubles to the point that it would once again be hiring poker professionals as sponsors again, but this is exactly what the site has recently reported. When Full Tilt re-opens for business on 6th November, allowing members to wager real money again, it will also have Denmark's Gus 'The Great Dane' Hansen helping to spread word of its resurrection. Hansen is an highly accomplished poker player, having won three World Poker Tour titles, a World Series of Poker Europe bracelet and the 2007 Aussie Millions' main event. He has also earned more than $11.2 million throughout his career and previously enjoyed sponsorship as one of Full Tilt Poker's Red Pro members. With the re-launch of his sponsor site Hansen will be returning to his old job as a brand ambassador to a website that is in dire need of a public relations boost.

Sarne Lightman, Full Tilt Poker's Marketing Head, told press that his company is "thrilled to have [Hansen] return as an ambassador" while hinting at upcoming promotions and the addition of even more professionals to Full Tilt's sponsored team. Gus Hansen himself said that he is "very excited to represent the industry's most authentic poker brand" and that returning to Full Tilt Poker "[felt] like coming home."

PokerStars Provides 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Details

                The 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) looks to provide poker professionals and spectators alike with one of the most exciting events of the typically dull fall and winter months. With 40 events spread out over ten days this January, the upcoming PCA should give poker fans plenty to look forward to.
                PokerStars has begun to provide more PCA 2013 details, describing the shape of the tournament series itself as well as some of the already established qualifying events. The PCA is set to kick off on 5th January, 2013 and will take place at the Atlantis in the Bahamas' Paradise Island Resort and Casino. The series will consist of a wide array of events, including daily no limit hold'em turbos, tournaments such as a $5,000 no limit hold'em six max, $1,000 Omaha eight, Horse and triple stud games. The PCA's tenth anniversary will be celebrated through ten Signature Trophy Events as well — a range of tournaments that include the $100,000 Super High Roller and PCA 2013's $10,000 Main Event.  
                PokerStars will also be sending some of its most skilled site members to PCA 2013 through a lengthy ten week promotional series that is set to hand out one hundred prize packages that include entry to the main event, accommodations, flight expenses and more. New mobile challenges, leaderboard races and $10 buy-in qualifying tournaments will all offer ways to win cash and/or entry to the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Paddy Power Poker Launches Irish Winter Festival Mega Satellite

One of the poker world's most exciting upcoming events is the rapidly approaching Irish Winter Festival. Paddy Power Poker wants to help get some of its most talented members to the Festival's main event by offering up a satellite tournament that provides fantastic rewards.

The 2012 Irish Winter Festival will bring some of the game's best players to Dublin in order to compete for a shot at winning cash prizes and a bit of international recognition. Paddy Power Poker members without the bankroll to pay for the main event's €1,125 direct buy-in are able to sign up for the site's upcoming Irish Winter Festival Mega Satellite to enter. A total of twenty prize packages (valued at €1,800) are available through the no limit hold 'em Mega Satellite. These packages include buy-in to the Festival's main event, four nights of accommodations in Dublin and €329 in travel money. Along with the substantial prize, satellite winners will also be entered into Paddy's Six Survivor promotion (and a chance at earning themselves a buy-in to the 2013 Irish Open). To enter, Paddy Poker players can either attempt to qualify through daily sit and go turbo and daily feeder games or pay €192 for a guaranteed spot at the virtual tables.

The 2012 Irish Winter Festival is scheduled to begin on Friday, 26th October and will take place at Dublin, Ireland's Burlington Hotel while Paddy Power Poker's Irish Winter Festival Mega Satellite is set for Sunday, 14th October.

2012 World Championships of Online Poker Wraps Up

                The conclusion of the 2012 World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) has marked the end of one of the poker season's most buzzed-about events. As always the Championships' main event saw some of the fiercest competition, showcasing the poker world's rising talent and demonstrating the continued success of PokerStars' tournament series.
                The 2012 WCOOP main event saw a Russian player with the handle 'maratik' triumph over the table, earning a cash prize in excess of one million dollars. maratik usually favours low stakes sit and go games but, despite a modest bankroll, made his way to WCOOP 2012's $5,200 buy-in main event by using a small reserve of 40 Pokerstars loyalty points. The player entered the main event having established a six-way deal with his competitors that would guarantee him $900,907 — already an impressive sum — but finished out the event having  managed to beat out nearly 2,000 competitors, taking home a staggering $1,000,907. maratik went into the final hand with a comfortable chip lead over Canada's Ryan 'TheCart3r' Carter and managed to defeat his opposition to earn the title of 2012 WCOOP main event winner. Despite his loss, TheCart3r pocketed $662,516.
                A press release from PokerStars described the success of the event, detailing that 2012 saw "126,041 tournament entries as opposed to [2011's] 119,832." It also showed that the total prize pool for this year's World Championships of Online Poker topped out at $9.125 million, a substantial increase over PokerStars' $30 million guarantee and "an increase of more than seven million dollars on 2011's total."

Full Tilt Poker Executive Pleads Guilty to Criminal Charges

The worst of the Black Friday legal indictments may be over for many companies, but for some of the key players in the debacle the real implications of the scandal may have just begun. 41 year old Nelson Burtnick, the former payment processing director for Full Tilt Poker, has just plead guilty to charges of conspiracy related to his company's seizure by American authorities last year.

Burtnick, a Canadian citizen who lived in Dublin, Ireland while working for Full Tilt, was one of the eleven indicted by the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice on Black Friday. He was charged with "conspiracy to deceive U.S. financial institutions" and, last month, turned himself in to authorities to stand trial for his alleged crimes. At a hearing in the U.S. Federal District Court last Wednesday, Burtnick plead guilty to his charges, admitting that he and other Full Tilt employees had fraudulently processed e-cheques, miscoded credit card transactions and hidden gambling funding transfers through third-party payment processors. These illegal actions were taken in an effort to hide billions of dollars of Full Tilt Poker transactions from the U.S. government and avoid running afoul of American anti-Internet gambling laws.

Nelson Burtnick testified that, even though he "knew what [he] did was wrong" he "had to do this type of deception to enable U.S. poker players to load their accounts with funds." Burtnick's sentencing will take place on 19th December, 2012 and could result in a punishment of up to 15 years in prison.

888 Gaming Network Announces Record-Breaking Payouts

As shown in 888 Holdings’ new total payout record, there’s good reason for the immense popularity of the company’s network of online poker, casino and sportbooking services. 888, demonstrating just how much it’s been able to pay out to its members, has just announced record-breaking cash prize figures awarded to its players throughout September.

888 Holdings currently owns the 888Casino.com, 888Sport.com and 888Poker.com domains, all well-received by the company’s legions of fans. In providing press with last month’s prize payout figures, 888 has revealed that, through only 30 days, it rewarded 43,000 fans with some $356 million in cash. This staggering amount was the largest yet awarded by 888 Holdings (and is the company’s highest monthly record since 2008) and sets a new record that competing online casinos, poker networks and sportsbooking services will have a hard time matching anytime soon.

With such a large amount of cash being paid out now looks like a good time to register an account at any of the 888 websites. 888.com’s Senior Vice-President, Itai Pazner, told press that the company considered their $356 million month a demonstration of “the real life-changing potential of 888.com’s games” and congratulated “all [888’s] September winners on their good fortune.”

PKR.com Expands PKRTV with New Comedy Videos

One of the best aspects of PKR.com comes from the online poker site’s concentration on creating great original video content. The latest announcement from PKR recognizes this, adding a brand new comedy series to the company’s YouTube-based PKRTV.
The light-hearted show stars Ashley Hames and other poker fans attempting to keep a straight face while being distracted in extreme ways. In homage to the difficulty of maintaining a neutral “poker face” while under immense pressure, the PKRTV program features Hames and crew doing their best to remain unfazed by splashes of water, slaps and, most notably, being pelted with the components of a full English breakfast. The new comedy episodes join PKRTV’s regular line-up of videos, bringing some laughs to the channel’s existing body of interviews with poker professionals and video captures from the high-profile online games and big wins played out through the
PKR.com website. Expanding on PKRTV is part of a larger push toward making PKR.com an ideal home for poker fans of all types. Along with electronic versions of PKR’s Stacked magazine, PKRTV is meant to help create and foster a community of live and online players who can discuss their love of the game with others through a single multimedia network.
A statement from
PKR.com described the company’s ongoing efforts toward striking the right “balance between online and live play”, a process wherein PKR hopes to provide quality entertainment for “everyone in the community.”  PKRTV is available through PKR.com’s YouTube channel of the same name.

PokerStars Announces Full Tilt Poker Purchase

The long period of legal and financial trouble that has plagued Full Tilt Poker has finally reached a definite conclusion with the online poker network’s buyout by none other than former competitor, PokerStars. An agreement between PokerStars and the United States Department of Justice has just been finalized, meaning that Full Tilt Poker will once again open for international business and, most importantly, be able to reimburse members still waiting to access money from their locked accounts.
                PokerStars have agreed to pay a total of $547 million over the next three years in order to assume complete ownership of Full Tilt Poker. For many the best aspect of this news involves the fact that any money frozen in Full Tilt members’ accounts will soon be paid back as part of the buyout. PokerStars announced that “outstanding balances owing to all non-US customers, an amount totaling $184 million” will be made available “with no restrictions on withdrawals within 90 days of completing this transaction.” With player reimbursements settled, PokerStars will get to work on re-launching Full Tilt Poker under a new, independent management team.
                PokerStars’ Chairman, Mark Scheinberg, told press that his company is “delighted [to] have been able to put this matter behind us” and described how the acquisition “strengthens
PokerStars.com [while bringing] relief to FullTiltPoker.com players who have been waiting over twelve months for repayment.”

Sky Poker Offers Up Extra Poker Prizes and Grand Final Seats

Poker competitors who either can’t afford or haven’t found a good time to enter into the upcoming Sky Poker Tour are getting another chance from the popular online poker network. Alongside plenty of extra prizes, Sky Poker is now offering up opportunities to win a seat into the finale of its tournament series through a brand new promo series.
                The promotion in question, Jackpot Boost, will give skilled players the ability to prove themselves through Sky Poker’s 8pm tournaments. Competitors who win one of these regular tournaments will be entered into a mini-tournament (beginning 15 minutes later). If they manage to win both of these events they’ll be awarded with a seat into the Sky Poker Tour Grand Final. Vying for the seat has, historically, been well worth a full evening of tough competition. Sky member ‘alan1506’, competing in a similar promo earlier this year, managed to win £3,415 in prize money along with £6,800 (for an impressive £10,620 total). This year Sky Poker will also be increasing their prize pool with an additional £1,000 in cash and a running jackpot that resets to £5,000 each time its hit.
                The Sky Poker Grand Final will take place at Nottingham, England’s Dusk Till Dawn on 8
th and 9th September, 2012. The event comes with a massive £75,000 prize pool and a shot at gaining recognition in one of the year’s most exciting live events.

PartyPoker Drops High Stakes Cash Games from Website Line-Up

It’s rare that an online gaming network removes rather than adds to its line-up of gameplay options, but that’s exactly what renowned poker site PartyPoker has just announced. Players who enjoy participating in high stakes competition will be disappointed to hear that this style of poker will no longer be offered at the site.
                As mentioned above, PartyPoker has decided to drop a wide range of high stakes cash games from its network. The high stakes games in question include all no limit hold ‘em bouts played for amounts of $10/$20 or higher and limit competitions with stakes set at $30/$60 and above. Curious PartyPoker members and industry observers have speculated on the decision to remove these games, the consensus being that the move is meant to keep players engaged in competitions for longer periods of time without running through their bankrolls too quickly. Within the revised stakes levels, the richest cash games are now limited to $5/$10 no limit hold ‘em and Omaha tables.
                A statement from PartyPoker described the decision to remove high stakes games as a way for the network to “make improvements to [its] poker ecology” and a move made to benefit its “players’ best interests.” The press release went on to state how PartyPoker “believes this change will improve the action at our tables and the poker room as a whole.” Only time will tell whether players agree that the dropped games constitute a genuine improvement to the PartyPoker experience or simply limit playing options.

PKR.com Unveils Software Update and New Site Features

PKR.com, never content to rest on its laurels, has just announced yet another software update. The latest revision of the online poker network not only improves on the existing interface, but also improves the user experience by adding new features.
                The latest
PKR.com facelift has, as always, been designed to provide players with the most immersive virtual poker option on the internet. The latest improvements bring practical, game-focused updates like a reiterated multi-tabling system that allows players to more easily rearrange, resize and reformat up to nine currently open windows. Alongside this is the introduction of a beta quickplay feature. The trial version of PKR.com’s quickplay looks to make getting into a favourite style of poker game as quick as possible while also allowing players to try out a hand replay tool where past hands can be recorded and/or posted to YouTube. In a further extension of its detailed avatar system, PKR has now added a “virtual drinks” feature where player points can be used to buy pints of beer, shots of liquor and other cocktail for themselves or friends. The last piece of the update sees PKR adding a “luxury yacht” to its line-up of table environments.
               
PKR.com’s Chief Operating Officer, Leon Walters, told press that players “who enjoy a more social poker experience will love the ability to buy drinks” while “hardcore multi-tablers will appreciate the new multiple windows feature” and “hand replay tool.” Members of the PKR.com network are able to hop onto their site of choice now to try out the new software features for themselves.

PokerStars Announces Schedule for 2012 World Championships of Online Poker

The eleventh edition of PokerStars’ World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) is fast approaching and now the online poker network has announced the schedule for its beloved tournament series.
                From 2
nd September through until 24th September of this fall, PokerStars will be hosting a massive series comprised of some 62 games. Beginning with a $215 buy-in six-max no limit hold ‘em tournament, the 2012 WCOOP will go on to include games of stud, razz, Horse, Badugi, eight-game, Omaha and hold ‘em poker. These styles of play will be offered to competitors as knockout, shootouts, heads-up, four and six max, turbo and big ante tournaments that accommodate bankrolls of all sizes (buy-ins set at amounts as little as $109 to as large as $10,300). The series comes to a conclusion with a $5,200 buy-in Main Event with an enormous $1 million guaranteed jackpot prize. These events can be bought into directly or entered via upcoming satellite games.
                A statement from PokerStars describing the 2012 WCOOP detailed last year’s event as a massive success, featuring a “bank-busting, guarantee smashing $47,120,800 in prize monies.” The statement went on to add that this year’s series is “going to be [as] sensational” as last year. PokerStars’ 2012 World Championships of Online Poker begins in September. Further prize guarantee figures will be announced as PokerStars continues to finalize the amounts on offer to WCOOP players.

PokerStars Signs Tennis Pro Rafael Nadal to Sponsorship Deal

PokerStars has just completed an agreement that will now see its brand being championed by one of the most popular sports star in the world. Spanish tennis champion Rafael Nadal is the latest addition to PokerStars line-up of sports ambassadors, having just joined on as a member of Team SportsStars.
                The 26 year old Nadal is one of the most notable tennis professionals playing the game today, having won eleven Grand Slam championships, a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics and currently being slated to play in this year’s London Games. Aside from his accomplishments in tennis Nadal also loves playing poker, a passion that informed his decision to sign onto PokerStars’ Team SportsStars. Along with other sports figures (like Fatima Moreira de Melo and Boris Becker), Nadal will be joining in online poker tournaments while helping to promote the game both in his native Spain and abroad through charity events and advertising initiatives.
                Rafael Nadal released a statement that described his decision to join Team SportsStars, stating that “I love to compete” and “[am] very happy to be working with PokerStars.” PokerStars’ Chairman, Mark Scheinberg, shared the excitement, describing how his company is “proud to have Rafael as an ambassador for the bran.” Nadal will compete in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London (beginning on Friday, 27
th July) and will begin appearing at PokerStars events in the near future.

Sky Poker Debuts New Poker School Feature

Fans of online poker, both novices and experienced players, can always benefit from a bit of advice on how to improve their game. Sky Poker is looking to supply this kind of help through a brand new site feature that offers guidance on poker play.
                Sky Poker’s latest initiative allows interested site members to learn from a series of tutorial videos and special forums. To help provide the best possible advice Sky has hired on expert poker instructors/media personalities like Richard Orford, James Hartigan and Travis Harris to star in clips that detail a wide range of essential strategies and tactics. Each of the virtual instructors come to Sky with a wealth of experience, Orford having worked with Sky Poker in the past, Hartigan with Sky Sports, Channel 4, EuroSport and the Poker Channel and Harris coming from a career in sports journalism and broadcasting. Aside from these videos, Sky Poker has also opened up a special forum thread called “Play My Hand” (within the Sky Poker School section) that gives players the ability to ask for help with specific hands and play situations.
                A statement from Sky Poker described the launch of its new poker school site additions as a great way to improve on elements of their players’ game, adding that the company’s “team of experts has a vast amount of experience and are capable of providing insightful analysis and useful guidance.”

PokerStars Offers World Championship of Online Poker Radio Coverage

Poker fans excited for the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) will be able to keep up with every detail of the prestigious tournament with help from PokerStars. The online poker website has just announced that its PokerStars Radio will make a 2012 return, providing listeners with comprehensive coverage of the event.
                This September will be dominated by news coming out from the latest edition of the popular World Championship of Online Poker. Running throughout the majority of the month, the WCOOP will see the emergence of new talent and plenty of exciting moments throughout its line-up of more than 60 games. PokerStars, in a return to its 2011 radio coverage of the event, will be bringing up to the minute reports to fans as they happen. PokerStars Radio will consist of a daily WCOOP show hosted by Joe Stapleton, Matt Broughton and Nick Wealthall. PokerStars plans to keep its audio coverage fresh by giving listeners far more than just the facts: Stapleton, Broughton and Wealthall will also provide interviews with noted poker professionals, online tournaments, live phone-in discussions, quizzes and much more.
                The decision to bring back PokerStars Radio's WCOOP coverage comes from the warm reception the show was greeted with last year. Joe Stapleton told press that "poker players and fans love the format and really connect with the live interactive elements." The World Championship of Online Poker has already begun and will consist of 65 events with a $30 million total guaranteed prize pool.

PKR.com Invites Members to Enjoy a Virtual Drink

PKR.com maintains a well deserved reputation for being the most technologically progressive online poker network. With the unveiling of its latest feature, a new addition that came alongside PKR's recent software update, this commitment to innovation is set to continue.
                The new feature allows
PKR.com players to further simulate aspects of live poker competition through their site of choice. Virtual drinks, ready to be bought for oneself or another member, have now arrived at PKR in an effort to make the platform's 3D poker rooms more realistic than ever before. These drinks can be "purchased" in exchange for PKR points and have been carefully modeled to look and sound as authentic as possible. Pints of beer, cups of coffee in polyester cups and mojitos that are detailed enough to allow players to "hear the ice cubes clink against their glass" when their avatar takes a sip have all been added to the PKR.com bar.
               
PKR.com's software update press release was enthusiastic about the addition of its unorthodox new feature, calling the virtual drinks "great fun." The statement went on to describe the gameplay possibilities of ordering these fake drinks, detailing how "buying a cocktail for a guy you just destroyed in a hand can be seen as [either] a polite gesture or the ultimate insult." Virtual drinks are available now as part of PKR.com's recent software update.

Party Poker Offers Up Satellite Tournaments for World Poker Tour Vienna Stop

Party Poker is doing its best to give its most talented members a shot at competing in one of this fall's most anticipated live events. Its latest promotion offers up a series of weekly satellite tournaments that award winners with a massive prize package featuring main event buy-in to the Vienna leg of the World Poker Tour.
                Party Poker players who want to prove their talent by going up against some of the most skilled players in the industry will now have a great chance to do so, regardless of the size of their bankroll. The site's WPT Vienna promotion has already begun and is set to take place on Sunday afternoons in the weeks leading up to the event itself. The satellites can be bought into at $200 +$15 or through feeder satellites and provide each week's winner with a lavish prize package. Each of these packages is valued at $4,000 and includes hotel accommodations, spending money and entry to the WPT Vienna €1,000 Main Event. Party Poker's WPT organizers have further sweetened the deal by setting up the €1,000,000 Guaranteed €500 + €50 Freezeout Concord Million just days (and a few kilometres) away from the WPT's home at Vienna's Concord Card Casino.
                Speaking to press, Party Poker described its satellite series as "a great opportunity for players to boost their bankroll" and highlighted the Concord Million as a "chance to make [their] package money go much further than it normally would." Ambitious satellite winners will enjoy a perfect opportunity to make their trip to Vienna a memorable one, packed with several days of poker play.

PKR.com Provides Poker Advice Through Raise Your Game Tutorial Series

Poker — especially the Hold 'Em style most popular today — isn't a particularly difficult game to learn the rules to, but mastering it can take a lifetime. In order to help its members with this learning curve, online poker site PKR.com has just launched a new series of tutorials.
                "Raise Your Game" takes the form of an ongoing collection of helpful videos, fielding information ranging from 6-max basics to in-depth ring game strategies.
PKR.com has drawn on the knowledge and experience of its team of experts to create a comprehensive set of lessons that cover different areas of poker, providing invaluable tips for those who enjoy a quick table game as well as fans of high stakes tournaments. "Raise Your Game" is available alongside "How to Play", making PKR.com the ideal location for first-time poker players, seasoned veterans and everyone in between. The star power available through PKR also lends the series substantial credibility. Recent features include breakdowns of career-changing hands from the poker professionals who played them and crucial tips on how to avoid commonly encountered mistakes.
                PKR told press that "Raise Your Game" was designed as the site's "way of helping more players enjoy online poker" and a great way to work on "perfecting [their] style of play." The new series is a smart move, allowing
PKR.com to become an invaluable resource for players of all skill levels and a great place to kick off a new online poker account.

Paddy Power Poker Launches New Oktoberfest Themed Promotion

Paddy Power Poker is already making big plans for this year’s Oktoberfest. In order to help celebrate the world famous beer festival the poker network has just launched a new promotion that will send three lucky competitors to Munich, Germany to celebrate the event in style.
                Paddy Power’s Pokertoberfest has already begun and will run until 9
th September. The promotion requires Paddy Power members to register for the event before they’re sorted into different competition categories based on their past performance. Players with 500 Power Points (or more) are automatically entered into the €4,500 Pokertoberfest Freeroll — an event that offers a chance at a share of €1,000 in cash and/or an Oktoberfest prize package. Paddy Power members who have participated in a grand final leaderboard and three points races will be able to compete in a freeroll that comes with €7,750 and, for the event’s winner, an Oktoberfest prize package. Players who have won two points races and a grand final leaderboard will be able to play in yet another event that comes with €6,750 and an Oktoberfest package. The three Pokertoberfest prize packages are valued at €3,500 and include a sightseeing trip through Munich (sponsored by Segway), a guided tour of the city’s best restaurants and eateries, two nights of accommodations, VIP dinners, free entry and, of course, access to one of the best Oktoberfest parties taking place at one of Munich’s nightclubs.
                A statement from Paddy Power Poker described its Pokertoberfest as a great “way to banish the summer blues” and “hit Oktoberfest this autumn with some of [Paddy’s] loyal players.”

Paddy Power Poker Provides Details for Its Upcoming Irish Winter Festival

The autumn months are usually pretty slow ones for poker players, but this year Paddy Power Poker hopes to change this trend with its Irish Winter Festival 2012. The tournament series (named Winter Festival despite it taking place in October) will run for four days and give competitors plenty of great events to compete in.

The 2012 edition of Irish Winter Festival will be hosted at Dublin’s Burlington Hotel and begins on 26th October with a €115 buy-in no limit hold ‘em re-buy satellite tournament. Winners will receive 35 of the 40 seats on offer for the three day long main event kicking off on the following day. The main event begins on 27th October, featuring a €1,125 buy-in for those who haven’t already won their seats. The same day will host a six-handed no limit hold ‘em freezeout (€135 buy-in) in the afternoon and a turbo variation later in the evening (€55 buy-in). The following day comes with a two day no limit hold ‘em freezeout (€335 buy-in), a two day pot limit Omaha tournament (€225 buy-in) and a doubles no limit hold’ em competition (€55 buy-in per person). The last day of the Festival (29th October) will see the conclusion of the multi-day events along with another no limit hold ‘em freezeout (€115 buy-in) and the €115 Irish Mythical Championship.

To make it easier for Paddy Power Poker members to get involved with the Festival, the site is offering weekly, Sunday night super satellites that award talented players with entry to the series’ main event.

PKR.com Changes Up Multi-Table Tournament Schedule in Recent Revision

Members of the widely acclaimed online poker network PKR.com are set to enjoy more multi-table tournament play than ever before with the launch of a new revision to the site’s tournament schedule. The changes, informed by feedback garnered from the site’s players, will help to diversify tournament options while adding in a few new features as well.

The biggest changes to PKR.com’s multi-table tournament schedule come from the addition of a wide variety of new daily events. These tournaments have been designed with the implementation of PKR.com member feedback firmly in mind, bringing a larger range of stakes levels (especially for micro and low stakes players) and time zone accommodations to the roster of events. These changes are meant to make the tournaments more accessible than ever before, giving players from different locations — and with various bankroll sizes — the opportunity to compete in games with greater convenience. Alongside format changes that standardize buy-ins and improve play by changing from ten to nine seat tables, PKR will also be hosting a daily Lab feature that allows players to compete in experimental formats and themed games every night.

PKR.com’s Poker Room Manager, Neil Wright, released a statement that detailed the changes being implemented to the site’s multi-table tournament schedule. Wright called the revision “an exciting makeover” and “a work in progress” that will “add even more innovative choices to ensure [a] schedule as dynamic as the [site’s] software itself.”

Paddy Power Poker Catches Football Fever with the Euro 2012 €10,000 Goal Predictor Promo

The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 212) has captured the attention of much of the world and smart online gaming providers have launched promotions meant to capitalize on the excitement. Paddy Power Poker, taking advantage of Europe’s football fever, has just launched a brand new game meant to bring some of the fun of Euro 2012 to their internet poker site.

Paddy’s Euro 2012 €10,000 Goal Predictor promotion takes the form of a leaderboard race where fans of this month’s ongoing football tournament can attempt to predict the outcome of the games in Poland and Ukraine from the comfort of their own homes. Paddy Power Poker players earn points for every time they’re able to accurately predict goals before a given Euro 2012 game. The most points are awarded when the prediction is correct, but Paddy will also provide players with some points simply for making a guess at all. Bonuses will be applied to the participants’ banked points throughout the tournament and the winner will receive €3,000 and a signed shirt. The runner-up will be given €2,000 and an official match ball while third place takes home €1,000. Lesser cash prizes will also be available in amounts ranging from €500 to €100. Daily cash prizes and other limited bonuses will be made available as the promotion goes on throughout the month.

A statement from Paddy Power Poker described how the Euro 2012 €10,000 Goal Predictor was conceived in an attempt to “liven [this month] up” with a promo where every member is able to “put their soccer prediction skills to the test.

PKR.com Branches Into Social Media with New Facebook App

Social media makes up a huge part of a modern business’ success and PKR.com, the critically acclaimed online poker network, is using this fact to boost their brand awareness and customer engagement. The latest social strategy from PKR involves the launch of a brand new Facebook app and an innovative way for the site’s members to win prizes while following along with the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

PKR’s new Facebook app — Fantasy Poker League — allows users to create a personalized team of eight poker pros (from a list of 180 well-known names) in either a public or private league. App users then take on the role of a league manager and watch to see how their team performs across the 59 events of the 2012 WSOP. Points are awarded depending on the real world wins and losses of the selected players. The user who creates the most successful poker team will receive an iPad 3. Those who place below the champion will be given poker chip sets that commemorate their participation.

Dan Grant, PKR.com’s Community Manager, explained the concept behind his company’s new app by detailing how the poker world lacked a proper fantasy sports option for its biggest annual event. His statement mentioned that Fantasy Poker League should help fans to follow “poker’s biggest stars more closely and [share] in their success.” The app is PKR’s first on Facebook.

PokerStars Breaks Records, Named Among “Best Workplace in the UK”

PokerStars has come a long way from the setbacks that rocked the online poker network following last year’s Black Friday legal indictments. 2012 has seen the company rebounding from its troubles in a major way, breaking records and even earning the honour of being named one of the “Best Workplaces in the UK.”

The first achievement comes following the conclusion of the latest edition of PokerStars’ Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP). This year’s SCOOP paid out a total prize pool of $65,332,179 (topping 2010’s $64.2 million) across its 120 tournaments and 40 events, setting the record for the largest online poker tournament series to date. Broken into three bankroll levels, the 20120 SCOOP Main Event recorded 517 members at the High level ($10,300 buy-in), 3, 567 at Medium ($1,050 buy-in) and 22,128 players at Low ($109). These type of numbers — a total of more than 526,000 players overall — helped to break PokerStars’ SCOOP registrant numbers and establish the landmark record.

Adding to the massive success of this year’s SCOOP was the Great Place to Work Institute, a workplace assessment consulting firm, awarding PokerStars as one of the United Kingdom’s best workplaces. The Institute surveyed employees and performs “cultural audits”, scoring company results in credibility, pride, fairness and other factors against other businesses in their nation. PokerStars’ high rank came from the many developmental opportunities it offers employees, its diverse workforce and the generous number of employee benefits and perks it offers.

Software Updates and New Features Arrive at Sky Poker

Sky Poker continues to offer its members a fantastic gaming experience with new promotions and, most recently, an upgrade that brings changes to the site’s software and feature set. These new improvements are planned to launch in the very near future and will enhance the poker play on offer from Sky.

Most exciting of the updates are the three new features that will be brought to the site. The first of the new improvements is a lobby filter feature that allows players to set the Sky software to mark whenever they log on or off the site. The second sees Sky Poker reconfiguring how its stakes filter works. High stakes will now show £2.50/£5 tables, medium at £0.50/£1, low at £0.10/£0.20 and micro reset to display £0.02/£0.04. Sit and Go games have also been affected by these changes. The third update will be brought to tournaments and involves the introduction of a five minute break once every hour during play, allowing competitors to clear their heads without missing any of the action. Along with these changes, Sky has just launched the Early Bird bonus, a promotion that gives players a shot at earning extra Poker Points during a four hour period.

Sky Poker told press that the three new updates and the Early Bird bonus will be introduced one by one over the coming weeks. The company also stated that its decision to implement these changes was part of a greater business strategy aimed at “enhancing [site] usability and introducing new features [that] benefit customers.”

Marvin Rettenmaier Signs to Team Party Poker

Party Poker’s squad of sponsored players/brand ambassadors continues to look better and better as the site signs yet another up and comer from the world of professional poker. The latest addition to the team is Germany’s Marvin Rettenmaier, a young player who has already made a serious mark in competitive games across the world.

25 year old Rettenmaier was born in Stuttgart, Germany, now lives in London, England, is an avid guitarist and holds a degree in Management and Business Law. Until recently he played as a member of Titan Poker’s team of professionals, but has now been snatched up by Party Poker. Rettenmaier has cashed $1.7 million through live tournament play, his biggest earnings to date coming from his impressive victory in last year’s France Poker Series. He is the second German currently signed on as a member of Team Party Poker, joining the renowned Bodo Sbrzesny as a representative of the country.

Marvin Rettenmaier played his first event as a member of Team Party Poker at the World Poker Tour World Championship in Las Vegas. Speaking to press about his decision to join up with the squad, Rettenmaier said that “it feels like a natural move” and that he is “looking forward to representing them in WPT events and beyond.” The remarkable accomplishments Rettenmaier has managed in his brief time as a professional poker player should prove his ability to properly represent Party Poker in the future.

Diamond Jubilee Celebrations Come to Sky Poker

With all of Britain getting ready to help celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s rapidly approaching Diamond Jubilee, popular online poker network, Sky Poker has announced plans to add to the festivities. Sky’s Diamond Jubilee tournament series will launch next month, coinciding with Elizabeth II’s 60th year anniversary as Queen.

The Diamond Jubilee tournaments come with a £60,000 total prize guarantee, made available to competitors through a number of special games. The promotion gets underway with Saturday, 2nd June’s £10,000 Super Bounty (with a £22 buy-in), an event that will begin at 8pm and be broadcast over SkyPoker TV as it plays out. On 3rd June, Sky’s series will continue with the £20,000 Jubilee Super Roller (with a £110 buy-in) and a Bounty Hunter tournament (with a £5,000 prize pool) before moving on to the 4th’s second Bounty Hunter event, this time with a £10,000 guaranteed prize pool. Tuesday, 5th June will finish out the celebrations with a £22 buy-in, £5,000 guaranteed open competition and a one hour, £4,000 timed tournament.

Sky Poker’s statement described the Diamond Jubilee tournament series as a great way to enjoy some spare time during “the extra days off work” that the Jubilee brings with it. Interested players will certainly have a lot of great poker to get into as the event kicks off on Saturday, 2nd June and runs through until the 5th.

Sky Poker Awards Every New Player with Free Token

Players looking for a reason to sign up for an account at Sky Poker have just been given some extra incentive with the launch of a new promotion. Now looks to be a great time to register at the site as Sky has decided to offer up a token to every one of its new members that can be exchanged for real tournament money.

The free “Tournament Token” up for grabs is worth £5 and can be redeemed by players who choose to enter into any of the site’s roster of Sit and Go tournaments. To claim it, new Sky Poker members only need to head over to their account page and find the offer through the “Promotions” section or enter a special promotional code (“Poker&rdquoWinking when signing up for their account. Sky has also extended the offer to current members, providing one Tournament Token for every 75 loyalty points players earn while competing at real money tables. While these Tokens can be “bought” for points multiple times, the free sign-up Token can only be redeemed once.

A statement from Sky Poker explained the site’s choice of offering the Tournament Token to new players, describing how the voucher provides “a great way of practicing your poker prowess” and “the chance to play a few duds or win big.” The Tournament Token promotion has already launched and is available to new and existing members now.

Team PokerStars Pro’s Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom Wins Big at 2012 SCOOP Tournament

Sweden’s Viktor Blom (who plays under the handle ‘Isildur1&rsquoWinking has been making a big name for himself in recent years. With his victory at the 2012 PokerStars’ Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) his career looks to be continuing on an upswing.

Blom took part in this year’s SCOOP as a member of Team PokerStars Pro, making good on his endorsement by winning two events and cashing out more than $407,000 in the process. This year’s edition of the massive online tournament series (which continues to run until Sunday, 20th May) features a total of forty tournament events that allows players of all bankroll sizes to compete — and win big prizes — according to their budget. Blom sat in on a Monday night medium buy-in (Event 2) and beat out more than 8,000 players throughout the $215 No Limit Hold ‘Em event. After cashing $247,200 from his first place win he went on to take down 485 competitors, winning $160,000, at the following evening’s high stakes buy-in (Event 3) No Limit Hold ‘Em 6 Max (with rebuys) event.

The 21 year-old Swedish player, now living in London, England, has had a great year at the tables. Earlier in 2012 Blom won $100,000 in the PCA High Roller tournament series. His recent wins have marked his current 2012 earnings at roughly $1.3 million. Viktor ‘Isildur1’ Blom plans to continue his meteoric rise to poker stardom by competing in his first World Series of Poker this summer where he is sure to be carefully watched by competitors and spectators alike.

Everest Poker Offers Players a Shot at Competing in the 2012 WSOP’s Event 54

Keen-eyed poker players have been able to enjoy a surplus of opportunities to prove their skills through online satellites and win their way into this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP). The latest offer comes from Everest Poker and Austria’s Montesino Casino and will provide winners with entry to the WSOP’s illustrious Event 54.

Everest Poker has recently announced a partnership with Montesino Casino that will provide members of the site with an upcoming satellite event, hosted at the famous venue. Beginning on Friday, 1st June, Everest players will be able to enter into the two day Live Vegas Satellite for a €165 buy-in (and €150 re-buy option) and test their luck and skill against other live competitors, eager to win their way into the 2012 WSOP. This highly sought after prize package, valued at some $4,000, includes seven nights of accommodations in Las Vegas, airfare, $1,600 in spending cash and the $1,000 buy-in to the WSOP’s Event 54 (a three day No Limit Hold ‘Em Tournament scheduled to begin on 1st July). Everest Members can enter the Live Vegas Satellite by buying in directly or competing in a newly launched series of satellites (with buy-ins as low as $33) and freerolls.

Everest Poker told press that their goal was to “[make] it easier than ever to get to Las Vegas this summer” and, considering the generosity of the prize packages on offer, they certainly have done so. Players can buy in to Live Vegas Satellite now or check Everest Poker for upcoming satellite and freeroll events.

PokerStars May Be Ready to Announce Full Tilt Poker Acquisition Plans

It’s been an interesting year for fans of Full Tilt Poker. Following the Black Friday legal scandals that rocked the online poker world in 2011, Full Tilt Poker found itself in a precarious position where it was left without an operator’s license, trying to reestablish itself as a business and find a way to reimburse site members without the revenue to do so. Now, disgruntled players may get the outstanding money they’ve been waiting for as new developments come to the troubled poker platform.

The latest news regarding Full Tilt Poker will come as quite a shock to many industry observers: renowned online poker network PokerStars may be about to acquire the site. This comes after a deal by Groupe Bernard Tapie — an agreement that looked like it was finally going to bring an end to the Full Tilt story with a purchase of the company — fell through, leaving site members in the lurch. Groupe Bernard Tapie was unable to agree to terms regarding paying back player funds causing the potential deal to fall through. Now reports have come in claiming that PokerStars has picked up where Groupe Bernard Tapie left off, coming to a settlement with the United States Department of Justice (current holders of the Full Tilt license) that would see the site making the purchase and providing wronged Full Tilt Poker members with the money they’re owed.

For now the acquisition is still only rumoured, but, if PokerStars does decide to go through with the purchase they can be expected to pay around $750 million in finalizing the deal. Further details should appear sometime in the near future.

Everest Poker Launches 2012 World Series of Poker Promotion

As the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP) looms closer and closer, many online poker sites are offering up opportunities for talented players to win their way to the illustrious event. The latest WSOP themed promotion comes from Everest Poker and will see a number of the site’s members heading to Las Vegas to take part in this year’s festivities.

The new promo series from Everest is designed with getting skilled competitors on their way toward the World Series of Poker, the biggest event of the poker season. Everest’s offering takes the form of weekly, Monday events that give players with even the smallest bankrolls a chance at proving their skills at the 2012 WSOP. These weekly events come are set at a standard $109 buy-in, but can also be entered through satellites (from as low as $1.50 buy-ins) or by cashing at tournaments like the $1 Steps Sit and Go. Winners will receive a fabulous prize package (valued at $4,000) that includes seven nights of accommodations at either the Palazzo or Venetian hotels in Las Vegas (worth $1,400), airfare, $700 in cash and, most importantly, buy-in to the 2012 WSOP’s Event 54.

A statement from Everest Poker sold the promotion as a great way to “become the next world poker champion” by competing in “the ultimate live tournament.” Event 54 is a three day no-limit hold ‘em tournament with buy-ins set at $1,000. It will kick off on 1st July at noon with Everest Poker hopefuls eligible to win their prize packages from now until 11th June.

PokerStars Sends Site Members to India for the 2012 Casino Royale Cup

Winning entry to a live poker event is incentive enough for most players to compete in their favourite sites’ promotions, but PokerStars is looking to do one better by coupling free tournament entry with a trip abroad. The Casino Royale Cup, scheduled to take place toward the end of June, will be held in Goa, India and PokerStars is looking to send the winners of its current promotion abroad to take part.

Members of PokerStars will be able to compete in satellite tournaments that reward the most talented competitors with a fantastic prize package. These satellites will see players duking it out for a shot at taking home a reward that includes buy-in to the Casino Royale Cup’s $1,000 Main Event, reduced rates at Goa, India’s Goa Marriott Resort and Spa (situated on Miramar Beach) and more. Winners will play alongside members of Team PokerStars Pro, including Bryan Huang (the 2010 Asia Player of the Year) who has already confirmed his attendance.

Danny McDonagh, PokerStars’ Asia-Pacific Live Operations Director, released a statement detailing “the rise [of poker] in India” and his company’s delight in “[supporting] this fantastic event in Goa.” The Casino Royale Cup is scheduled to run from 21st to 24th June and will take place on a cruise ship, remodeled to host the luxurious Casino Royale. The Cup’s Main Event will run for three days.

Paddy Power Poker Members Receive New Loyalty Program

Paddy Power Poker members are set to receive better, more personalized rewards now that the site has decided to overhaul its loyalty program. The revamped system has been designed to provide players of all skill levels with fantastic rewards and continuous play incentives.

The biggest change in Paddy Power’s loyalty reward is the introduction of tiered “Paddy’s Power Rewards” levels. These levels (Power One to Power Four, Max Power and Max+ Power) filter players based on the amount of time they’ve spent playing online poker — and the number of Power Points they’ve accumulated — during a given month. This new system allows site members to enjoy competition in tournaments designed to appeal to their particular skill level and commitment to the game, every tier receiving access to special events, but higher level players being offered invites to the highest-stakes, biggest-reward tournaments. As part of the redesign, Paddy Power also shook up its Rewards Shop, creating a series of prizes suitable for any type of player (ranging from cash bonuses and hooded sweaters to iPad3s, luxury vacations and even Lamborghinis).

A statement released by Paddy Power Poker detailed the changes to its loyalty program, describing how the company has “revamped, remodeled and rebooted [its] rewards program to reflect the real needs and wants of [its] regular players” and decided to reinforce the idea that customer [loyalty] means lots of ways to score great prizes, free cash and brilliant bonuses.” The updated loyalty program is already live and Paddy Power Poker is celebrating by providing players with double points until Wednesday, May 2nd.

Sky Poker Marks Five Millionth Hand with Giveaway

Sky Poker has been eagerly anticipating reaching the landmark of five million hands dealt in recent months and now the milestone has been met. In order to help celebrate the achievement the site gave out some exceptional prizes to competitors.

The five millionth hand was dealt this month, marking an enormous milestone that saw several lucky members of the site rewarded with iPad tablets and cash. The five iPads on offer were given away to every player who was able to take part in a game of poker that fell within 100 hands before or after the 50 millionth hand was dealt. These players also had to have earned a minimum of 50 poker points during the month of March to have been entered into the prize draw. Even better for Sky Poker is the coincidence of this April marking not just the landmark statistic, but the fifth birthday of the site as well. Sky took advantage of this to offer up a promotion that provided £100 to every one of the players who competed in the five millionth hand game, boosting the amount to £500 for the winner and doubling the payout they received from the site’s “cash for points” system.

A statement released by Sky Poker detailed the festivities and their achievement of the five millionth hand, describing how the “monumental figure” marked “a seminal moment in the history of our online poker room.” The statement went on to say that “Sky Poker is grateful and [that] no celebration would be complete without the key players, especially the 500th millionth one.

Team Bodog Signs Poker Professional, Jay Tan

Bodog Poker’s professional players/brand ambassadors, Team Bodog have just grown by one member. The site recently announced the addition of Hong Kong’s Jay Tan to its roster, expanding their line-up with one of the poker world’s fastest rising stars.

Jay Tan, a native of Los Angeles now living in Hong Kong, is a talented player and speaks three languages fluently. Tan has been making quite a name for herself in recent years. One of her most impressive showings was at the Macau Poker Club’s recent Red Dragon event where she finished second. Tan is the niece of famous American writer Amy Tan (The Joy Luck Club) and, aside from being skilled in poker, is an accomplished mahjong player as well. Bodog Poker continues to make forays into the every expanding Asian poker market, signing Tan (who speaks fluent Mandarin, Cantonese and English) after having launched Chinese language support for its online casino platform.

Considering the continuing growth of poker in Asia, Tan felt that Bodog was a smart choice for her sponsorship, stating that “[Bodog] seems to really understand the Asian market” and that the site’s anonymous tables are a great choice for a demographic of competitors who “are new to the game and don’t want to be beaten by players who are unfairly using their own playing data against them.” Bodog Poker’s Vice President, Jonas Odman, agreed with her points and added that “with Jay as the face of the brand we can take things a step further” in the Asian market.

Party Poker Offers Qualifiers for the 2012 World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is the biggest event of the year for poker competitors and spectators alike. The series’ 2012 edition is fast approaching and Party Poker is looking to celebrate the festivities by giving its players a shot at winning their way to the prestigious tournaments.

Party Poker is now offering a series of prize packages that will send talented members of the site to Las Vegas, Nevada for the 2012 WSOP. Interested players are able to compete in a wide range of qualifiers and freerolls that provide fantastic rewards at buy-in levels appropriate for bankrolls of any size. These include the Daily Freeroll, the inexpensive $2 Daily Sub Qualifier Speed Rebuy, $4 Daily Sub Qualifier Speed Rebuy and $9 Daily Sub Qualifier Speed Rebuy. Winners from these events will be able to compete in the Daily $75+$5 Satellite Qualifier and, if successful there, play in the Sunday $700+$50 Qualifier. The top twenty from the Sunday tournaments will win Party Poker’s most highly sought after prize package (valued at some $14,000) which includes a seat at the $10,000 buy-in WSOP Main Event, $2,000 in spending money and ten nights of accommodations in Las Vegas.

Skilled poker players hoping to make their mark in the world of professional poker are being given an excellent opportunity to prove themselves through the site’s freerolls and qualifiers and should be sure to get started now while there’s still time to win. Party Poker’s qualifiers have already begun and will continue to run until 17th June, 2012.

Titan Poker Provides Cash Point Promotion Details

Avid online poker players who want to get a little bit more out of their time spent at the virtual tables will be pleased to hear the details of Titan Poker’s latest promotional offering. Cash Point, the promo in question, is set to reward the busiest players at the site from a pool of prizes totaling some $250,000.

Cash Point runs throughout most of April, taking the form of three weekly races. Players are able to take part in the promo by sitting down to play in no limit hold ‘em cash games during this period of time, earning participation points for every qualifying hand (defined by Titan as any hand that is played alongside a minimum of three post-flop players) they take part in. Extra leaderboard points, based on performance, are also amassed by players who win their cash games. Titan Poker will divide each points race into three separate groups (determined by the size of player stakes) where top earners will then receive their share of the money on offer throughout the promo.

In the statement detailing Cash Point issued by Titan Poker the company described how the promotion offered a great opportunity for “players with limited bankrolls” who hope to earn some extra cash by being one of the “over 1,000 players [who] finish ‘in the money’ during each week of the Cash Point races.” Cash Point ends on Sunday, 22nd April and, according to Titan, may return in future months.

Titan Poker’s Super Sale Lowers Tournament Prices for a Limited Time

Tournament players with a limited bankroll will be pleased to hear that Titan Poker has just launched a promotion that will temporarily lower buy-in prices. The event, dubbed Super Sale, kicks off on 1st April and provides several days of fantastic price reductions on big-money tournaments.

Next month’s promotion will see players receiving generous discounts on many of Titan’s most popular events. Competitors will be able to enter tournaments while paying anywhere from sixty to eighty percent less than usual on buy-ins. Among the reduced buy-ins are tournaments like the $40,000 Guaranteed High Roller Monday (set at $215 or 60% off), the $40,000 Guaranteed Super Tuesday (at $33 or 70% off), the Friday $60,000 Guaranteed (at $27.50) and Saturday’s $40,000 Freezout (at $38.50 or 65% off). Titan Poker’s weekly $200,000 Guaranteed will also change names, becoming Sunday Blast, and temporarily lower its buy-in to $109 (half off the usual rate). Aside from these discounted events, Titan is also encouraging players to check into the site throughout the week to take advantage of several other, lower-priced buy-in opportunities.

A statement from Titan Poker described the highlights of Super Sale and correctly promoted the special prices as a great way for “players of all bankrolls to secure their [tournament] seats at a very inexpensive cost.” Super Sale begins on Sunday, 1st April and returns for one day only on the first Sunday in June and July, 2012.

Betfred Poker Unveils New Site Redesign

Betfred’s poker offering has just undergone a software redesign that makes it easier for site members to play their favourite games. The update is already live and comes with a number of new features that make it easier for players to get into the games they want, check their site statistics and receive rewards based on their loyalty status.

The first new detail that members of Betfred Poker will notice is the lobby, the landing page having been changed to include stats like a hands-played and session counter along with a section that shows how many VIP points a player has accumulated and information on when they’re eligible to cash out points for prizes. Even more interesting is the site’s plan to change their loyalty system. Betfred announced that rewards will be enhanced, beginning on 1st April and that the new VIP system will make it “much more straightforward to cash in [points] for a variety of different bonuses and awards.”

The site is also celebrating the release of its redesign with the unveiling of a number of brand new games and some changes to how the rake is calculated at cash games. Betfred Poker released a statement describing the new software as looking “cleaner, slicker and more visually appealing” and providing account and game information “in a flash.”

Sky Poker Sends Skilled Players to Las Vegas with New Promo

very poker player wants to try their luck in Las Vegas, one of the world’s most popular gambling destinations, and, now, Sky Poker is giving them a chance to do so. The Viva Las Vegas promotion just launched by Sky is set to reward skilled competitors with lavish prize packages that will send winners to Sin City itself for a holiday filled with high-stakes action.

Members of Sky Poker can begin registering in Viva Las Vegas events now as the promotional series gets ready to take place over the next two and a half months. Players can enter into the games through daily satellites (with buy-ins set at £2.50) and, if one of the top five best competitors, continue into the £11.50 buy-in “quarter satellites.” One of the five from this stage will be able to enter the £52.50 buy-in quarter finals and, if their luck holds out, compete in the £240 buy-in semi-finals for a chance to win their way into the “grand finals.” These grand finals will take place once a week until the end of May, ultimately awarding the winners with prize packages that provide all-inclusive Vegas holidays (including flights, ten days of hotel accommodations and more) valued at some £10,000.

Sky Poker’s press release described the Viva Las Vegas prize as a “once-in-a-lifetime package” and, considering how far an initial £2.50 buy-in can take a skilled player, it certainly seems to be so. Players can register for Viva Las Vegas and compete in events from now until the end of May.

PokerStars Reveals Plans to Launch New, Zoom Poker Style This Month

Fans of popular online poker network, PokerStars, will soon be able to enjoy a brand new way to play their favourite game as the network readies the launch of Zoom Poker. By emphasizing speed, Zoom lets players get the most out of their gaming team through a smart twist on traditional multi-table poker.

Zoom Poker has been heavily refined during the last few weeks through the PokerStars’ test server, but now it will be taking its next step toward coming to the main platform proper: allowing for real-money play. The new style takes notes from Full Tilt Poker’s Rush Poker mode, stressing fast, multi-table play that allows for more hands to be played per hour than any other poker variant. Zoom sees competitors joining a table and playing as much or as little of the ongoing game as they wish. If they choose to fold a hand, they’re moved to another table with an entirely new set of players. The extremely fast playstyle averages 200 hands per hour or more and is currently available in 6 max No Limit Hold ‘Em format (with future variations expected in the near future).

PokerStars currently plans to move Zoom Poker to the next stage of its beta testing sometime in the remaining weeks of March, a change that will let players to compete with real money. After further refinement, it seems likely that the new playstyle will find its way to the main site so it can be enjoyed by as many online poker players as possible.

Paddy Power Poker Launches Irish Open 2012 Mega Satellite

Paddy Power Poker continues to help promote the rapidly approaching Irish Open 2012 with satellite tournaments designed to provide the site’s most talented members with access to the real-world event. The company’s latest effort takes the form of a massive qualifier that comes complete with lavish prize packages and, of course, seats to the Irish Open.

The enormous no-limit hold’em freezout satellite will take place on Sunday, 18th March and feature a €320 buy-in. For players with less money to spare, Paddy Power has created a number of feeder tournaments that will also provide entry to the main satellite without requiring as much of a financial commitment. Satellite winners will receive a seat at the Irish Open’s main event (a prize worth €3500 on its own) as well as €655 in cash and accommodations at The Burlington Hotel for five nights. If that isn’t enough, those who qualify will be given access to Paddy’s Sole Survivor, the chance to take home extra prize money and a €100,000 cash reward as well.

Patrick “Paddy” Power himself released a statement to the press that detailed the qualifier, touting it as “your best chance to qualify for the prestigious Irish Open 2012” and, considering the scope of the prize and exclusivity of the event, he doesn’t seem to be exaggerating. Irish Open 2012 will be held at The Burlington Hotel in Dublin, Ireland from 6th to 9th April, 2012.

PokerStars Reveals MicroMillions Tournament Series

Popular online poker network, PokerStars has just announced a brand new tournament series set to play out over the latter half of this month. MicroMillions, the series in question, comes complete with a guaranteed $5 million in cash and a huge number of exciting games for players to compete in.

Buy-ins to MicroMillions start from eleven cents and are offered alongside one dollar buy-in daily tournaments that come complete with $100,000 prize pools. Aside from these events, players are also able to compete in a large number of additional games with buy-ins set at amounts ranging from two to twenty two dollars. In all, PokerStars has prepared an enormous set of 100 events created to accommodate site members of all levels of skill and bankroll. With such a large number of tournaments to enter, games will be running non-stop throughout the promotional period. Regardless of their time-zone, players will be able to enter into Omaha, hold ‘em, stud and other varieties of poker whenever they wish.

Team PokerStars player Lex Veldhuis released a statement praising MicroMillions, describing how the events “actually [offer] players [with low bankrolls] the chance to be a part of a great tournament series” and provide a great complement to “all the different tournament festivals that PokerStars offers.” PokerStars’ MicroMillions tournament series will begin on Thursday, 15th March and end on Sunday, 25th March with a $22 buy-in $1 million guaranteed main event.

Sky Poker Announces New Play Style with Timed Tournaments

Sky Poker has just given its fans another great reason to log onto their site of choice by premiering a brand new style of play. The online poker giant is hoping to attract fresh attention on the strength of its interesting variation on traditional tournaments with the recently added Timed Tournaments option.

Timed Tournaments is part of Sky Poker’s continuing fifth anniversary celebrations and brings a fantastic alternative to site members who want to try a twist on traditional multi-table tournament competition. The new style of play forces players to make tougher decisions as they leverage regular tournament play against a timed countdown. Competitors will receive their prize money based on the chip count in their possession at the end of the time limit chosen for the tournament. The payout is determined based on the percentage of chips on the table a finishing player holds when the either 15, 30 or 60 minute game comes to an end. Time Tournaments are available through Sky Poker’s tournament lobby and should be bustling around the time of their introduction.

Players who are interested in signing up for a Sky Poker account to take advantage of the new tournament style should also be sure to check into the host of other exciting promotions occurring now in celebration of the company’s fifth anniversary.

PokerStars Launches Mobile App, Secures New License for European Sites

Playing online poker has just become a lot more convenient with the UK introduction of PokerStars mobile application. British poker fans will now be able to download a version of the popular virtual poker network that allows them to experience the same access to a wide suite of games that was previously only available via computer.

PokerStars Mobile has already launched and can be downloaded by owners of either Android or iOS devices. The app comes complete with portable versions of fan favourites like Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Texas Hold ‘Em and a variety of sit-and-go and multi-table tournaments. Players can choose to compete in either fake or real money games as well, the Director of New Platforms for PokerStars’ UK division stating that PokerStars Mobile is “the best, authentic poker experience available for mobile devices today.” Each feature has been carefully optimized for handheld gadgets (like smartphones, tablets and more) so that players can enjoy a traditional PokerStars experience without any slowdown or navigation issues.

In other exciting European news, PokerStars has also revealed that it will soon be able to launch revised domains in both Sweden and Finland. After being given a Malta Lotteries and Gaming Commission license, PokerStars will be able to add to its recently improved Belgian site with updated software that lets Swedish and Finnish poker fans enter into untaxed online poker games. A statement detailing the licensing change assured players from these nations that their accounts will transfer without the loss of loyalty points, cash balances or any other valuable information.

Bet365 Launches Freeroll Frenzy with $10,000 Guaranteed Tournaments

The latest promotional offering from bet365.com is designed to give every member of the online poker site a chance to win a piece of an enormous cash prize pool. The Freeroll Frenzy promo currently running at the network, is offering up a total of $50,000 over the coming weeks while also providing an increase in the amount of loyalty points available to competitors.

Freeroll Frenzy is taking place over the next month and includes a number of great events that bet365 players won’t want to miss. These take the form of three $10,000 guaranteed tournaments set to run throughout the rest of February and early March. Each of these tournaments takes place on a Monday and allows players to enter by buying in directly or competing in a heads-up or freeroll qualifier. Alongside the $10,000 tournaments, bet365 is also giving its players the opportunity to take advantage of a boost in loyalty points earnings. Throughout the rest of the month members will be given further incentive to participate in Freeroll Frenzy as bet365 will award 20 points for every dollar spent on tournament fees instead of the usual 15.

The three $10,000 guaranteed tournaments are scheduled for 13th and 24th February as well as 6th March. Players are able to qualify (or directly buy-in) during the ten days leading up to each event. A statement from bet365 spokespeople detailed Freeroll Frenzy as “the poker event of the year so far”. Considering the enormous prizes and great bonuses on offer it certainly looks like there’s truth to this claim.

Sky Poker and Sky Bingo Announce Fifth Anniversary Promotions

Members of Sky Poker are being rewarded for their patronage as the popular online poker network celebrates its fifth anniversary. To commemorate this milestone in Sky’s business the website is offering up a number of fantastic events, complete with lavish prizes, for players to vie for over the coming weeks.

Sky Poker’s fifth birthday celebration is bulking up the rewards available from its regular games as well as providing a few new events alongside these. Probably the most exciting aspect of the promotion is the extra £5,000 being added to Sky’s daily main event and miniature main event jackpots. Each week that passes without the jackpot being won will also see an additional £100 thrown into the prize pool, giving players further incentive for competing. Sky Poker will also be giving out iPads through a draw (open to players who have earned a minimum of 55 loyalty points during the day), hosting £1,000 freerolls twice daily from Mondays to Saturdays, handing out SkyPoker.com Tour seats on the company’s TV channel and running frequent Happy Hour Points Boost events.

Alongside the festivities going on at Sky’s poker platform, the bingo section of its network is also giving back by donating up to £500 to the World Wildlife Fund UK and Sky Rainforest Rescue during the month of February. Those interested in helping simply need to “Like” Sky Bingo on Facebook. Each click will see Sky pledging 25p toward halting deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, giving players interested in great online bingo an extremely worthy reason to check out the site this month.

Improvements Come to Titan Poker’s VIP Program

The VIP program at Titan Poker has just received an overhaul that’s meant to provide even better benefits to the online poker site’s most loyal players. By implementing new VIP levels and awarding prizes across different stages, Titan is looking to give back to the most active members of its network.

A number of substantial improvements have already been implemented for Titan players signed up for the loyalty program. These include a different take on the manner in which Titan Poker handles its most active players. Anyone who accumulates at least 50 loyalty points in a given month will now be able to take advantage of increased rewards like VIP freerolls and — at higher tiers — entry to the new, month-long $5,000 Gladiator Races. New VIP program members will also benefit as Titan has added additional levels to their loyalty system that make it easier for its less established players to enjoy benefits such as exchanging points at the Club Titan Store, participation in regularly scheduled freeroll tournaments and more. Maintaining a high VIP ranking will also increase member prizes under the program changes.

In a statement issued by Titan Poker the company described its goal of increasing the “benefits [offered] to loyal players” and making it “easier than ever before to become a VIP player.” These changes should help to provide plenty of incentive for Titan members to play more often while drawing new traffic to the site at the same time.

Full Tilt Poker Players Receive Advice from the Alderney Gambling Control Commission

Full Tilt Poker has been struggling to regain the good faith of its players since the legal indictments that rocked the online poker industry last year and the loss of its license last September. Now, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission — the same Commission that revoked Full Tilt’s license — has offered advice on how frustrated Full Tilt members should go about resolving their problems.

Full Tilt Poker players have been struggling with the poker site since its legal troubles began, attempting to obtain their banked funds and compensation for other issues. The Alderney Gambling Control Commission has been receiving numerous complaints from this demographic and is now giving advice on how best to proceed. A statement released by the Commission told readers that the group was working closely with law enforcement to archive all incoming complaints with the goal of releasing these reports to police at a later date. Though the Commission still plans to compile these complaints it has asked Full Tilt players to first direct their issues to their local police force since the Commission’s ability to oversee player disputes is now limited for all but Swiss players.

The statement released by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission goes on to describe the situation, detailing that “a number of civil actions have been initiated by players against FullTiltPoker.com”, showing just how severe the grievances against Full Tilt Poker have become.

Full Tilt Poker Gives Members a Chance to Appear on The Poker Lounge

Members of online poker network, Full Tilt Poker are now being given a chance to appear on a major television program while competing for up to $120,000 in cash prizes. As part of the company’s decision to renew it’s the Poker Lounge TV show, registered players will be able to take a shot at becoming part of the program.

Full Tilt Poker is, once again, working with Channel 4 to air a new series of The Poker Lounge. In the new iteration of the program, poker players will once again compete across ten episodes to win a top prize of $120,000. Three of the six available spots have already been filled (by notable poker pros Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius), but the roster will be completed with less established players. Members of Full Tilt Poker will be able to vie for their chance on the show by playing in daily freerolls. The top 27 finishers from these qualifiers will then move into weekly tournaments that award the best 36 competitors with entry to a final round. The winners of this stage will then appear on The Poker Lounge.

Full Tilt Poker is advertising the promotion as a great “chance to appear on television and take on the world’s finest poker pros for a shot at $120,000 in first-place prize money.” The Poker Lounge is scheduled to begin airing on 25th July, 2012 on Channel 4 and will continue to air each Monday.

Team PokerStars Pro, John Duthie, Announces Departure from Squad

Team PokerStars Pro, one of the most renowned squads of professional poker players in the online gaming industry, has just lost one of its most valuable players. After the expiration of his contract, England’s John Duthie, long a staple of the PokerStars pro team, has decided to move on from his sponsorship with the company.

The news of Duthie’s departure comes soon after Team PokerStars Pro lost another high-profile professional, Joe Hachem just before the holiday season. On 31st December of last year, Duthie’s contract came up for renewal as well and, to the surprise of many, he decided to let his PokerStars deal expire. Duthie, a 53 year old from Leeds, England, has a storied career, having cashed more than $2.7 million in live tournament prizes (including a single, $1.4 million win at the 2000 edition of the Poker Million) and holding the position of Chief Executive Officer for the European Poker Tour.

Rumours on numerous forums had been forecasting Duthie’s departure before it’s official announcement, claiming that the pro was upset over PokerStars site and VIP program changes. In the press release, reporting John Duthie’s decision to leave Team PokerStars Pro, the player only said that he had “simply [didn’t] want to renew my contract. [I] love the idea of being ‘tribune of the people’ but sadly this is not the case.”

Titan Poker Premieres Redesigned Lobby, Offers Tournament Seats

Exciting changes have come to Titan Poker recently as both a lobby redesign and new promotional offer are now available for the poker site’s members.

Players will immediately notice Titan’s updated lobby when they log onto the site. Among the changes implemented in the revamped software are visual ones (Titan described its redesign as providing “a [cleaner] look and feel) and the addition of new features. These features include a visual display of each member’s most frequented tables, tournaments and game styles as well as an option to jump into the best available game through the “Quick Seat” button. Each choice — along with highly detailed member statistics pages — is made available through a revamped menu system. For players who still prefer the older lobby design, Titan has also provided the option to change back to the original style. Aside from the new and improved lobby, Titan Poker has also offered up a bevy of satellite tournaments that reward winners with seats at the main events of either the Mega Poker Series Nottingham 2012 or DeepStack Open Cannes 2012. Buy-ins for both the Nottingham and Cannes satellites are set at €88 (with re-buys enabled) and the prize packages on offer are worth €1500 and €1250 respectively.

Titan Poker told press that the goal of its satellite series is to give “poker novice and veteran poker players alike . . . [a chance to] win their way to two of Europe’s most exciting poker tournaments.” Members of the site, eager to prove their skill, should head to Titan now to read further details on the upcoming satellites.

New Business Agreement Brings Passoker to William Hill

The popular betting game, Passoker has enjoyed immense popularity since its fairly recent launch, becoming a favourite of many players. Now, with the signing of a business agreement between William Hill and the game’s developers, it’s set to be discovered by an even larger audience.

William Hill signed on with Stuart Carr and the Passoker developers in order to gain access to the game for use at its site. Joining the ranks of online gaming networks like Victor Chandler and Jenning’s Bet, Will Hill will soon offer its own take on the versatile betting game. The game of Passoker is still fairly young, having been released for the first time in late 2012 through Passoker.com. It was created by a team including English football player Viv Anderson and was designed to provide players with a chance-based, in-play betting game able to adapt to various sporting themes. Ten competitors sit at tables and place bets on sports events like tennis aces or double faults, football free kicks or goals and more.

William Hill members can expect to see Passoker arriving at their site of choice beginning in early February of this year. William Hill Online’s Chief Operating Officer, Jim Mullen, released a statement that stated how Passoker will “bring much added value to William Hill, [giving] our customers more opportunities to bet in a number of new and interesting ways.”

Sky Poker Details Launch of Two New Promotions

Massively popular online poker network Sky Poker, has now launched a pair of new promotions meant to increase the amount of loyalty points and cash its members are able to play for. The new promotions — Happy Hour and Action Tables — are available now and take the form of daily competitions with great rewards.

These two promotions are designed by Sky Poker to kick off 2012 with a bang. Happy Hour will take place every day as three events open to all site members. The one hour of play rewards competitors with an extra 50% in Sky loyalty points, allowing them to accumulate these points more quickly and, ultimately, use them to receive cash. Action Tables is a variant of regular Sky cash poker games where a tables’ big and small blinds must post the same amount, increasing the size of the pot from the beginning of every hand. To bring in new players, Sky is also offering a sign-up promo that includes a 100% matching bonus and free tournament entry.

Happy Hour is set to run every day at 1pm, 6pm and 11pm (with extra times and larger points multipliers being promoted on Sky Poker’s main page before they begin) while Action Tables will take place regularly. Sky Poker, in a press release regarding the new promotions, detailed their goal for Happy Hour to assist players in “racking up cash for points amounts quickly” and amping up the fun of “pre-flop, blind-on-blind battles” in Action Tables.

Victor Chandler Poker Celebrates 25th Chase Anniversary with Freeroll Promo

Victor Chandler, one of the most recognizable names in the gaming industry, is set to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its Chase events with a special promotion. The company’s poker site, Victor Chandler Poker, will be hosting a series of freerolls that give lucky winners the opportunity to attend a day at the Ascot Racecourse.

Fans of Victor Chandler Poker will soon be able to compete for their chance to win one of the Ascot Racecourse Premier Admission badges on offer from the site. The badges will be made available as prizes for the winners of the upcoming poker freerolls. Victor Chandler has detailed that the freerolls will take place each evening — ending on Monday, 16th January — and provide a total of two hundred Premier Admission badges to the top five finishers of every one of its events. Each freeroll can be registered for one hour in advance and gives free entry to every player until all available slots have been filled.

Victor Chandler’s Andy Horne told press that his company was hoping to “brighten up a dreary January [with] a day at the races” for its members while also celebrating the long history of its Chase series. Premier Admission badges are available only to Victor Chandler members living in the United Kingdom and Ireland and will allow the lucky, 200 winners to attend the Ascot Racecourse on Saturday, 21st January.

Paddy Power Poker Launches Cheap Seats Promotion

Paddy Power Poker continues to help promote the much anticipated Irish Open 2012 by providing great ways for its fans to attend the event itself. The newest promotion, Cheap Seats, will consist of a set of tournaments with low buy-ins and fantastic prize packages.
                Cheap Seats is scheduled to take place as a pair of reoccurring nightly tournaments that will reward the best competitors with seats into the Irish Open 2012. Both of the daily tournaments are set to have €4 buy-ins and will be no-limit hold ‘em style with re-buys allowed. Each night of the promotion will see Cheap Seats tournaments taking place in the evening (at 7.30pm and 9.30pm), offering two opportunities for eager players to gain entry to the Irish Open. The aforementioned prize packages will provide seats at the Irish Open 2012 grand finals — a prize worth some €3,500 and unavailable through direct buy-in.
                Paddy Power Poker, impressed with the popularity of last year’s Cheap Seats promotion, decided to bring them back for 2012. A statement detailing the special tournaments described Paddy Power’s goal of making “it possible for the more casual poker player to win a seat into one of the most prestigious poker tournaments in Europe.” For competitors hoping to grab a lucky break in the world of professional poker Cheap Seats is not to be missed.

PokerStars Announces the 5th Edition of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour

Online poker network PokerStars has just announced the return of its prestigious Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT). Now in its fifth year, the APPT has become a massive success, well-regarded by professionals as a worthwhile showcase and by amateurs one of the most exciting series to watch.

PokerStars has produced one of the poker world’s biggest events with their yearly Asia Pacific Poker Tour and the upcoming edition looks to continue the series’ trend of attracting talented players, eager to make their name in the industry. The details released for the 2012 APPT thus far have revealed that it will consist of five events (taking place from 7th to 11th March) across Asia, with Seoul, South Korea confirmed as one of the stops. The APPT will feature a $2,600 buy-in main event and the return of 2008’s winner, Yoshihiro Tasaka of Japan — a player who has helped to build poker’s popularity in his home country and Korea..

A PokerStars statement detailed how “poker in Korea and Asia overall has grown immensely since Tasaka’s victory” and forecasted a “record field” for this year’s events. The press release also promised the launch of APPT prize packages and satellite games set to come to PokerStars in the near future. The 2012 Asia Pacific Poker Tour will be held at international locations including Seoul, South Korea’s Paradise Walkerhill Casino and will run from 7th to 11th March, 2012.

iPoker Network Details First iPOPS Success

The iPoker Network — which includes popular online poker sites like William Hill, Titan Poker and more — has just concluded the first edition of its iPoker Online Poker Series (iPOPS). iPOPS was deemed a massive success by its organizers, making it likely that a sequel could be in the works for sometime in the future.

More than 60,000 international poker players flocked to iPoker Network sites to compete in the new series and helped to contribute to just how well the events came off. Over one million dollars was handed out over four events. These included iPOPS kick-off no-limit hold’em six-maximum tournament (which came with a $200,000 prize pool) and its follow-up, a $150,000 pot no-limit hold’em turbo series. The other iPOPS tournament handed out $500,000 to 3,000 no-limit competitors and then assembled the highest ranking players into a top 27. These winners will soon officially end iPOPS (and take home the remaining prize pool) at a live event taking place at Prague’s Ambassador Casino on 12th December.

With the first iPOPS drawing such an enormous crowd — and paying out such impressive amounts — it seems extremely likely that we’ll be hearing about a second edition from iPoker Network soon enough. A statement detailed how the iPoker Online Poker Series was “a huge success for the network”, attributing some of this popularity to it giving “players the chance to win massive cash prizes [for] exceptionally low buy-ins.”

Titan Poker Announces Several Weeks of Promos with Winter Edition

This winter Titan Poker is looking to add some extra cheer to an otherwise dreary season by hosting two entire months of special games. Winter Edition, as the promotional period has been dubbed, will offer up more than $50,000 in prizes and is set to take place over the coming weeks.

Titan Poker’s Winter Edition will include a number of exciting games that look to appeal to nearly every kind of online poker player. Titan Time Cash Games are set to award some $24,000 in cash to ranked cash game competitors through an ongoing leaderboard race while another $24,000 will be made available through the Sit ‘Win’ Go leaderboards. Just as Titan Time Cash Games will pay out to the most active players across the entire site, the latter prizes will be made available to the players who perform best in sit and go tournaments taking place over six-day periods. Sit ‘Win’ Go will take place each Monday (throughout December and January) and will pay out based on weekly finishing positions. Winter Edition will also include a New Year $10,000 freeroll (available to all players who have banked at least 250 points during December) and Happy Hours, where extra loyalty points will be awarded during special weekend cash games.

Titan Poker released a statement regarding Winter Edition, detailing its aim to “appeal to all poker players no matter their playing preferences.” Furthering this egalitarian approach, the release went on to encourage “poker novices and veteran poker players alike [to] win their share of more than $50,000 in prizes.”

Victor Chandler Poker Launch Month Long Christmas Promo

With December now upon us, Victor Chandler Poker has decided to embrace the holiday season with a month full of Christmas-themed promotional events. Special games are set to run from now until 25th December and aim at giving every fan of the site a number of reasons for competing in daily games.

Victor Chandler Poker’s Advent Calendar promo looks to give members of its site an entire month of festive gaming, packed with great rewards. With a total of more than €40,000 in prizes up for grabs throughout the following weeks, Victor Chandler has designed a promotional period that encourages fans of the poker network to log onto their site of choice every day of December. Advent Calendar has already begun and, while full details on the coming special events has yet to be revealed, Victor Chandler has begun unveiling new, daily promotions each morning. Though specific promo details will only be shown on a day-by-day basis, Victor Chandler has also announced the return of Flop Stars competitions and a low stakes VIP points race set to run alongside the mystery events and prizes that make up Advent Calendar.

Andy Horne, Victor Chandler’s Head of Poker, told press that “it’s been an exciting year for [Victor Chandler]” with much more to come soon. Horne went on to describe how, “ahead of our next big announcement” the Advent Calendar promo will give “lots of players [a] little helping hand towards making this Christmas a memorable one.”

BetFair Adds Hans Martin Vogl to Team BetFair Poker

Team BetFair Poker is one of the most well known collection of sponsored poker players in the industry. Now it has grown to include yet another talented professional with the recent signing of Germany’s Hans Martin Vogl.

Hans Martin Vogl has made a name for himself throughout the last several years, developing an extremely impressive career full of large earnings and exceptional live and online performances. Vogl is best known for his multi-table and sit-and-go play, specializations that first put him on the map back when he started playing full time in 2004. The German player was previously interested in sports wagering but, after using €5,000 of his winnings as a poker bankroll, he discovered that he was talented at the game. Vogl was snapped up by Team Full Tilt soon after and began to compete online and at live events like the 2006 BetFair Asian Poker Tour (where he placed seventh) and the 2007 Aussie Millions (where he took fifth place at the main event). His live earnings to date stand at an impressive $501, 497 and Vogl only looks to improve as he spends time studying poker to better his game.

Vogl looks to be a great addition to Team BetFair Poker and should help to boost the already impressive team’s profile in the coming years. BetFair’s Global Poker Manager, Asko Heiskanen, speaking on behalf of his company, said that “Hans has demonstrated time and time again that he is a player of extraordinary skills [and] we are delighted he has joined Team BetFair Poker.”

iPoker Network’s iPoker Online Poker Series Launches Qualifiers

Poker fans looking forward to the iPoker Network’s iPoker Online Poker Series (iPOPS) will be excited to learn that a series of satellite qualifiers has just launched through the Network’s gaming websites. The iPOPS, a collection of four internet events set to run from 28th November to 4th December, is one of the season’s most anticipated series and iPoker has found a way to get talented players involved for buy-in amounts as low as ten cents.

The iPoker Network includes a number of popular gaming platforms like Titan Poker and William Hill. These sites, and others, are kicking off satellite qualifiers meant to help promote the quickly approaching iPOPS. iPoker members will be able to take part in satellites running three times a week with main event packages as rewards along with weekly mega satellites that grant entrance to iPOPS events one and four. Some winners will be able to bypass the usual iPOPS tournament ladders and use their performance in the qualifiers to receive packages to the series’ finale in Prague. That prize package, just like the one awarded to the highest ranked iPOPS finishers, will provide satellite champions with their €770 iPOPS main event buy-in, accommodations and extra cash.

The iPoker Online Poker Series will take a small break from its internet tournaments after its top 27 competitors have been decided. These players will receive luxury accommodations and spending money before resuming the iPOPS less than a week later for a final showdown at Prague’s Corinthia Hotel.

Sky Poker’s UK Online Poker Series Finishes, Sees Thew and Williams Win Big

Last week saw the first edition of Sky Poker’s UK Online Poker Series come to a climatic end with the conclusion of its eighth and final event. The tournament series was a major success, not just for its creators but for some of its most talented participants as well.

The UK Online Poker Series ended up handing out more than £200,000 in cash prizes (well above its £140,000 guaranteed prize pool) to the competitors playing in its line-up of eight events. One of the biggest wins was awarded to Julian Thew, one of Sky Poker’s sponsored professionals and one who has been making waves through his performance at poker tournaments in recent months. Thew finished seventh in the UK Online Poker Series’ main event and first place at the series’ leaderboard competition. The other major winner was James ‘LIAMESL’ Williams won the main event and earned a staggering £15,714. In all, the UK Online Poker Series paid out £218,170 across its participants.

Sky Poker was thrilled by the popularity of its first UK Online Poker Series and announced plans for a second edition in 2012 as well as a miniature version scheduled to take place sometime in December of this year. Sky Poker’s Dave Bland told press that the UK Online Poker Series’ success “was really heart-warming for all of the people involved, both business and customer alike”, adding that the company “would like to pass on our congratulations to all of the players who cashed.”

PKR.com Signs Jake Cody to Team PKR Pro

Team PKR Pro has just announced the addition of another member to its squad of professional players/brand ambassadors. The newly sponsored player, Britain’s Jake Cody, brings even more talent to an already stacked line-up of fantastic competitiors.

Jake Cody is already well known to poker followers, the young pro having made his mark throughout a number of tournaments in recent years. At only 22 years old, Cody has already banked more than three million dollars and won the title of the youngest “Triple Crown” player (one who has taken home titles at the World Poker Tour, European Poker Tour and World Series of Poker) in the industry. Cody’s career began when he first tried online poker, taking a tiny $10 investment and playing with it until it grew to his current bankroll. He diversified over time by competing not just in online games but in live tournaments as well. Cody has gone on to win at many major live events and continues to attract attention for his performance on the web as well.

Cody told press that he’s “very excited about joining Team PKR Pro” and that his decision to sign with the company comes after being very “patient with sponsorship, waiting for the right deal to come along.” Jake Cody is now Team PKR Pro’s seventh member and will be celebrating his signing to the team by participating in two Bounty Day tournaments this Sunday (27th November).

Sky Poker Launches Promotional Freeroll Competitions

Sky Poker has recently revealed a number of exciting freeroll competitions as part of an upcoming promotional series meant to entice new poker players to the service. The site’s New Player Freeroll gives the site’s latest members the chance to start off their online poker career with great cash prizes.

New Player Freerolls are set to take place every Tuesday night and each competition will come with a fantastic £1,000 guaranteed prize pool. While the Freeroll events host the same features and cash rewards as traditional competitions, Sky Poker has tailored the promo to appeal to the newest members of its online poker network. Entry to New Player Freeroll is as simple as signing up for an account and competing in any real money competition during the week before the Freeroll is held. Eligible competitors are able to sit in on up to two freerolls each week, duking it out for a portion of the £2,000 of total weekly prize money. Sky handles entry to these events automatically — any newly registered member is allowed to compete if they have taken advantage of their welcome bonus or played staked poker during the appropriate timeframe.

Sky’s Dave Bland explained that the New Player Freeroll exists as a way to “[reflect] gratitude to all our new account holders” and that the site “[values] every new player who joins the family.” Sky Poker’s New Player Freeroll is available now for all new members.

PokerStars Announces Upcoming Record Breaking Attempt

PokerStars, not content with its current status as one of the best known names in the online poker industry, is looking to drum up a little extra publicity by attempting a new world record. It’s currently preparing to host a massive set of tournaments that will surpass the scale of anything yet carried out by a virtual poker provider.

The company has already set impressive records in the past: in 2009 PokerStars made its mark by holding the world’s largest online poker tournament. This event attracted 149,196 players through a $1 buy-in and rewarded a German competitor with $50,000 for taking first place. Now PokerStars wants to one-up its previous best with an enormous no-limit hold’em tournament meant to help celebrate its tenth anniversary as a digital poker network. In order to attract as many players as possible, PokerStars is offering up a $250,000 guaranteed prize pool and an additional $50,000 in reserve for the event’s first place winner.

PokerStars’ no-limit hold’em tournament is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 4th December, starting in the late afternoon and featuring another $1 buy-in. Team PokerStars Pro member, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier told press that he was excited to take place in the site’s previous record breaking tournament and is “looking forward to doing it again on December 4 . . . and [seeing] so many players come together to make history once again.”

Full Tilt Poker Sale Given Approval by US Department of Justice

This year has been full of difficulties for online poker network, Full Tilt Poker but, for now at least, a silver lining has appeared on the company’s horizon. The good news comes in the form of the US Department of Justice approving the business’ sale, a move that may allow it to repay members and start the poker website anew.

Full Tilt Poker is set to sell its site to Groupe Bernard Tapie, a French company specializing in business recovery. The two organizations have penned an exclusive agreement that would allow Full Tilt to pay its customers the outstanding funds owed to them following the onset of the site’s legal problems. The US Department of Justice has now signed off on the deal, allowing Full Tilt Poker and Groupe Bernard Tapie to begin moving forward with the hard work of getting the gaming site back on its feet. Though the Department of Justice approval is an important first step, Full Tilt’s shareholders still have to approve of the move in order to finalize this action. Full Tilt Poker’s Chief Executive Officer, Ray Bitar released a statement to shareholders explaining how, with their agreement, “Groupe Bernard Tapie may now proceed to finalize an agreement to acquire the companies or assets that comprise FullTiltPoker.com.”

After enduring seemingly endless trouble following the Black Friday legal indictments, receiving the go-ahead to sell Full Tilt Poker to Groupe Bernard Tapie is one of the first positive news items regarding the site in some time.

Victor Chandler Renews Passoker.com Licensing Deal

Victor Chandler, well known as the operator of one of the web’s largest gaming networks, has just announced the renewal of a valuable licensing deal. The agreement was signed between Victor Chandler and Passoker.com, the developer of a popular and innovative betting game.

Passoker, the name of the game and developer both, is a kind of poker spinoff that provides chance-based rewards in place of the game’s traditional focus on skill. Players sit at virtual tables and receive points when sports events (like football goals, tennis double faults, etc.) occur. It was created over two years by a team of professionals including English footballer Viv Anderson and made its debut last fall. Victor Chandler currently hosts slot and real-money iterations of Passoker at its websites, allowing its members to play versions of the game that can be altered to include various brand and sports themes. Passoker’s developers released a statement detailing their excitement toward “reaping the benefits of the time invested in reaching this significant milestone”, hinting that the relationship between both companies looks to continue over the coming years.

Karl Riley, Victor Chandler’s Marketing Director, told press that the gaming network is “very pleased to have launched Passoker on VictorChandler.com” and that the company is “delighted to be able to offer it first.” Victor Chandler members can expect to see Passoker become a mainstay of the business’ poker, casino and sportsbetting clients, altered to include new themes and features long into the website’s future.

Titan Poker Launches iPoker Online Poker Series Promo

The iPoker Online Poker Series (iPOPS) is fast approaching and, as a member of the iPoker network, Titan Poker is looking to drum up some excitement for the event. To help celebrate the series Titan is now offering chances for its members to gain entry to the iPOPS, awarding seats through to the massive tournament series through affordable buy-ins.

Titan Poker has revealed a number of satellite events, providing recurring opportunities for winning a spot at the iPOPS. Buy-ins to these qualifiers start from only eleven cents and give players a shot at competing in some of the biggest events of the series, like the massive $500,000 guaranteed prize freezout games running on 28th November and 4th December. Titan is hosting nearly constant satellite qualifiers with varied buy-ins from now until late November. The iPoker Online Poker Series will feature four online events before finishing off with a live finale at Prague’s Corinthia Hotel several days after the virtual play wraps up. The Prague event, scheduled to take place from 10th to 11th December, will give iPOPS’ top 27 competitors the chance to duke it out for top place while enjoying a prize package that includes complementary buy-in (valued at €770), three nights of accommodations, invitation to an exclusive welcome party and more.

Players interested in winning a seat at one of the fall’s biggest poker series should head over to Titan now.

PKR.com Closes Out the Month with Oktoberfest Promotion

With October wrapping up, PKR.com is bringing the month to an end with the launch of its Oktoberfest tournament series. The promotional event, now celebrating its fifth edition, has already begun and will provide players with the ability to compete in a wide range of different poker styles, all guaranteeing massive cash rewards and challenging play.

PKR.com’s Oktoberfest series is made up of ten tournaments and comes with a total projected prize pool of $115,000. According to an official press release, the company has designed its tournament offerings with player versatility in mind, tailoring the line-up “to appeal to everyone.” Oktoberfest kicked off with a $22 buy-in, six-seat tournament (with a projected $14,000 prize pool) and will continue to provide exciting gameplay through to Sunday October 30th. PKR.com’s Oktoberfest finale will be a $33 buy-in event with an $18,000 prize pool, bringing ten days of events (including Omaha, Turbo Triple Chance, Terminator and other styles of play) to an end. Those more interested in watching the last event play out than actually competing will be interested to know that the finale is scheduled for broadcast on YouTube, The Poker Channel and the site’s own PKR.tv video service.

Now that it’s entering its fifth year the Oktoberfest festival looks to have become a mainstay of PKR.com’s autumn line-up. Players interested in getting in on the Oktoberfest action should head to PKR.com now to buy their tickets or compete in special, entry-awarding satellite tournaments.

PokerStars Launches Multi-Table “Time Tourney” Tournaments

It’s always great to see a well known online poker network work to innovate its line-up of play styles and PokerStars, with its new tournament style, is looking to do just that. Time Tourneys, a line-up of multi-table tournament offerings, brings members of the site a new range of options for every level of bankroll.

Fans of multi-table play will be excited to find the new tournament style, only just launched through PokerStars. Time Tourneys are set up much like standard multi-table tournaments but feature a crucial difference: a set time period. PokerStars hopes to encourage faster play by limiting the time available in the tournament style, splitting the available prize pool at the end of a session (with amounts being paid out in proportion to stack size). Game lengths currently range from 15 to 180 minutes in order to give players as brief or as lengthy of an experience as they desire. In the press release detailing Time Tourneys, PokerStars described their aim to let “players [fit] in a Time Tourney over breakfast, in a lunch over or over the course of an evening.” The new format is also meant to be inclusive for every level of player, buy-ins starting from as low as one dollar.

To help promote its new tournament style, PokerStars has also announced the addition of Time Tourney to its Saturday Line-Up. The Saturday edition of the multi-tables have a $10,000 prize guarantee, $22 buy-in and a 120 minute time limit. Time Tourneys are available now and can be found through PokerStars’ lobby.

Titan Poker Software Upgrade

Titan Poker, one of the internet’s most popular online gaming destinations, has just announced software upgrades that will enrich its members’ playing experience. The newly updated software client brings fresh features and a new style of play to its tables alongside the BackBet side game

Players are sure to appreciate the new additions to the online poker service. Titan Poker’s software upgrade includes handy features like a (video) hand history replay option, a quick deposit button (added to virtual tables in order to facilitate quicker player account funding), an automatic re-buy option for tournament play and the ability to enter playing commands through both keyboard and mouse input. The upgrade has also optimized Titan’s tournament time banks, chat messages, stake filters and general client operation. All of this comes alongside the addition of seven card stud hi-lo cash games and the previously mentioned side game, BackBet. BackBet, ensuring that there’s never a dull moment at the tables, allows players to bet on options (like colour, suit and more) related to currently dealt cards and the hand to come. Texas Hold ‘Em games (the only style of play currently supporting the side game) with BackBet included will be specially marked.

The new features and playing options look to make Titan Poker an even better online poker option than before. Curious players can check out Titan’s software client (through a free download) for themselves to see the upgraded service first hand.

Visit PokerStars For the best online Poker experience now

PokerStars Team Online Signs Denmark’s Mikey “mement_mori” Petersen

PokerStars has just bulked up its roster of sponsored poker professionals by signing a new player to its PokerStars Team Online line-up. The latest addition to the team, Mickey Petersen, adds some serious talent to the company and should help PokerStars to grab some more notoriety in the future.

Mickey Petersen (who plays as ‘mement_mori’ on PokerStars) is well known by Denmark’s poker community — the nation he calls home — due to the fact that he currently holds the title of “top-ranked multi-table tournament player” in the nation. The sponsored competitor, who first became interested in card-based games through a love for playing Magic: The Gathering, has banked an enormous sum of money throughout his career (reportedly an amount in excess of four million dollars) and is best known for his proficiency at online-based poker. One of his most noteworthy accomplishments has been Petersen’s performance at the 2010 Spring Championship of Online Poker, a series wherein he netted roughly $300,000 over 16 cashes.

It isn’t surprising that Petersen was signed by PokerStars, given how impressive his career to date has been. Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen’s incredible talent at online poker play should help to boost the reputation of PokerStars Team Online throughout the length of his sponsorship. As Petersen himself says, “hopefully I’ll be able to build on my resume and promote both PokerStars.com and the game in a positive light.”

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PKR.com Player Wins $100,000 PKR Masters through Satellite Entry

Some hopeful news for amateur poker players has just been provided by leading online gaming network PKR.com after the close of its $100,000 PKR Masters last Saturday night. With entry into the huge event gained with a display of talent in a PKR satellite qualifier the event’s champion managed to grab an enormous cash sum through nothing more than skill and perseverance.

The winner of PKR Masters, playing under the handle ‘Vizdy’, took home a bit more than $26,000 after toughing it out against waves of competitors. Vizdy, hailing from Gateshead, was able to compete throughout almost two and a half hours of the tournament, defeating more than 400 other PKR.com members and winning a huge cash reward. The player bought his way into the PKR Masters with only $1.81 (the fee for entering into the stage-one satellite that got him into the event) and made his way to the final table with a chip deficit. Despite this disadvantage Vizdy took down ‘ratmanloco’ (who held the highest number of chips going into the final), ‘Barkieboy’ (who would win the next day’s High Roller tournament) and last year’s PKR Masters’ winner, ‘Kusken777’. The stunning conclusion of the event saw Vizdy eventually triumph after 21 hands of heads-up play.

PKR.com’s $100,000 PKR Masters was deemed a success by the poker network. The website’s Community Manager, Dan Grant, told press that the company was delighted with Vizdy’s win and described how it was “absolutely fantastic [to] see somebody come from nowhere to put their name up in lights.”

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Bodog Implements Data Mining Blocking Solution

The European section of Bodog’s extremely popular online poker site has been plagued with data mining in the past but now the company has found a solution to this issue. Bodog has just announced that it will be taking drastic action toward blocking data miners now and throughout the rest of the year.

Data mining takes a negative toll on online poker players, amassing information on their play style in order to help give others gain an unfair advantage at the tables. While historically it has been difficult for poker networks to stamp out data miners, Bodog has revealed a novel approach that should give its players peace of mind as they compete. Bodog.eu will now be removing full tables from its lobbies, making it impossible for potential miners to record information on players sitting in an ongoing, completely populated game.

Bodog’s spokespeople commented on data mining, alluding to the fact that the information is routinely bought by serious players in order to take advantage of others and stating that it’s a practice that “only benefits ‘professional players’ to the detriment of ‘recreational players’”. Bodog hopes that, by removing unnecessary table information, miners will avoid attempts at recording information and play at its site will remain fair.

Ladbrokes Bulks Up Game Line-Up Through Renewed Deal

Ladbrokes, operator of leading poker and casino gaming sites, has announced the conclusion of a deal that will see the addition of several new games to its service. As part of its deal Ladbrokes players are now going to be able to enjoy play that features some of the most beloved brands in the industry.

The deal in question saw Ladbrokes and its previous software provider, Microgaming renew their contract earlier this summer. This move has also given the former company access to titles from developers, Ash Gaming and Blueprint Gaming as part of its supply agreement. Members of the Ladbrokes network will now be able to play branded games that include Ash Gaming’s “Alice’s Wonderland”, “Midas Millions”, “Amazon” and “Pharaoh’s Treasure” along with Blueprint Gaming’s “Casper”, “Bejeweled 2”, “Zuma”, “Chuzzle” and “Viz.” These titles come from two of the best regarded developers working in the industry and should add some extra, quality fun to an already impressive selection of games.

It’s always exciting to see new titles added to gaming sites and fans of Ladbrokes are sure to be pleased with the newly expanded line-up. Ladbrokes’ Chief Executive Officer, Richard Glynn, told press that he believes the new additions “will complement our current and growing games portfolio” while Blueprint Gaming’s Matt Cole said that his company was “delighted to supply Ladbrokes.com with leading slot-based content.”

Party Poker Debut the First Ever Pokerfest Series

Party Poker is looking to give its legions of fans yet another reason to log onto the online poker site with its upcoming Pokerfest. The festival, which runs for two weeks, will pack in 47 different events and offer up a guaranteed prize pool that comes in at an impressive $3 million.

This year’s Pokerfest marks the first edition of what Party Poker hopes will become an annual tradition. Each day of the online festival is set to include a minimum of three different events that aim to include every level of player. Styles of play will be varied, Party Poker members getting a chance to compete in no-limit hold ‘em (with and without re-buys), pot-limit Omaha (also with or without re-buys) and no-limit hold ‘em six-maximum deep-stack fixed limit. Alongside the regular events will be supplementary promotional prizes, side events, leaderboards and a number of qualifiers. All of these will lead up to the Pokerfest main event. The main event features a $640 buy-in and a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million and will take place at 1.30pm EST on 6th November.

Party Poker’s Pokerfest will kick off on Sunday, 23rd October and run through to Sunday, 6th November. Buy-ins will range wildly, starting at only $1, Party Poker stating that it wants “everyone to be a part of Pokerfest.” Interested site members with accumulated Party Poker loyalty points will also be able to use these to gain entrance to certain events.

Paddy Power Launches 2011 WSOP Promotion to Support Eoghan O’Dea

Paddy Power Poker has always sought to celebrate Ireland, its base of operations, through special promotions and the recognition of noted Irish players. The internet poker company looks to continue this trend now by giving its players the opportunity to show their support for one of the country’s young, rising stars: Eoghan O’Dea.

O’Dea is fast becoming a poker player worth watching and, of course, he hasn’t escaped Paddy Power Poker’s notice. Having recently signed a sponsorship deal with Paddy Power, O’Dea is now getting ready to prove himself at the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) finals in Las Vegas, Nevada and the site wants to help send nine of its members to the event to cheer him on. The promotion, called November 9ers, will run for seven consecutive weeks of $215 buy-in no-limit hold’em freeze out super satellites, beginning this week and awarding every one of the winners with a fantastic prize package. Paddy Power members can get into one of the satellites by competing in daily competitions or holding out for a (not yet dated) sit and go race or “casino challenge” that will reward two more packages. The nine winners will be provided with a full week of accommodations at Las Vegas’ Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino, $1,000 in cash, entry to the WSOP main event and free airfare.

Paddy Power Poker described November 9ers as “[the] trip of a lifetime” and a great way to congratulate Eoghan O’Dea, “an inspirational young Irish player . . . who has done us all proud.”

Titan Poker Spreads the Joy with its 6th Birthday Party

Titan Poker is gearing up to celebrate its sixth birthday, a landmark event that will see the renowned online poker site sharing the festivities by giving its members access to a number of exciting promotional events, including the Heads-Up Championship, weekly giveaways and more.

The sixth birthday celebrations began last weekend with the launch of Titan Poker’s Heads-Up Championship, a promotion that is set to run until the beginning of October. The Heads-Up Championship has been set up to reward talented members with a share of a massive $25,000 prize pool and the ability to gain recognition across the Titan poker network. Players will be able to compete in (Sunday and Tuesday scheduled) 24 hour races and try for their chance to finish out as one of the Championship’s top 32 competitors. These members will then be entered into the final elimination brackets (which play out on 28th, 29th September and 2nd October) where they can duke it out for $7,500 in cash held back for the top eight finishers.

The entire month of September looks to be full of great reasons for Titan members to log onto their site of choice. Surprise events and further promotions have been hinted at by the online giant with details already revealed for special bonuses like the $6,000 Anniversary Freeroll on 6th October (for all players that accumulate more than 60 poker points during September). Players can also look forward to weekly giveaways throughout the birthday celebration.

Full Tilt Poker Faces More Trouble with Lost Investors

Full Tilt Poker has had a rough couple of months, struggling to maintain its business after the world of online gaming was rocked by the Black Friday legal indictments. The situation doesn’t look to be improving for the poker company as it now faces further troubles related to securing investors.

Full Tilt Poker’s Secondary Client Provider Authorization license was recently renewed, giving industry observers hope for the business — something that was furthered after the company was able to repay a $410,000 debt. Even with these promising signs the future of Full Tilt Poker still depends greatly on its ability to obtain investment from backers, however, and this week saw a potential deal fall through. After lengthy negotiations Full Tilt Poker must now begin to scramble for new financiers, leaving its many customers uncertain of whether or not their site of choice will ever return to normal business. In a statement issued from Full Tilt’s spokespeople the poker platform apologized for “its lack of communication with its customers over the last month and a half”, citing “unexpected and complex legal and financial issues” that have kept it from repaying its site members’ debts and properly informing them of its current status.

Despite being wracked with seemingly endless difficulties, Full Tilt Poker may be able to reclaim its place as a leading poker company after its legal future is decided at its 15th September hearing with the Alderney Gambling Control Commission. If the hearing goes well, securing investors should prove much easier than it currently is.

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PokerStars Signs on as Poker in the Park V Sponsor

The upcoming, fifth instalment of England’s Poker in the Park celebration is fast approaching and, now, a new sponsorship deal has been announced by online poker network, PokerStars. The UK arm of the popular company has told press that it will be acting as a key sponsor to the early autumn event.

Poker in the Park V has signed on as the official sponsor behind the festival’s main stage event, perhaps the most highly anticipated part of the gathering. The main stage line-up plans to have a little something for everyone, from a swing band performance to exhibition matches from renowned chess players (like the current Master and Grand Master, Malcolm Pein and Simon Williams respectively) and the chance for audience members to take on celebrities in games of heads-up poker. PokerStars will also be sponsoring the British Poker Awards, a ceremony set to be awarded through online ballot taking. Aside from the main stage, Poker in the Park V will also see the return of numerous heads-up and sit and go tournaments for attendees to compete in. The event it also expected to be filled with brand new electronic tables to play on and great deals on branded poker merchandise.

Poker in the Park V will take place at Hanover Square (in London) on Friday, 2nd and Saturday, 3rd September. The event, organized and promoted by Lyceum Events, is currently predicted to pull in roughly 20,000 poker enthusiasts, all ready to celebrate their favourite game.

Visit PokerStars For the best online Poker experience now

PartyPoker Launch VIP Oktoberfest Promotion

Germany, the home of Oktoberfest, is always a great vacation destination for autumn holidays. Nobody knows this better than the folks at PartyPoker, the hugely popular online poker company now announcing its plans to send lucky members of its site to the festivities this October.

PartyPoker’s VIP Oktoberfest promotion is set to begin soon and will award VIP vacation packages to this year’s Oktoberfest. The promo will take the form of leaderboard races and a freeroll tournament that gives PartyPoker players a chance to test their skills against competitors in order to win a great vacation. A total of 16 Oktoberfest packages are available to the top seven finishers in two sets of leaderboards and will use the number of accumulated PartyPoints in order to determine rankings. These winners will receive two nights of accommodations at Munich, Germany’s Le Meridien hotel (for themselves and a guest), dinner and poker at the Olympic Tower, VIP access to the Hippodrom Oktoberfest event, $600 in cash and much, much more.

The first VIP Oktoberfest promotion leaderboard race kicked off last Friday (12th August) and is set to run until Sunday, 21st August. The second leaderboard race begins on 22nd August and will last for ten days. Those that play well but don’t quite reach the top spots are still eligible for a shot at grabbing an iPad2, iPod Touch or entry to a freeroll (that awards even more Oktoberfest packages) scheduled for 4th September.

Sky Poker Announce the Return of the Sky Premiership Tournament

Sky Poker enjoyed a great reception with its past Sky Premiership tournaments and now, looking to garner some more goodwill from its fans, it’s bringing the soccer-themed series back for another round. The Sky Premiership tournaments spans every Sky site and givse all members of the gaming network a chance to try their poker skills against others for a shot at taking home cash rewards.
The 2011 Sky Premiership series is set to begin in mid-August and, throughout its stay at Sky Poker, will give fans a number of great chances to win fantastic prizes. Current members of Sky Poker can get into the Premiership tournaments through the special, promotional section of the main site. Once entered they will be assigned to a colour-coded team (The Reds, Blues, Yellows, Purples, Greens, Oranges and Whites) or Team Sky. After being affiliated with a team, players are then eligible for playing poker games (three per week) against other groups of competitors. The football twist sees Sky dubbing each tournament a “match”, pitting one “squad” against another for a chance to win Premiership points. The top players and teams will receive various cash prizes and entry to great, upcoming freerolls.
The return of the Sky Premiership is a smart idea that should help to drum up some extra attention for Sky Poker in the coming months. The series will also garner interest from the rest of the Sky network too as registered players at Sky Bingo, Sky Vegas and Sky Bet are all eligible for entry into the 2011 Sky Premiership.

Titan Poker Extends Summer Jackpots and First Deposit Bonuses

Eager to persist in capitalizing on the goodwill its gaining from a fantastic series of current promotions, Titan Poker has announced that it will continue offering rewards and special games throughout the rest of the summer. The extended promotions apply to both Titan’s Summer Jackpots series, its current first deposit bonuses and more.

Summer Jackpots will continue to give Titan Poker members the ability to compete for cash prizes during certain, entire days of the week, providing a great opportunity for determined players to increase their bankrolls. The first deposit bonus will also continue to be offered through until the end of the month, providing 200% matching on initial deposits (up to $2,000). New players, aside from being able to receive free playing money with their first transactions, are also eligible for entry into New Depositor Freerolls (where $10,000 is available to win). Alongside these extended offers, Titan is hosting daily Happy Hour games and a series of $50,000 Craze Jackpot sit-and-go tournaments as well.

Research into the effects of the Black Friday online poker shake-ups have shown that a large percentage of player traffic has shifted to Titan Poker from recently closed sites. Titan is obviously seeking to garner further attention by providing incentives for new players that are testing the network out while looking for a site worth their poker playing time and money.

PKR Announces Qualifiers for Dublin Leg of World Poker Tour

PKR.com is ready to give its members a shot at taking their poker skills to the next level at one of next year’s biggest real-world tournaments through a new series of online qualifiers from the massive site. These upcoming games are aimed at rewarding talented players with a shot at competing in the World Poker Tour (WPT) stop in Dublin, Ireland.

While a firm date for the beginning of the promotion has yet to be set, PKR.com has already started to provide details regarding its WPT Ireland qualifiers. The World Poker Tour has joined with PKR.com as a promotional sponsor and now PKR is able to pass on several great prizes to its members as a result of the deal. Awards for the WPT Ireland qualifiers will include invitations to special parties and games at the event, free buy-in (a fee that is currently set at €2,500) and more. Once skilled PKR.com members have made it to Ireland, they’ll also enjoy the opportunity to compete for a seat at the WPT World Championships (valued at $25,500!).

World Poker Tour Ireland will take place from 5th to 8th January, 2011 at Dublin, Ireland’s City West Hotel and mark the first time that the WPT has visited the region. Because of its close proximity to the larger event, the Irish Poker Championships have been made a part of the larger WPT festivities and will now be held in Dublin rather than their former, Galway home.

PokerStars Celebrates Dealing its 65 Billionth Hand

Despite a troublesome summer, massive online poker network, PokerStars, has just given its staff and fans something positive to celebrate. The good news comes in the form of the company just achieving a milestone business record — more than 65 billion hands dealt.

The landmark, 65 billionth hand was dealt on Sunday, 24th July and provided a lucky player with an unexpected reward. 24-year old New Zealander, Christopher “yllams” Small is just another PokerStars member that was fortunate enough to be sitting down to play at the game wherein the 65 billionth hand was dealt. Small received $68,420 while competing in a six-maximum, no limit game (with $0.10/$0.25 stakes) and winning the landmark hand. He had begun playing earlier in the day, hoping that his timing would pay off when, after several hours, Small received a message explaining that he was currently sitting at the 65 billionth hand table. The good luck continued as Small currently held an ace/king and the flop revealed two more aces, giving him the chance he needed to come out triumphant at the five person table.

PokerStars has been in business for close to ten years and has always sought to give back to its players when history-making landmarks have been reached. Last March, when the network achieved 60 billion hands, it rewarded the winning hand’s player with more than $102,000 in cash.

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Paddy Power Poker Announces Upcoming Green Card Promotion

Paddy Power Poker has embraced the excitement of the summer poker season with a brand new promotion aimed at giving back to its most loyal fans. The forthcoming Green Card promotion will start at the beginning of next month and carry on into the fall, giving site members plenty of reasons to compete at Paddy’s virtual tables.

Green Card comes packed with a number of excellent prizes for players to compete for. The promotion takes the form of a loyalty points race, Paddy Power Poker members automatically becoming a “Green Card player” after accumulating at least 40,000 points within the space of a single month (current Black Card holders can receive Green Card status by emailing photographic proof of their membership and maintaining a minimum points balance for the following week). Once players have grabbed their Green Card they will receive twenty percent off at the site’s store and Paddy swag that includes a branded hoodie and personalized card. Better yet, Green Card members are provided with a complementary, £50 wager, entry to weekly $1000 freerolls and a token for a $50 satellite game as well.

As if that wasn’t enough, Green Card players that maintain their status for the entire three months of the promotion will receive an iPad2. The iPad2 will also be given to players that average 120,000 (or more) Paddy Points for 90 days after gaining Green Card status. Paddy Power Poker’s Green Card promo is set to kick off on 1st August and will continue for three full months following its launch.

Party Poker Removes Rake Charges from Multi-Table Tournaments

Party Poker, one of the sites hit hardest by the Black Friday legal indictments, is bouncing back and proving itself to its fans through an unprecedented business move — the removal of all rake charges from its multi-table tournaments. Members of the popular online poker platform will now be able to compete in the same games they’ve come to love with the added potential for extra cash rewards.

The decision to forgo the rake fee traditionally charged at all multi-table tournaments is a substantial one and will see Party Poker players competing for larger sums during the period that the special deal is on offer. Party Poker has detailed how the rake fee removal will work, explaining that the money usually collected by the hosting company will now go directly into prize pools, bulking up winnings across a wide number of small and large scale games. As a result of the move, events like the Summer Million and qualifiers for tournaments such as the GSOP Manchester will have their structuring reconfigured to accommodate the change.

Considering the bad press and legal difficulties that have resulted in the wake of the Black Friday indictments, Party Poker’s move seems like a smart one, sure to help drum up new business and win back wary fans. While the company has yet to outline exactly how long it plans to offer the rake fee removal, a Party Poker spokesperson released a statement that the site “ . . . will continue this outstanding value promotion for as long as we can.”

Titan Poker Announces Summer Jackpots III Promotion

The summer poker season, always an exciting time of year, is continuing to heat up with Titan Poker’s recent decision to add further promotional games to the coming months’ schedule. Summer Jackpots III, the series of events in question, provides poker fans with a wide variety of different playstyles and the promise of some exceptional rewards.

Titan Poker’s Summer Jackpots III has been designed for players of all types, bringing together buy-ins and a level of game variety that is meant to appeal to everyone, from amateurs to professionals. Among the most interesting of Summer Jackpots III’s line-up are events like reduced entry (for several guaranteed prize tournaments, $50,000 jackpot sit and go games and Double Challenges), happy hours and daily races (with special editions planned for Tuesdays and Sundays). Even members of the site that choose not to partake in the festivities will be able to claim something from Jackpots III as well, Titan rewarding a 50% bonus on loyalty points during special time periods during the promotion. In total Titan Poker is offering up a massive $500,000 in jackpot prizes alongside plenty of other non-cash prizes.

Summer Jackpots III has just begun and will continue to run throughout the remainder of the summer months. Cheaper tournament buy-ins will remain at the site until 24th September and weekly guaranteed prize games will continue until the same date.

Victor Chandler Celebrates Summer with Special Freerolls

The summer gives poker players a fantastic number of opportunities to enjoy watching and participating in great games, both through live venues and online events. Not to be outdone by its competition, Victor Chandler has just launched a special, seasonal promotion that will provide members of its site with entry into a wide array of lucrative freeroll competitions meant to celebrate the most exciting time of the poker year.

Throughout the rest of July Victor Chandler players will enjoy access to a series of freerolls that promise to reward more than €75,000 in prizes. One of the first freerolls saw competitors battling it out for their share of a €1,500 pool (divided out amongst the top 400 players). The tournaments continue onward with more fantastic cash games, capped at 3,000 participants. The month’s freerolls are available to standard members with larger prize pool events being offered to those willing to part with VIP points.

Aside from cash rewards, Victor Chandler is also offering prize packages that will send winners to live poker events. Upcoming travel freerolls include trips to the European Masters of Poker (EMOP) and can be won through the EMOP Dublin Iron Man freeroll. Winners of these competitions will receive €1,100 buy-in to the EMOP main event, four nights of accommodation at Clontarf Castle and €350 in spending money. Victor Chandler’s July freeroll tournaments have already begun and will be offered at daily intervals through to the end of the month.

Titan Poker Tells Players That it is Open to Business

Fans of Titan Poker, worried about the online poker company’s recent legal troubles, are finally being given some good news as the site has now announced that it plans to stay open for business. Since April the future of Titan has looked uncertain, its ability to remain a viable choice for internet gamers in jeopardy as its affiliate corporations were unable to assure customers that they would continue ongoing operations.

April’s legal indictments (now referred to as “Black Friday&rdquoWinking marked the first part of many online poker platform’s troubles. A month later the “Blue Monday” prosecutions continued to plague affected sites, Titan Poker being one of the most prominent among them. The iPoker Network, a group of affiliates that Titan belongs to, was forced to withdraw from the United States market and its backing site, Full Tilt Poker, also had its license suspended. Titan Poker has now released details regarding its future, however, and is guaranteeing that it will continue to function, regardless of external problems. Although the rest of iPoker (and Full Tilt Poker itself) may not be able to continue business, Titan’s news is one of the first positive signs to come since the beginning of the spring season.

Titan Poker’s spokespeople have been quick to reassure players of their security and financial safety at their site as well. Aside from its ongoing services, Titan will also launch an improved, 200% first deposit bonus (up to $1,000) that should bring in some new members and help set the network back on track.

PKR.com Announces New Software Upgrade

PKR.com has always enjoyed critical and popular acclaim, not least of all because of its highly sophisticated software. Now the online poker giant has announced yet another comprehensive upgrade that looks to make its service an even more popular choice for internet gamers.

The recent PKR.com software upgrade (which went live as V2.04.07) includes a number of new features and revisions. Most notable is the inclusion of auto top-up and default buy-in options, something that has often been requested by players that frequent ring games (where table bankroll customization and management is extremely important). PKR has also added in-depth player statistics that allow users to view essential data on their friends and competitors. These statistics can be conveniently accessed (as text or graphics) through the in-game chat box, giving players the ability to more accurately gauge tournament foes while still concentrating on their game. Last but not least is the addition of a set of new avatar “emotes” that let players act out a wider range of feelings through their digital counterparts. These five new actions look to breathe even more life into the already impressive range of virtual emotions that PKR avatars can display during games.

PKR Lite, a minimalist version of the site’s robust, traditional software (intended for less powerful computers), has also been provided through the upgrade. Never content to rest on its laurels, PKR.com has provided hints toward an end-of-year update as well, demonstrating that the company’s devotion toward offering unparalleled software won’t be stopping anytime soon.

PKR.com Offers Prize Packages to Its World Series Experience

PKR.com, one of the most popular online poker platforms on the market, is giving back to its many fans with new opportunities to compete in massive physical tournament events. The World Series Experience is the network’s accompaniment to the 2011 World Series of Poker and gives lucky players the chance to take part in the poker season’s biggest tournament series in style.

Members of PKR.com are currently able to compete to win the site’s World Series Experience, an extravagant prize package that provides accommodations and travel to Las Vegas during this year’s WSOP. Recently PKR.com has announced that these prize winners will be able to attend a number of extra events (including welcome drinks at the Bellagio Las Vegas’ Caramel Lounge, a meal from Emeril Lagasse’s Table 10 restaurant, entry to the PKR Party at the Mirage Resort and Casino’s Revolution Lounge and a tour of Las Vegas). Aside from the fun and relaxation on offer, courtesy of PKR.com, winners of the World Series Experience will also enjoy free entry to event 54 of the WSOP on 2nd July.

The World Series Experience is an unbeatable way to experience the 2011 World Series of Poker and PKR.com is continuing to award the prize package to talented and lucky members of its site. Buy-ins to the World Series Experience satellites range in price and allow every type of poker player to try their hand at competing in the most prestigious event of the year.

Full Tilt Poker Reveal New Details on Legal Troubles

The legal indictments that first rocked the online poker world this April continue to have an impact on players, especially American ones. Full Tilt Poker, one of the websites most highly effected by the crackdown, is now, finally, revealing details of how it plans to recover from its setbacks.

Full Tilt Poker immediately responded to legal troubles in April by signing a deal that would allow it to give back any existing bankroll balances to its American players. Despite this agreement with U.S. authorities Full Tilt players still have not been able to access their accounts and withdraw their money. The online poker company, in response to numerous complaints regarding this problem, has revealed new details on how it plans to rectify the situation. Full Tilt Poker released a statement that apologized for its lack of communication in recent months, declaring that its many shortcomings are the result of being “ . . . too optimistic in estimating how long it would take to sort through the issues we have faced since ‘Black Friday’.” The poker company says that it has been working constantly at finding the right method for refunding the money owed to its players even though it doesn’t have a definite timeline for when this will be finished.

In the same statement, Full Tilt Poker described its efforts to raise the money necessary for paying its American members and told press that it has been forced to keep silent regarding this work because of “legal constraints”.

Titan Poker Announce Special Sit and Go Promotions

Sit and go players should pay attention to Titan Poker in the coming weeks as the renowned online poker site has announced an upcoming promotion centering on the play style. The special games are beginning soon and will take place until the end of June, providing a great start to the summer season.

Titan Poker’s Sit ‘N’ Go Heat will hand out more than $105,000 in prizes during the coming weeks. The promotion will be scheduled to take place bi-weekly, being made up of two leaderboard races during each play period. Players will be ranked on their performance in order to determine their placement in the promo and the winnings they take home as the games play out. These leaderboards will be divided into four different categories, determined by buy-in tiers, with a fifth board being offered for heads-up sit and go players. Titan Poker decided to segment players in this way in order to ensure that every type of competitor is able to compete within their skill level and bankroll limitations. Sit ‘N’ Go Heat will also reward players that finish just short of winning a cash prize in the boards with entry to a $2,000 freeroll tournament.

Online poker players that enjoy sit and go play have a great reason to head over to Titan Poker throughout this month. Press releases detailing Titan’s Sit ‘N’ Go Heat have stated that the tournament series is meant to appeal to both poker newcomers and serious players, providing the right kind of leaderboard divisions for all types of competitors.

Absolute Poker and UB.com Cancel Pro Contracts

Bad news has hit for fans of Absolute Poker and UB.com as the two companies have just announced the termination of some of its most popular professional poker players’ contracts. The move to immediately dump some eleven pros has come as a surprise to many.

Both networks are part of Blanca Games Incorporated and Cereus Poker Network, corporations that were greatly affected by the recent American federal indictments (dubbed Black Friday) leveled at online poker sites PokerStars, Absolute Poker and Full Tilt Poker. The indictments charged individuals associated with these poker companies with various illegal gambling activities and have resulted in massive repercussions for the involved businesses. Due to the legal fallout, Absolute Poker and UB.com have dismissed eleven of their professionals (Maria Ho, Eric Baldwin, Joe Sebok, Brandon Cantu, Prahlad Friedman, Scott Ian, Adam Levy, Dave Stann, Tiffany Michelle, Trishelle Cannatella and Bryan Devonshire). Absolute Poker and UB spokespeople attributed the firings as part of both businesses’ focus on efficiency measures. The companies, now faced with losing income from the United States, are being forced to take drastic measures in order to ensure their survival.

Absolute Poker and UB.com’s decision is a major one that is sure to send shockwaves throughout the industry. The loss of the entirety of Team UB along with one of Absolute’s top brand representatives is a sure sign of further financial difficulties to come. Statements from the Blanca Games companies were issued that expressed regrets for the sudden terminations and best wishes for the players’ futures.

Full Tilt Poker Announces Online World Series of Poker Tie-In Promo

Online poker network, Full Tilt Poker, is planning to give players a great way to get into the World Series of Poker (WSOP) spirit through a special promotion. The Fantasy WSOP, beginning this week alongside the real WSOP’s 31st May kickoff, gives site members the opportunity to compete online and, potentially, take home some fantastic prizes.

Full Tilt fans are now able to try their skills against other members for their chance to win big at the Fantasy WSOP. The promotion is organized so that competitors are able to create their very own team of 15 players for inclusion in a fantasy group. Full Tilt Poker has built up a registry of more than 450 poker professionals to pick from, allowing participants to select a dream team that will either win or lose based on the actual results of the World Series of Poker’s 58 events.

Full Tilt Poker has planned a number of great rewards for those that are able to make accurate predictions in their Fantasy WSOP competition. Prizes include custom clothing and other poker gear emblazoned with the Full Tilt brand and will be rewarded to the top finisher in each of the massive tournament’s events. With the 2011 World Series of Poker looming on the horizon there are sure to be plenty of Full Tilt players that are excited to take advantage of any promotion related to the games.

PKR Social Dusseldorf Hailed as Success

PKR.com’s ongoing venture into live gaming events has most recently brought the company to Germany for the PKR Social Dusseldorf. The company, banking on the continued rise in popularity of poker in German-speaking Europe, gambled on exploring a new market and, luckily enough, has now reported that its foray was a success.

The Social was held over the weekend of 7th May and brought a large number of players and PKR staffers together for a series of poker games, sports and more. PKR Social Dusseldorf is notable for being the first time that PKR has hosted one of its Socials outside of the United Kingdom, a European region that is known for enthusiastic attendance at poker-based events. The company’s decision to try their luck in Germany paid off, however, some 45 players and PKR.com team members coming to Dusseldorf to play paintball at the Kaarst Paintball Arena then return to the event’s hotel venue for poker. The attendees shared dinner then sat down to a freeroll (with prizes furnished by PKR) until late into the night.

With the success of Dusseldorf likely to bolster the company’s comfort in bringing its Socials to other European markets, PKR.com fans can look forward to more events to come throughout the continent. Speaking to press, PKR.com spokespeople remarked that the Dusseldorf weekend was “ . . . the perfect start for many European PKR Socials to come.”

PokerStars Details American Player Refunds

The legal scandals that rocked the online poker world over the previous months continue to bring vast ramifications to both affected players and businesses. Most recently PokerStars, one of the industry’s most popular gaming networks, has begun to release details of its plans to reimburse members of its site impacted by its decision to halt American operations.

PokerStars’ most notable action to come is in refunding more than $100 million to United States-based players. After the scandal first hit the company, PokerStars abruptly pulled out of its American operations on 20th April, leaving a vast number of site members to wonder what would become of any money bankrolled at the site during this time. Although many of PokerStars’ non-American sites are still in operation, the company was forced to stop service after the United States FBI indicted founder Isai Scheinberg on money laundering, gambling and bank fraud charges. These legal actions lead to a domain name seizure and, ultimately, a corporate decision to shut down American servers. Now PokerStars is working to navigate the legal red tape that previously made player refunds possible, all in an effort to get its business back on track.

PokerStars isn’t the only American poker site reeling from legal troubles either. Full Tilt Poker has also been greatly affected and is working to address customers in a similar manner to PokerStars, recently announcing its ongoing work toward refunding player funds. While Full Tilt has been unable to offer money back to its customers yet, it has released statements detailing its work at doing so.

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Victor Chandler Readies Celebrations for Landmark Hand

Victor Chandler, a major online poker offering, is gearing up to celebrate a massive landmark in its history as a gaming business. This month Victor Chandler is expecting to deal its 2,222,222,222nd hand, a milestone that will see players at the site being able to take advantage of a fantastic promotion.

The 2,222,222,222nd hand is going to be accompanied by a series of contests and prize awards that will see Victor Chandler providing a total €22,222 in cash. Once hand number 2,222,000,000 is reached the website will kick off its special promotion. That hand will give the winner €1,000 in cash while every other participant in the hand will take away €100. When Victor Chandler deals its 2,222,111,111st hand that hand’s winner will receive €2,000 and participants will get €200. The promotion will continue until hand number 2,222,222,222 is reached. The winner of that landmark point will leave the table with an exceptional €10,000 while others get €1,000 each. Players can check Victor Chandler’s hand identifications to try to time their play along with the promotional awards.

The Victor Chandler celebration is a great reason to play often at the website throughout this entire month. Enormous prizes and the ability to be a part of a leading poker network’s history should provide ample incentive for packed rooms straight across Victor Chandler in the weeks to come.

Titan Poker Announces Super Sale Tournament Promotions

Titan Poker, never willing to fall behind in promotional offerings, has just released details for member bonuses that tie into the site’s May and June tournaments. Fans of the site will be able to take advantage of numerous benefits as part of its Super Sale, stretching their bankrolls while still being able to vie for a piece of the one million dollars in guaranteed cash prizes on offer throughout the next two months.

Titan’s Super Sale has been designed with boosting player activity firmly in mind. Discounts for the time period have been set at rates of between 50 to 80 percent off from normal buy-ins — making getting into competitions more affordable — while prize pools have stayed the same. Titan Poker will be kicking off the promotional period on Monday, 30th May with High Roller Monday (a $35,000 Guaranteed tournament with $190 buy-ins) before continuing forward with nine more tournaments that will run throughout June. Starting on Sunday, 29th May, Titan’s Sunday night freezeouts will also become $250,000 guaranteed prize tournaments (with buy-ins staying at the previous, $215 mark) with qualifiers (like Saturday Mega Satellites) also being offered alongside the low-entry, high-reward events.

Titan Poker’s Super Sale promotion begins on 30th May and carries on across the month of June. There are plenty of great opportunities for talented players with limited bankrolls to take home a life-changing prize during the offering, something that is sure to make the tournaments a hit among the Titan community.

PKR.com Creates Virtual Version of The Fox Poker Club

PKR.com, aside from a great selection of player bonuses and regular promotions, has always received accolades for the technology that goes into its online poker software. Now, bringing even more attention to this feature of the site, PKR has launched a highly original and unique new update to its offering.

The latest reveal from PKR.com is a full, virtual replica of The Fox Poker Club, a venue well known to London, England based poker players. The Fox Poker Club, situated on Shaftesbury Avenue, has been a venerable institution in the city for years and is a great choice for recreation in a digital poker setting. All 6,500 square feet of the Poker Club are represented in the PKR.com version of the club, the site including 20 tables, licensed poker chips and many other fantastic details painstakingly brought to every user’s screen. PKR’s Managing Director for the Fox Poker Club, Chris North, told press that the company is excited about its latest update and hopes that playing in the virtual rooms will encourage site members to drop by the real world venue.

Since its launch in August, 2006, PKR.com has been devoted to raising the bar on online poker software, achieving massive success and critical acclaim for their efforts. With the release of the Fox Poker Club, PKR doesn’t look to be slowing down in this department.

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PokerStars Announces Changes to 2011 Spring Championship of Online Poker

PokerStars, now getting close to the launch of its massive Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) tournament series, has just announced a few new details regarding the upcoming event. Due to the legal indictments currently being handled by the website’s American operations, some substantial changes have been planned.

The biggest news surrounding PokerStars throughout the last several weeks has been its United States legal troubles, something that is having a bearing on the company’s upcoming SCOOP. While British and Irish players will still be able to compete in SCOOP, the loss of American competitors has forced PokerStars to drop the previous $45 million guaranteed prize pool to $25 million. In another move meant to shift the focus of the SCOOP to European players event times have also been moved back by three hours. Aside from these changes, SCOOP will still be running as previously planned. PokerStars’ SCOOP Leaderboard is going to be available, as detailed before, and will award top competitors with 2011 World Championship of Online Poker, 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure or Grand Final of the European Poker Tour prize packages.

PokerStars’ 2011 Spring Championship of Online Poker is scheduled to take place beginning Sunday, 8th May at 3pm and ending on Sunday, 22nd May through a $10,300 high level buy-in no-limit hold ‘em main event (with $5 million prize pool). The tournament series’ $25 million will be awarded throughout a total of 38, three-set events throughout this month.

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PKR.com Offers Up Luxurious WSOP Experience Packages

PKR.com, always eager to maintain its positive reputation, isn’t going to lag behind its competitors as online poker networks are flooded with 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) prize packages. The site has recently announced that it will be offering members the chance to win its WSOP Experience package, a generous prize that awards entry to the series along with a number of fantastic extras.

The PKR.com WSOP Experience Package was also made available last year, launching just before the massively popular tournament series was set to begin. Now the popular promotion is returning again, giving talented winners free entry to the WSOP as well as a six-night stay at Las Vegas’ prestigious hotel, The Cosmopolitan. WSOP Experience satellites are scheduled to run every Wednesday evening until 15th June. Satellite winners receive entry to the WSOP’s Event 54 (for buy-ins between $2.30 to $215), $1000 in travel money, $500 for spending, a WSOP prize bag, access to VIP events and free accommodations at The Cosmopolitan.

The Cosmopolitan is one of the most famous and luxurious hotels on the Las Vegas strip and has already been embraced by some of the biggest celebrities visiting the city. WSOP Experience Package winners will be able to compete and kick back like real professionals, taking part in the poker season’s highlight games and also relaxing in suites that come with private balconies, flat-screen televisions and much more.

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Titan Poker Provides Players with Improved Rewards

Titan Poker is looking to make its service even more appealing to online poker players by edging ahead of the competition with extra deposit and prize rewards. A full suite of promotional features have been given a boost recently, a move that is meant to maintain Titan’s current player base while also grabbing new members.

The improved rewards on offer from Titan Poker have already gone live and provide fantastic incentives to players unsure of where to make their internet gaming home. First-time players will now be able to enjoy an initial deposit bonus that matches their money by 200% (up to a total of $1000) in order to give them a little extra cash to add to their bankroll. To spread the bonus to existing members, Titan Poker will also offer a reload bonus, beginning next month, on a deposit made during that period of time. Aside from deposit matching and reload bonuses, Titan has also announced that they will be increasing the cash prize pools for the majority of their regular tournaments and more.

Titan Poker’s improved rewards system does more than just give back to site members — it also demonstrates a level of financial stability that many of its competitors are unable to match during a difficult time for the online poker industry. As many of the United States’ biggest sites have shut down recently after a federal government crackdown — a move that affected many poker networks — Titan Poker is going out of its way to demonstrate its continued success.

Paddy Power Poker Announces Live Video Stream for Irish Open 2011

Ireland’s foremost online poker network, Paddy Power Poker, has announced that it will be giving the Irish Open 2011 extensive coverage through its website when the event kicks off at the end of April. The influential gaming platform has plans to stream almost all of the competition, complete with professional hosting and commentary.

Paddy Power Poker is one of the Irish Open’s top supporters and is going to help boost the coverage of the series by kicking off live, streaming video beginning at the Friday night premiere. Jessie May, working from a studio located in the centre of the Open’s Dublin venue, will be conducting interviews and acting as host while an entire team of reporters work to canvas the rest of the action occurring at the Burlington Hotel. Paddy Power has also detailed its inclusion of social media interactions being a part of the event, enabling both players and spectators to discuss each game as it’s actually being played out.

Along with great televised coverage, Paddy Power players will also be able to take advantage of several promotions — like daily iPad-based freerolls, reload bonuses and more — that are planned to be launched throughout the Irish Open’s schedule. This year’s Irish Open will be held at downtown Dublin’s Burlington Hotel, taking place from Friday, 22nd to Monday, 25th April.

PokerStars Debuts Game of Your Life Freeroll Promotion

A brand new freeroll has just been launched at PokerStars, giving talented players an ideal avenue for bulking up their bankroll without dropping a penny for entry. Game of Your Life has already started and will go on for most of the spring with regular daily and weekly freerolls up for offer.

Game of Your Life is set to run throughout the majority of April and May and has promised to provide a total of one million dollars in cash prizes. Aside from fantastic monetary rewards, the promo will also award its final two winners with prize packages that send them to a sports event of their choice anywhere in the world (a trip valued at roughly $100,000). Talented competitors will be able to enter daily tournaments and freeroll finals every Sunday evening (with the first taking place on 17th April) and battle it out for the chance at their share of $100,000. The final promo events will be held on 22nd May and, in order to bring the entire series to an appropriate conclusion, winners are set to receive $10,000 along with further sports event packages.

Those players that are lucky enough to win a sports package will receive seats to their event of choice along with free accommodations, travel expenses and the ability to invite as many of their friends as they wish. PokerStars’ Game of Your Life is divided by region but the massive cash rewards and sports event trips are all up for grabs by skilled players from any of the nations supported by the website.

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BetFair Opens World Series of Poker 2011 Entry Promos

Sportsbooker and online gaming network, BetFair, has just launched a number of promotional offers that aim to give members of its poker site a chance to win their entry to the fast-approaching World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2011. Talented, amateur players now have the opportunity they need to compete in the massive tournament series and try their hand at breaking into the professional ranks.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly promotion has already begun and will run through until near the end of May while offering up a staggering $150,000 in seats. BetFair Poker fans can compete in a $70,000 points race that will ultimately see the top three players winning seats to the poker season’s most prestigious tournament series — the WSOP. Competitors that place between the 150th and fourth position will also be able to claim a partial share in $40,000 of cash prizes. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly will be run alongside the 6-Shooter promo. 6-Shooter allows BetFair members to compete for seats in an early July tournament series that will ultimately award winners with $5,700 WSOP side event prize packages.

BetFair’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is available now and will run until Friday, 27th May 2011 while 6-Shooter preliminaries take place throughout April and May before final tournaments run from 1st to 6th July, 2011. The BetFair $2,500 Welcome Freeroll will also change during the WSOP 2011 lead-up, occurring less often but rewarding winners with WSOP side event packages and satellite tickets.

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PKR Brings its PKR Social Event to Germany

PKR.com, one of the industry’s most popular online poker networks, has just announced that its live event, PKR Social, will be coming to Germany in the near future. Since its success in the United Kingdom in the past, PKR has decided to expand its get-togethers in order to cater to a wider market, branching out further into Europe this spring.

The upcoming PKR Social Dusseldorf is scheduled to take place over two full days, giving PKR.com players a great opportunity for meeting their online friends and competitors in a series of games and social events. PKR.com last held a PKR Social in London at the end of March, 2011 to great acclaim and has sought to expand the event by bringing it to German-speaking audiences. Germany was chosen as the next European location after the last London event saw German players traveling west to finish strong in the 26th March poker tournament held there. PKR has announced that PKR Social Dusseldorf will feature the usual line-up of community poker games along with a paintball competition and dinner party.

The poker network’s decision to plan events in the rest of Europe follows PKR’s recent launch of German language forums and a business-wide embrace of providing international support. PKR Social Dusseldorf will be held on the weekend of 7th and 8th May in Dusseldorf, Germany with accommodations being made available at an as-of-yet unspecified hotel as part of the entry package.

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Paddy Power Poker Offers Up Seats for Irish Open 2011

Ireland’s favourite online poker service, Paddy Power Poker, is helping its fans to join in with the nation’s biggest live poker tournament — the Irish Open 2011. Paddy Power is setting up a great set of opportunities for talented members of its site to win their way into the Open, offering 30 seats to the upcoming tournament series.

The Irish Open 2011 Mega Satellite promotion will be open for entry beginning on the evening of 3rd April, 2011 and will offer up 30 prize packages (each valued at €4,600) aimed at giving amateur talent a shot at proving themselves against the pros. Paddy Power members can buy into the Mega Satellite for €320 and try their skills against other competitors for a chance at winning one of the available prizes. Winners will receive five nights of accommodations at Dublin’s Burlington Hotel, travel expenses and buy-in to the games. Paddy Power Poker is also giving each of its Mega Satellite victors another opportunity through its €100,000 Sole Survivor promotion. Sole Survivor will award a lavish cash prize to the qualifier that’s able to outlast all of his or her fellow competitors once they’ve arrived at the Irish Open itself.

Considering that regular buy-ins to the open stand at €3,500, the Mega Satellite represents a great avenue for dedicated players to bankroll their way to the upcoming tournament series. Paddy Power Poker is one of the key backers of the Irish Open 2011, set to take place from 22nd-25th April at downtown Dublin’s The Burlington Hotel.

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PokerStars Gets Ready to Celebrate Its 60 Billionth Hand

The immensely popular online poker network, PokerStars, is almost about to make internet history as it gears up to mark a landmark 60 billion hands dealt. A huge number of active members have made PokerStars the web’s biggest online gaming success and now it’s just about to reach an incredible achievement that will set a new record for its industry.

All of the poker site’s players will be able to share in the celebration as the 60 billionth hand looms on the horizon. PokerStars is giving back to the community that has made its accomplishment possible through the Road to 60 Billion promotion, set to begin once hand number 59.7 billion is hit. The Road to 60 Billion will award $50 in cash to each player that participates in every 100 millionth Milestone Hand after the 59.7 billion mark is reached. PokerStars will also be giving an additional $50 for every VIP point that members have earned over their previous 50 hands. Even better yet, the player that wins the cash hand will have their awarded prize money doubled.

PokerStars marked its 50 billionth hands dealt roughly half a year ago and is expected to go on to hit 60 billion in the near future. Fans of the online poker network that want to help their favourite site celebrate — and try their luck at winning some great cash prizes — should log on immediately for their chance to win at the Road to 60 Billion promo.

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Full Tilt Poker Puts a New Spin on Sit-and-Go with Matrix Tournaments

Full Tilt Poker has just announced a surprising new addition to its line-up of upcoming events by unveiling the Matrix Tournaments. Promoted as a new take on classic sit-and-go games, the Matrix Tournaments are meant to give serious poker players a more personal version of the beloved play style.

The Matrix Tournaments are, at their core, sit-and-go tournaments. The primary innovation of the games, however, is that Matrix will see players dividing their attention across four simultaneous tables while in competition with eight, recurring opponents. The tournaments offer an interesting, “grudge match” take on the usual sit-and-go formula, making competitors continuously battle against one another until only one, lone entrant is left standing. The final three positions at the table will receive standard sit-and-go pay-outs and bonuses based on performance from a Matrix jackpot set at $90. Aside from the cash on hand, Full Tilt will also award a single “Survival Point” for each of the opponents they’re able to outlast and “Knockout Points” for competitors they’re able to eliminate from play. The player that is able to collect the highest number of points, triumphing over all four tables, will be dubbed the “Dominatrix” and receive prize money from the entire Matrix pool and individual table earnings.

Full Tilt Poker’s decision to create a brand new style of tournament play will definitely please poker fans with a taste for experimentation. The Matrix Tournament promises a fresh spin on a proven style of play and should give site members a great new venue for plying their skills against others.

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PKR Poker 2011 Update

PKR.com, the 3D online poker service, is set to increase the popularity of its already impressive software with the announcement of a brand new update. The successful internet gaming site has streamlined its existing services while adding in essential new features in order to give its players an even better venue for their gaming.

The new PKR.com software update, version 2.04, adds a host of new tools and options that are designed to make the site the ideal choice for poker fans of all types. Star among the new additions is a drastic increase in PKR’s hands-per-hour rate. PKR’s website designers have worked hard to eliminate any unnecessary pauses in gameplay by removing redundant hand animations and allowing more of the site’s visuals to run simultaneously. PKR.com told press that this increased speed will be most noticeable in heads-up and short-handed tables and that site tournaments look to feature a faster and more action-packed pace. The update also sees PKR adding in some 16 new player voices and 8 new dealer voices for a sum total of more than 25,000 lines of fresh dialogue.

Not content to settle for all of the improvements listed above, the 2.04 update will also add in an entirely new blackjack game that is meant to fit in alongside PKR.com’s previous addition of roulette to their service. The greater diversity of game styles and update to PKR’s existing poker options is sure to garner further acclaim for the multiple award-winning gaming platform.

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Bodog Makes History with Billionth Blackjack Hand

One of the web’s most popular online gaming networks, Bodog.com, has just made world history by dealing out its billionth blackjack hand. The setting of a new record was duly noted by Bodog Casino, which has offered a fantastic pair of prize options to the lucky, billionth hand player.

To celebrate its achievement, Bodog.com has sought out the site member that played the historic hand and given the fortunate man or woman an opportunity to share in the festivities. It’s online casino site is now offering the player their choice of two massive awards, provided entirely by Bodog. The prizes consist of either a trip to the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix (along with trackside accommodations and access to a private boat) or an all-inclusive vacation to luxurious Turtle Island, Fiji. Mark Leighton, Casino Manager for Bodog, told press that his company was delighted to have reached this landmark and wanted to thank its loyal fan base for making it possible.

Bodog is now the first gaming site to have achieved such a high number of dealt blackjack hands. While other networks have reached one billion poker hands throughout their operations (including, of course, Bodog Poker), blackjack is a less popular game and hitting the same mark is a difficult task that demonstrates Bodog Casino’s massive success in its industry. The billionth blackjack hand was dealt on the evening of Friday, 4th March.

Lucky Party Poker Member Hits Bad Beat Jackpot

The Party Poker bad beat jackpot, a progressive cash prize that has been increasing in value over time, has just been awarded to one lucky member of the popular online poker network. More than $479,000 was paid out to the winner last week, marking the end of the jackpot’s steady growth since its last cash-out.

The massive bad beat jackpot at Party Poker was awarded to a German player using ‘Praetorianer’ as his online handle. Praetorianer was playing for a $609 pot against seven other players at a standard, $2/$4 Party Poker table when his bad luck suddenly turned into surprisingly good fortune. After going all in with quad tens he was beaten out by opponent, ‘rol007’, who put down a royal flush to take home the pot and defeat Praetorianer’s fantastic hand. Although initially upset by his misfortune, Praetorianer was soon delighted to learn that his loss qualified him for entry into the bad beat jackpot where he was eventually awarded the $479,101 prize. Rol007 earned an additional $239,550 and the remaining members of the table were each provided with $34,221.

Party Poker’s bad beat jackpot is a regular feature on the site that gives players the opportunity to strike it rich off of their best stories of defeat. Praetorianer’s recent win is only one example of the fantastic prizes that have been awarded in the past and serves as a great example of just how quickly bad luck can turn to good through the help of the internet gaming site.

Registration for PKR Social London Opens Now at PKR.com

Leading online poker network, PKR.com, is now offering buy-ins and registrations for the upcoming PKR Social London event. PKR’s celebration of the game is set to take place at the end of March at London’s Fox Poker Club and will feature plenty of action — both for spectators and players — as it gathers together an assembly of devoted poker fans.

Poker players have plenty of reasons for getting excited about PKR Social London. Registered players will enjoy access to two nights of tournaments and fun with fellow enthusiasts and stars from PKR’s team of professionals. Friday evening will feature Sit-and-Go Madness, a line-up of sit-and-go competitions and free drinks while Saturday hosts the $130 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament. Players can opt to compete in PKR Social London’s most exciting feature by taking advantage of a newly opened direct buy-in to the gathering’s main event. Top prizes are available in amounts as high as $4,000 and additional cash rewards are on offer through Team PKR Pro player bounties and more.

The two-day affair promises great times for poker fans that wish to show off their skills and meet fellow competitors in an exciting setting. PKR Social London has been scheduled to take place on Friday and Saturday, 25th-26th March at the Fox Poker Club. Friday’s Sit-and-Go Madness begins in the evening while Saturday’s main event kicks off at 1pm.

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PokerStars Offers Qualifiers for the Greek Poker Cup

PokerStars intends to give its members a great opportunity to compete in the upcoming Greek Poker Cup (GPC) through a series of online qualifiers. The free qualifiers, now on offer at PokerStars, are open for registered players at the site and provide the chance to win seats into the GPC’s main event.

The Greek Poker Cup’s historic venue and PokerStars have recently become business partners and members of the popular poker platform will benefit, most noticeably, with the chance to compete at the GPC for free. PokerStars has announced that it penned a deal with Club Hotel Casino Loutraki that sees both parties organizing the Greek Poker Cup, the largest live tournament series ever to take place in Greece, for this spring.

The GPC is a no-limit Texas hold’em event that will give some 200 players the opportunity to duke it out for fantastic prizes and a greater level of exposure in the international poker community. The series will feature a €1,100 buy-in and is expected to draw the Greek poker world’s top players, giving them the leverage they need to become better known outside of the nation.

The Greek Poker Cup is scheduled to take place from 24th March through to 27th March at the Club Hotel Casino Loutraki and has been developed in partnership between the casino and PokerStars. Club Hotel Casino Loutraki, located just outside of Athens, is equipped with 14 tables and is one of the most influential (and scenic) gaming hubs in Greece, being the first Greek casino to offer Texas hold’em to its visitors.

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Bodog Network Begins to Phase Out Data Gathering

Online poker network, Bodog, has announced its plans to begin blocking data gathering services from accessing its network. The decision is meant to put more of the site’s focus toward casual poker players by stopping the kind of data logging that mainly serves to enhance the game of professional, money-driven players.

Bodog’s move to block data gatherers was decided upon as part of a plan to bring the fun back into internet games for recreational poker players. Data gatherers like PokerDB, Shark Scope and Poker Site Scout will, now, no longer be able to create records of player activity, meaning that professional “sharks” cannot easily predict the playing style or behaviour of their opponents. The blocking systems have been implemented alongside a new lobby system with a revised interface and a more user-friendly layout. Bodog next plans to halt operator information sites from accessing its members’ play history as part of a continued effort to ensure that new and recreational players feel safe in sitting down at online tables in their spare time.

Bodog’s effort to stamp out data gatherers is likely to help the site appeal to a broader demographic in the future. Bodog Europe’s Chief Executive Officer, Patrik Selin, told press that he believes data gatherer portals are a threat to the continued existence of online poker and stand only to stop prospective players from trying out internet gaming services.

Mansion Poker Adds New Selection of Free Play Options

Poker fans on the fence about bringing their time and money to Mansion Poker will now have a few new opportunities to take the site out for a spin before fully committing themselves. Mansion Poker has revealed a number of new free-to-play options that help to give newcomers a chance to see the merits of their service without spending anything to do so.

In order to get started, players only need to sign up for an account and download the Mansion Poker client software. They’re then provided with full access to the new, free play games recently added to the site. These include a number of new freeroll tournaments and deposit bonuses like in its $25 Bankroll Builder Freeroll (which is made available twice daily) and a full first deposit matching bonus (up to $500). Mansion Poker also gives new members (that have made a cash deposit) two complementary entries into its New Depositors $2,500 Freeroll (which is scheduled twice monthly) and access to its weekly Depositors $250 Freeroll. All of these great freerolls are offered alongside Mansion Poker’s regular $200,000 Guaranteed Prize tournaments, satellites, progressive jackpot sit-and-go games and double point weekend Happy Hour games.

New free play options should help to boost Mansion Poker’s popularity as more poker fans are given an opportunity to enjoy a trial of its impressive Playtech software and player loyalty rewards (through the Club Mansion Loyalty Programme and Club Mansion Shop).

PokerStars Reveals Brand New Live Poker Series — the Eureka Poker Tour

PokerStars has enjoyed incredible success with its sponsorship and creation of live and online poker events and now, with its announcement of a brand new tour — the Eureka Poker Tour (EPT — it looks to continue this focus of its business.

The Eureka Poker Tour will begin in Prague, Czech Republic on 16 March. The EPT Prague stop will take place over four days of tournaments and feature a main prize pool that is estimated at roughly €250,000. Further stops of the EPT will include locations in countries including Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovenia, demonstrating a focus on Eastern Europe that should help to provide popularity in a region of the continent that lacks similar events. Buy-ins to the EPT will start from as low as €800 and fields for each of the tour’s events will be limited to roughly 500 players. PokerStars has confirmed that each leg will be comprised of several tournaments that include a full range of side events.

Online qualifiers (with buy-ins from as low as €2) have also been announced that will give PokerStars members a chance to gain access to any of the EPT’s stops. The Eureka Poker Tour begins at the Card Casino in Prague before moving on to Nova Gorica in Slovenia (11 May), Varna’s Golden Sands in Bulgaria (22 June), an unspecified venue in Croatia (7 September) and a leg in Romania at an as-of-yet unscheduled time and place.

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Doyle’s Room Moves from Cake Network to Rival, Yatahay Poker Network

Doyle’s Room is one of the most successful online poker sites currently operating and its position as a member of the Cake Network is important to the latter company. Now Doyle’s Room has decided to move its business to one of Cake’s major rivals, the Yahatay Poker Network, giving a boost to Yahatay’s reputation.

The decision to move from Cake Network to Yatahay Poker Network was made by Doyle’s Room in order to offer the poker site’s members a better experience with deeper levels of customization. Doyle’s Room has already started to give its players new features that has been made possible by taking advantage of Yahatay’s exclusive software. Site members only need to launch their game client as usual and download an automatically prompted update to migrate their accounts to Yahatay Poker Network. They will then be able to experience Doyle’s Room’s new direction and begin enjoying a more robust software offering as they play.

Cake Network has been struck a serious blow as Doyle’s Room leaves the network for Yahatay but the move is sure to improve the playing experience for members of the site. Doyle Brunson, the legendary poker player and website namesake, spoke to press of his excitement to be the newest member of Yahatay and give members the ability to enjoy better promotions, customer service (like the return of chat and telephone support options) and software features.

PKR.com Takes Home the 2011 Online Poker Operator of the Year Award

PKR.com has always been a popular choice for online poker players due to its bustling player activity, regular promotions and excellent software and now, for the second consecutive year, it has been awarded the title of Online Poker Operator of the Year. The 2011 Online Poker Operator of the Year award is responsible for providing acclaim for sites that have demonstrated excellence in their operations throughout the year, celebrating platforms that provide optimal customer experiences.

The International Gaming Awards (IGA), managed by Clever Duck Ltd, hosts an annual award ceremony that selects the best online gaming platforms. The award for Online Poker Operator of the Year was given to PKR.com, the renowned 3D poker site, for PKR’s second time. It received recognition from the IGA on the basis of its consistently “engaging and immersive poker experience”. The global economic downturn has made it difficult for many online poker operators and such recognition is sure to help keep PKR profitable.

The IGA’s also provided awards for some of 2011’s other most notable online gaming companies. Foxy Bingo picked up the title of Best Online Bingo Operator while awards were also provided in categories that include Best Casino Operator (divided by region), Customer Experience of the Year, Eco Friendly Company, Socially Responsible Casino Operator of the Year and more.

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PKR.com Begins to Offer 2011 Asian Poker Tour Satellites

PKR.com is giving its players yet another reason to anticipate the upcoming 2011 Asian Poker Tour (APT) through a set of recently revealed satellites. The PKR satellites are designed to give online hopefuls an opportunity to try their luck at winning free seats to the APT’s Philippines leg — and maybe even jumpstart a career in the competitive field of professional level poker.

PKR.com will be offering its 2011 APT satellites (beginning on Monday, 17th January) as a weekly site feature. Each Monday evening, PKR members will be able to log onto the site to compete in satellite tournaments that give the winners the opportunity to test their skills against some of the best known professionals in the world. The Philippines stop of the 2011 APT (that the satellite provides a seat for) will run for five days beginning on 30th March. Satellite buy-ins range from as inexpensive as $2.28 or as much as £215.

In previous years PKR.com gave one of its members the chance of a lifetime by awarding him with seats that would go on to establish him as a major force in the world of professional poker. Last year Adrien ‘Zlatan35’ Allain entered into a $6 satellite, managed to beat out all of his competitors and eventually take home a $390,000 prize and the honour of becoming a member of Team PKR Pro.

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PokerStars Reveals the Identity of ‘Isildur1’, Signs New Team PokerStars Pro Members

For some time now, ‘Isildur1’ has been a mysterious presence in the professional poker world, winning events and defeating major competitors in heads-up games without ever revealing his real identity. After he signed to Team PokerStars Pro last month and played a recent, live game, however, PokerStars finally lifted the veil and published his true name along with news of its most recent Team acquisitions.

PokerStars, in an announcement of its newest signings, revealed that ‘Isildur1’ is actually a 20 year-old Swedish man named Viktor Blom. As Blom arrived to play at the recent PokerStars.com Caribbean Adventure $10,000 Buy-In Main Event he was immediately identified as the mysterious ‘Isildur1’. PokerStars later confirmed. Not to be overshadowed by Blom’s big reveal, PokerStars also announced that recent World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event winner, Jonathan Duhamel, has been added to the Team PokerStars Pro roster. 23 year-old Duhamel hails from Quebec, Canada and joined the Team alongside Blom after his incredible WSOP performance caught the site’s eye. Duhamel took home roughly $8.9 million after beating out America’s John Racener, becoming the first Canadian to win the event in WSOP history.

Both Jonathan Duhamel and Viktor Blom are serious forces to be reckoned with and their signing is sure to add to the success of Team PokerStars Pro as the season continues. It’s been a big week for PokerStars and the excitement looks to continue as Blom and Duhamel, two of the most promising young players in poker, begin to play games under the website’s sponsorship.

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Greg ‘Fossilman’ Raymer Announces Departure from Team PokerStars Pro

Team PokerStars Pro is the home of some of the poker world’s finest players but now, with the departure of Greg ‘Fossilman’ Raymer, the site’s collection of professionals has lost one of its best.

Raymer, a 46 year-old American, recently announced his decision to leave PokerStars’ sponsorship on a poker forum, surprising many industry observers and fans. He was one of the founding members of the popular website’s team of pros and has achieved more than $6.8 million in live earnings throughout his career. One of his most recent victories saw Raymer finishing third out of 201 competitors at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and finishing the series with $774,927 in earnings. Trouble became apparent when Greg Raymer’s profile was found missing from the PokerStars team site. He later made a forum thread announcing his departure and went on to confirm his split through a Twitter post. Fellow poker pro, Kathy Liebert, has alleged that Raymer’s decision came about after PokerStars offered to renew his existing contract but with a lower rate (as part of an overall move to reduce spending on sponsorship deals for Team PokerStars Pro).

Greg Raymer is a former lawyer that became a successful poker player after he competed in the 2001 WSOP’s $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split event. Three years later he attended the World Series of Poker again, taking down David Williams in the main event and bringing home approximately five million dollars.

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Everest Poker Launches The One, a Brand New Land-Based Tournament

Everest Poker is looking to give poker players another shot at making their name and taking home some serious money through a brand new tournament series. The upcoming, land-based event has been named “The One” and will kick off this spring at one of Europe’s most beautiful and prestigious venues.

The One will take place in Monte Carlo over three days in late April, providing a number of fantastic tournaments for players to try their hand at. Everest Poker will feature a guaranteed one million euro prize pool and a €5,300 buy-in Main Event that is sure to draw the attention of dedicated competitors. Side events currently scheduled include a €25,000 No-Limit Hold’Em, €500 No-Limit Hold’Em Turbo and €1,000 Buy-In No-Limit Hold’em tournament. Everest has opened up direct buy-ins and has also launched online qualifiers (including a number of satellite freerolls) through its website. Plenty of talented amateurs will be able to attend The One through these qualifiers and Everest Poker is working hard to bring even more into the fold through prize packages (valued at €6,600) that will give lucky winners a trip to Monte Carlo along with accommodation, Main Event buy-in and airfare.

Everest Poker plans to instate The One as an annual event and hopes that it will go on to become an integral part of the yearly poker season. The tournament series takes place at Monte Carlo’s Salle Des Palmiers casino from 21st to 24th April, 2011.

Paddy Power Poker Offers More Chances to Win Irish Open Seats

With the Irish Open coming up in only a few short months Paddy Power Poker is looking to give its members a few more chances to get in on the action. Ireland’s foremost online gaming network has just announced additional satellites that offer poker players a shot at winning a seat to the Open and a chance at making a name for themselves at the venerable series.

Paddy Power Poker has opened up a new set of games that give even the smallest bankroll holders a chance at competing at the 2011 Irish Open Main Event. Entry to the online satellites starts at only €2.20 and is available through the recently launched daily events (with re-buys set at €4.40). Each of these online tournaments guarantees spots into the upcoming Cheap Seats Grand Final, an event that will take place at the end of January and provide the lucky winners with Irish Open seats valued at €3,500. Paddy Power has also scheduled further Cheap Seats events to take place every Wednesday until 6 April.

Serious players have never had a better opportunity to take a shot at breaking into the competitive world of poker than with the full range of satellite games currently on offer at Paddy Power Poker. The Irish Open is scheduled for 22-25 April and will be held at Dublin’s Burlington Hotel.

UltimateBet Signs Prahlad Friedman to Team UltimateBet

Team UltimateBet sponsors some of the poker world’s finest players to represent their brand and compete in both online and offline events. Now, with their decision to sign Prahlad Friedman, a professional competitor with serious talent, they’ve managed to add yet another asset to their world renowned team.

Friedman has long been considered an impossible player to sign, refusing to accept sponsorship from any of the major teams throughout his career to date. Now, however, the 32 year old pro has been locked down by UltimateBet and agreed to act as one of the popular website’s representatives. Prahlad Friedman is certainly no rookie and has been active in the professional poker scene for many years. His most notable accomplishments include a WPT Legends of Poker title, a WSOP bracelet and millions of dollars in collected winnings. Friedman is also well known for his aggressiveness at high-stakes tables and apparent fearlessness in playing even the most expensive hands.

Considering that Team UltimateBet recently lost two of their most recognizable (and successful) members — Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth —their signing of Prahlad Friedman comes just in time. They plan to celebrate their good fortune by running several (currently unannounced) promotions that feature Friedman in some manner. UltimateBet members that want to try their luck against Friedman now can make use of the site’s UltimateBuddy feature to track him down while he’s active at the tables.

Absolute Poker and UltimateBet Overhaul Tournament Leaderboards

Two of the online poker industry’s most popular sites, AbsolutePoker.com and UltimateBet.com, have just launched new and improved versions of their tournament leaderboard systems. The redesigned leaderboards have been overhauled in order to make payout and reward scales distribute more evenly over the entire year, giving all types of poker players more chances at taking home substantial prizes.

Both Absolute Poker and UltimateBet, sites belonging to the Cereus Network, have launched their new leaderboards in an effort to draw players in for an exciting 2011. Weekly, monthly and yearly competitions have been revamped so that payout structuring is more frequent and evenly distributed. The Multi-Table Tournament (MTT) Leaderboard competition found at both sites is the beneficiary of some of the most substantial changes. Monthly MTT leaders will now compete over a $15,000 prize pool each month with the top spot earning $5,000. The best overall player of the year at both Absolute Poker and UltimateBet will receive entry to the World Series of Poker and $10,000 in cash while the runner-up also earns a seat and $5,000. Aside from these differences, Absolute and UltimateBet have bulked up their leaderboard-based freeroll offerings and added additional cash prizes as well.

The new leaderboard system provides online poker players with a great excuse to sign up and log onto Absolute Poker or UltimateBet and should help to keep both sites viable in a crowded, highly competitive industry. The new tournament leaderboards are live now.

PKR.com Reveals 2010 Player of the Year Winners

PKR.com has just announced the latest winners in its 2010 Player of the Year awards, bringing recognition and noteriety to some of the most appreciated members of its bustling community. Nominations had been coming in to contest organizers throughout the entirety of 2010 and now, with the year at a close, the list of winners has been released.

The PKR.com 2010 Player of the Year awards are divided into a number of different categories that see players winning titles such as Cash Game Player of the Year, Tournament Player of the Year and Forumite of the Year. 2010’s Cash Game Player of the Year went to Vladimir ‘Beyne’ Geshkenbein on the strength of the player’s aggressive play style (particularly in high-stakes, heads-up games) and his record as the first PKR.com member of last year to cash out one million dollars. Tournament Player of the Year was awarded to Norway’s ‘Ovnis’, a well-regarded member of the PKR.com community, winner of 12 major titles and recipient of roughly $80,000 in 2010 earnings. Ireland’s ‘Pkr1princess’ was the winner of the Forumite of the Year title because of her “positive presence in the forums” and work toward orchestrating Leeds-based community meetings.

PKR.com is one of the industry’s most popular online poker networks and its decision to recognize some of the fans that help keep it successful is a welcome one. Site spokespeople issued statements that congratulated the winners and encouraged future entries for 2011 Player of the Year nominations.

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PokerStars Releases First Details for Upcoming Latin American and Australia and New Zealand Poker Tours

Pokerstars, one of the online poker industry’s leading gaming platforms, has just announced preliminary details that outline its forthcoming Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT). The fourth edition of its much-anticipated tournament series is also accompanied by the third season of the Australia and New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT).

The latest LAPT is set to kick-off on 16th February, 2011 with its first leg being scheduled to take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The series will continue on through Peru, Chile and Argentina before coming to a conclusion in Bogota on 7th August, marking the first time that the tournament has made a stop in Columbia’s capital city. Each of these legs features $1,000 buy-ins and will be joined by the LAPT Awards (which recognizes the best player performances).

Alongside the first look at the upcoming Latin American Poker Tour, PokerStars also accompanied its announcement by providing details for the third season of its Australia and New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT). ANZPT will get started from 2nd-6th February in Adelaide and then move through locations that include Perth, Canberra, Queenstown, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney. The ANZPT will also feature a Player of the Year competition that rewards PokerStars players with the highest-points scored throughout the tournament period with sponsorship packages for games at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour and either the PokerStars.com Caribbean Adventure or Aussie Millions Main Event.

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PKR.com Brings Back Christmas Cracker Tournament Series

This Christmas PKR.com is looking to share a gift with its members by hosting a special tournament series that celebrates the holidays with great reward opportunities and exciting competition. The Christmas Cracker tournament series, a hit during previous holiday seasons, is returning to PKR.com with a large prize pool.

Beginning on 23rd December, Christmas Cracker will be lighting up the PKR.com tournament rooms. The series will be made up of 13 events with an estimated total prize pool of $238,000 and a few extra bonus features. Coming alongside the tournament series is PKR’s Santa’s Grotto freeroll, an event that also begins on the 23rd and features impressive, consumer technology giveaways to winners. Entry for Christmas Cracker events requires PKR.com members to buy-in directly whereas Santa’s Grotto will see players receiving 500 chips in their account for each Christmas Cracker tournament they participate in. The two promotional events are linked in this way, encouraging site members to get busy at the tables if they want to rack up courtesy chips for later use.

PKR’s Christmas Cracker tournament series is bound to brighten up the holidays for poker players with the skill to triumph against other competitors. Combined with Santa’s Grotto, a freeroll with an assortment of generous prizes, holiday poker aficionados owe it to themselves to make the time to stop by PKR.com during its two weeks of special events.

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Titan Poker Launches Winter Promotion for Next Two Months

With winter beginning in earnest Titan Poker has decided to bring a little warmth into the season with two months of exciting promotional games. All-In Winter, Titan’s latest special offering, is already setting players up with a wide range of competitions and a prize pool that totals out at an impressive $220,000.

Titan Poker has a little something for everyone with its All-In Winter. The promotion covers a wide variety of play preferences, including sit-and-go and multi-table tournaments, cash games and more. All throughout December and January, Titan members are able to compete for a weekly prize pot of $10,000 through the All-In Winter Raked Hands Races. High and low-stake competitors divide the money between them based on their performance. Weekly sit-and-go tournaments will also be available through the All-In Winter Sit-and-Go Races alongside multi-table fare with the All-In Winter MT3 Poker Promotion. Cash payouts will be awarded via leaderboard tracking, giving even talented players with smaller bankrolls the opportunity to win big at the various events.

Aside from the main fare of Titan’s All-in Winter, a pair of freeroll competitions have also been scheduled for the coming months. Two freerolls, both with a $10,000 prize pool, will be held for players with at least 100 Titan Poker Points (earned throughout December for entry in January’s freeroll and earned in January for February’s).

New Security Measure Support is Added to Absolute Poker and UB.com

Players want to know that their bankroll is secure and most online gambling networks work hard to let their members play with confidence in their protection. Absolute Poker and UB.com are two of the latest sites to increase their security by adding extra layers of privacy maintenance and user authentication measures to their platforms.

Absolute Poker and UB.com are now giving their users access to Security Token, an electronic device that can be activated and linked to an account for greater security. The Security Token makes it necessary for players to login with their password and also have the device itself on hand before being able to access their accounts. Even if a password is compromised, the Token is able to safeguard funds while a solution is enacted. With this extra layer of security in place, private information and bankrolls are as safe as currently possible: the Security Token utilizes the same technology that banks and similar institutions rely on.

The Security Token is an essential item for serious poker players with large amounts of cash kept in their online bankrolls and Absolute Poker and UB.com’s decisions to implement this protection measure is a great way to ease the minds of their high rollers. Interested online gamers can purchase the Security Token through both of these site’s reward stores and activate them in conjunction with the newly available SecureID PIN system.

PokerStars Announces Restrictions on Chinese Player’s Accounts

PokerStars, being one of the world’s most successful online poker networks, has had to deal with its share of cheaters over the years. Now, with its recent move to restrict the activity of Chinese players at its tables, it has taken some of its most drastic steps to date to protect its players — and itself.

The new restriction at PokerStars has put a limit on tables, allowing only one player from China to compete at any single ring game table. This step, a fairly drastic one that is sure to draw criticism, was come to by PokerStars due to their fear of the site being the victim of collusion — a term that refers to the creation of secret fraudulent conspiracies. PokerStars is not acting entirely without warrant; in late August of this year illegal activity was being conducted at double or nothing games by several China-based players and, in response to this, PokerStars paid out $2.1 million in damages to affected players. This discovery (and financial hit) lead to PokerStars placing a similar player restriction on sit and go tournaments.

PokerStars has been steadfast about its decision to restrict the number of Chinese players at tables thus far but public criticism could sway the new policy in time. Spokespeople from PokerStars have stated that the new policy is the most effective method for maintaining the site’s integrity.
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PokerStars Hosts the Seventh Annual World Cup of Poker

PokerStars’ sixth World Cup of Poker (WCOP) was a massive success, bringing in poker competitors from across the globe and drumming up plenty of publicity for the organizing company. Now PokerStars has enjoyed yet another highly profitable event with the conclusion of last weekend’s seventh annual WCOP preliminaries.

The latest edition of the WCOP saw participation from players in 56 different nations and tough competition fuelled by a $290,000 cash prize pool. Each region was given the opportunity to advance in teams of four to the top spots in the tournament series. The best seven teams played a divisional qualifying round then were chosen for advancement to an upcoming live finale. Along with being financially rewarded for their success, these lucky seven teams were invited to the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas with PokerStars handling their expenses and accommodation costs. This last step will establish the winner of the 2010 WCOP, providing them with $100,000 and, of course, serious bragging rights.

With PokerStars’ World Cup of Poker continuing to gain steam with each and every instalment, we can look forward to yet another grand tournament next year. For now, the live finale events in the Bahamas is exciting enough; the winners of the 9th to 16th January’s World Cup of Poker VII Main Event will take home $100,000, glory for their nation and the Champion title.

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Full Tilt Poker Adds Draw Poker Games with Software Update

Online poker fans have another reason to sign up at Full Tilt Poker now that the popular website has added even more modes of play to its software. The platform’s most recent update has improved more than just functionality and aesthetics at Full Tilt — it has also added new real-money play options that bring the draw poker format to website fans.

Full Tilt’s new freeplay draw poker options gives site members a great new set of ways to play at their favourite network. 2-7 Triple Draw (both fixed limit and no limit) has been developed for Full Tilt Poker along with Five Card Draw (in pot, fixed and no limit options), fixed-limit A5 Triple Draw, fixed limit 2-7 Single Draw and fixed limit Badugi styles. Each of these new play formats will feature the same high level of quality that Full Tilt Poker has become known for and some of the styles will be included in upcoming mixed game series and tournaments. Draw fans can look forward to seeing 2-7 Triple Draw, 2-7 Single Draw and Badugi in new seven game mixes and traditionalists can avoid playing draw by sticking to Full Tilt’s original mixed options.

This software update brings a major set of new formats to Full Tilt Poker, providing a great reason for players to try their hand at the varied skill set that draw requires.

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PokerStars Releases Full Schedule for British and Irish Regional Championships of Online Poker

PokerStars’ Regional Championships of Online Poker (RCOOP) continues to heat up around the world with the announcement of the international tournament series’ upcoming UK and Ireland leg. Details of the British and Irish RCOOP edition have been released from PokerStars and they’re sure to impress prospective players.

The upcoming RCOOP stop has been scheduled for early December and will come with a minimum $512,500 guaranteed prize pool. PokerStars has set up a total of eleven events that begin on 5th December via a $55 buy-in no-limit re-buy six max tournament (with a $40,000 guaranteed prize pool). The kick-off day will also feature a $215 buy-in pot-limit Omaha hi-lo event (with a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool) and continue on with a 6th December no-limit double chance set (with a $25,000 prize pool). PokerStars’ RCOOP stays in Britain and Ireland through until 12th December’s main events: a massive, $320 buy-in pot-limit Omaha tournament ($25,000 guaranteed) and $520 buy-in no-limit event ($150,000). Every one of the days, from kick-off to finale, also comes packed with great tournament games and enormous prize pools.

As with all other legs of the event, the UK and Ireland RCOOP will be open only to legal residents of the host nations. British and Irish players should be sure to enter now for a chance at taking home some of the prize money on offer from PokerStars’ Regional Championships of Online Poker.

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Full Tilt Poker Cracks Down on Users with Automated Bot Programs

Massively popular online poker network, Full Tilt Poker, is launching a comprehensive crackdown on users that make use of automated bots at site tables. The move looks to keep Full Tilt users safe from cheating and ensure that all members can enjoy wagered online poker games without worrying about unfair play practices.

Full Tilt sent a mass email message to a large number of its registered players recently. Attached was an announcement that website users found running bot programs in the past and future would have (and had) their accounts permanently closed. Bots are software programs that are capable of handling automated tasks without user input. The kind of bots that sometimes show up on online poker servers are capable of running complex algorithms at fast speeds — an application that allows some users to cheat other players out of their stakes. Full Tilt Poker (and many other online poker sites) maintain anti-bot rules that puts their users in violation of website guidelines.

Full Tilt Poker also refunded funds to players that were able to prove that they had been victimized by cheating. Those that had lost money against bots had their accounts credited and any player that had witnessed unfair play were urged to contact Full Tilt’s security team. Although it’s difficult for major online poker platforms to completely safeguard their members from cheaters, Full Tilt Poker has made a positive step with their recent actions.

Ladbrokes Poker Adds Privacy Options for Anonymous Gaming

Internet privacy is an important issue that continues to gain interest as more and more web-users become aware of the dangers associated with sharing their information online. Ladbrokes Poker seeks to increase security and encourage innovative play-styles across its gaming network by giving site members new ways to protect themselves at the tables.

Ladbrokes Poker has announced a new software upgrade that will allow players to compete in matches anonymously, hiding their avatars and aliases if they choose to. The technology behind the upgrade is still patent-pending but, once launched, will become the online poker community’s first anonymity option. As part of the system’s implementation, Ladbrokes will be adding a selection of “anonymous tables” wherein all players will be able to compete without seeing any of their opponent’s notes, tags or other personal information. Playing as an anonymous member will give competitors the ability to try out new tactics and strategies without tarnishing their reputations or providing their opponents with information about their style. Even aside from its security benefits, Ladbrokes Poker’s update should help to keep play dramatic and unpredictable for serious and novice members alike.

The innovative software is a great step forward that should help to keep security-cautious online poker players feeling safe as they enjoy the game. Beyond its benefits to site members, Ladbrokes Poker new feature is also a precedent-setting tool that could become a regular component of all major online poker platforms if it is well received.

Full Tilt Poker Signs Tennis Player, James Blake, as Newest Brand Ambassador

Full Tilt Poker has found its newest brand ambassador in American tennis professional, James Blake. As the online poker company’s latest Friend of Full Tilt signing, Blake will act as sponsor to the site and help drive up business through participation in appearances, wearing branded apparel and more.

Yonkers, New York’s Blake has enjoyed a successful career in tennis that has seen him lead the US Davis Cup since 2001, only two years after his start as a professional athlete in 1999. During this time, Blake has maintained a record that shows 20 wins and only nine losses. He’s perhaps best known for his part in the US’s landmark competition against Russia in 2007 wherein he helped in taking the tournament four games to one by winning both of his matches. Only 32 years old, Blake has struggled to maintain his career as a tennis pro since a viral infection affected him with blurred vision and partial paralysis. Despite his ailments, he most recently appeared at this year’s US Open and made it to the third round of play.

Aside from tennis, Blake has also founded the Thomas Blake Senior Memorial Cancer Research Fund in memory of his father. He hopes to raise one million dollars for the Fund through merchandising efforts and his new position as a Friend of Full Tilt Poker will contribute.

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PokerStars Announces Its Upcoming, International Poker Tournament

Inspired by the success of its recent World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), PokerStars is at it again with another massive event that looks to get the whole world playing online. The Regional Championships of Online Poker has just been announced by PokerStars and it features a grand scope that is sure to drum up excitement for the international online poker community.

PokerStars’ Regional Championships of Online Poker (RCOOP) will consist of 13 tournaments that will play out across the globe (with full multi-lingual chat room support) and an enormous guaranteed prize pool of seven million dollars total. Each of the tournaments will consist of eleven events that are open to players within set international regions. The first leg of the RCOOP will kick off on 31st October and be available to residents of nations such as Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and more. Events continue in Nordic and Baltic countries on 4th November and will move to Germany, Spain, the UK and North America throughout the rest of the year.

Buy-ins will be set to accommodate a wide variety of bankrolls and PokerStars has also announced that a satellite series will accompany the tournament series. With such a large cash guarantee and comprehensive entry guidelines the RCOOP looks to be a great way to bring lucrative online poker play to audiences that are often overlooked in virtual series.

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Team PKR Pro Signs England’s Scott Shelley as Newest Acquisition

Team PKR Pro has always been renowned as one of the finest collections of professional players in the game and now, with their most recent signing, their positive reputation is set to continue. London, England’s Scott Shelley has become the newest member of PKR.com’s group of brand representatives and looks to bring substantial talent and future potential to the line-up.

Shelley, a 24 year old player and previous employee of PKR.com, has garnered attention recently for his outstanding performance at live tournaments like the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE). Most recently, Shelley outlasted 581 competitors at the WSOPE’s £1,075 buy-in no-limit hold’em event, cashing £133,857, earning a WSOPE bracelet and, perhaps most importantly, catching the attention of Team PKR Pro. Now he has been promoted from his old position as PKR.com customer service representative to that of a full-time poker professional. A regular competitor in both online and live games, Shelley has established an impressive reputation, even taking down notable pros like Phil Ivey, JP Kelly and Phil Hellmuth thus far in his career.

Shelley is set to make his debut as a sponsored player at PKR.com’s upcoming London Calling festival and will continue his sponsorship with Team PKR Pro at November’s PKR Live V. PKR.com site members will be able to share in the celebrations as the online poker platform prepares to launch a week of special promotional events tied in with Shelley’s acquisition.

PokerStars Signs Liv Boeree as Newest Member of Its Pro Team

One of the fastest growing stars in the professional poker world, Liv Boeree, is now the newest member of Team PokerStars Pro. PokerStars has just announced the addition of Boeree to their roster of professional players, taking her on as a team member fresh off her latest victory at the European Poker Tour’s San Remo leg.

Throughout the last several years Liv “The Iron Maiden” Boeree has become one of the most recognizable faces in the poker world. A 26 year old former model and actress, Boeree was previously working under the sponsorship of Ultimate Bet and has enjoyed the bulk of her success during her affiliation with the online casino and poker network. Now Boeree belongs to Team PokerStars Pro and will make her first appearance as a member of the team at the upcoming £5,000 buy-in European Poker Tour London stop. Boeree is a graduate of the University of Manchester, a heavy metal guitarist and a noted player with over €2.3 million in career earnings and cashes over 26 major tournaments.

PokerStars has likely made a great decision by signing Liv Boeree as one of its players and brand representatives. Last April, Boeree emerged triumphant at the European Poker Tour’s San Remo tournament, cashing €1.25 million and furthering her reputation as one of the most watched young female players in the game.

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Full Tilt Poker Adds The Black Card Program for Dedicated Poker Players

High stakes Full Tilt Poker players are in for a real treat as the popular online gaming platform has now introduced a new range of VIP features aimed at amply rewarding points collectors with cash bonuses and more. The recently launched program is designed with the site’s higher end fan base in mind and should work as a draw for those poker players with the bankroll and skill to support more expensive tables.

Full Tilt Poker’s new feature, The Black Card, has just gone live and gives serious competitors a number of great reasons to play their very best at every game. The Black Card is aimed at a distinct demographic — those that wager higher amounts frequently — and allows these competitors to enjoy special privileges through a private store that exchanges points for cash, luxury items and branded merchandise. Full Tilt Poker requires The Black Card participants to maintain a minimum 500 points average throughout a hundred day rolling period. In order to stay enrolled in the program site members must ensure that their points balance stays at the given average and can easily monitor this through a new personal page and The Black Card status widget now found in the Full Tilt lobby.

The majority of major online poker networks seek to appeal to all types of players and Full Tilt’s decision to provide incentive for high rollers is a great step toward making their platform an attractive choice for serious competitors.

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PokerStars Deals 50 Billionth Hand, Celebrates by Giving Back to Players

PokerStars , one of the internet’s most successful poker networks, recently dealt its 50,000,000,000th hand and celebrated the occasion by rewarding a number of players with cash prizes. One lucky member, the winner of the 50 billionth hand, stands out from the rest, taking home over $56,000 in cash and a place in PokerStars history.

The celebrations at PokerStars gave online poker players a great incentive to log onto the popular website and vie for their chance at hitting the jackpot. As part of its 50 billionth hand promotion, PokerStars had detailed plans to provide the winner of the benchmark turn with an enormous cash prize. The lucky winner, ‘tbvle’, played at a micro-stakes no-limit hold’em table against five competitors and ultimately won with pocket queens. tbvle was only playing in a $0.02/$0.05 hand but ended up ending the game with a $50,500 reward last Wednesday, 22nd September. Aside from the preliminary prize, tbvle was also awarded with an additional $5,640 (an amount based on the points he had earned throughout his previous 50 hands) to make for a total of more than $56,186.

PokerStars spread the love to the rest of the site members at tbvle’s table as well, providing $500 in cash and an extra $500/points gained in their last 50 hands to each. All winners were also gifted free entry to PokerStars’ upcoming World Championship of Online Poker (a $5,200 value).

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UltimateBet’s Ultimate Bet Online Championship 5 a Massive Success

Online poker site UltimateBet recently wrapped up the fifth edition of its UltimateBet Online Championship (UBOC), the second UBOC of 2010, and is now providing details of just how successful its most recent series was. With millions of dollars in prizes awarded and an enormous swell in site traffic noted, UBOC5 is being regarded by the poker network as a great payoff to its risky decision to host two series in a single year.

UBOC5 saw UltimateBet members playing for generous cash prizes across twelve days of fierce competition. UltimateBet has revealed that, throughout the series, over four million dollars in prize money was awarded to event winners and that the series saw some 8,712 members entered into the series. UBOC5 consisted of 20 guaranteed events in which 911 participants took home a portion of the $3,912,260.00 prize pool. 416 other entrants cashed on the $100,000 of extra, promotional prize money available through single event satellites and pro bounties.

The UltimateBet Online Championship 5 kicked off on 18th August and finished eleven days later with a climatic, one million dollar prize pool main event ($1,050 buy-in no-limit hold ‘em) hosted by celebrity pro, Phil Hellmuth. UltimateBet told press that it was delighted to see such enthusiasm displayed for the trial run of what could very well become a bi-annual series.

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DoylesRoom.com Announces Punta Cana Poker Classic Prize Packages

With winter fast approaching there’s never been a better time to escape to the Caribbean. Now, with the announcement of their latest promotion, Doyle’s Room is looking to help send a few lucky players to the Dominican Republic for this November’s $100,000 Punta Cana Poker Classic.

Weekly tournaments have already opened for Doyle’s Room players to enter. Each of these Texas hold ‘em tournaments allows competitors to vie for one of the many Punta Cana Poker Classic prize packages recently made available. Each Sunday Doyle’s Room has $162 buy-in tournaments (beginning at 4pm EST) that award winners with the aforementioned prize. The Punta Cana entry package is valued at $3,100 and includes a $1,100 buy-in, $1,000 for travel expenses and four nights of accommodations at the all-inclusive Moon Palace Casino, Golf and Spa Resort. Daily satellites that provide winners with access to the weekly Punta Cana tournaments have also begun and feature $11 buy-ins.

Competition is sure to be tough as Doyle’s Room members battle it out for access to a fantastic vacation and poker event but, if you’re unable to win a spot for this year don’t despair: Doyle Brunson told press that this year’s tournament promotion may be a precursor to Doyle’s Room taking on the role of official sponsor to future Punta Cana Poker Classic events. The 2010 Punta Cana Poker Classic takes place from 10th to 14th November and will see Brunson and DoylesRoom.com pro players in attendance.

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PokerStar’s Reveals Massive Guaranteed Prize for Upcoming WCOOP

PokerStars ’ 2010 World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) is looking even more lucrative for skilled competitors as the online poker site recently announced a fantastic main event guarantee that will see the series champion take home at least two million dollars. Already a great tournament series with plenty of excitement, this year’s WCOOP looks to be an even bigger and better event now that the main event will encourage fierce and intense play with one of the largest online poker tournament payouts ever offered.

Since it kicked off last week the WCOOP has been thrilling spectators and participants alike with a line of tournaments that feature world-class players and great prizes. The series’ debut tournament began with a $215 buy-in no-limit hold ‘em six-maximum battle and is currently continuing on with a total prize pool guaranteed at over $50 million. The 2010 WCOOP will spread the $50M minimum across over 62 events. PokerStars has released details of buy-ins that range from $215 to $25,500 (for 18th-19th September’s no-limit hold ‘em high-roller two-day tournament).  
   
Thus far, eight competitors have already won over eleven million dollars with the bulk of the prize money yet to be awarded. The PokerStars 2010 WCOOP main event is scheduled for 26th September. It will consist of a two-day $5,200 buy-in no-limit hold ‘em tournament with a $2M guarantee that should easily overtake the already impressive $1,715,200 sum won by (last year’s WCOOP main event champ) Yevgeniy Timoshenko.

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PKR.Com and London’s The Fox Poker Club Announce London Calling Festival

PKR.Com and London’s The Fox Poker Club have teamed up to bring poker fans a fantastic month of live dealer tournaments with buy-in amounts appropriate for any level of player. Throughout October and early November the two poker giants will host London Calling, a festival dedicated to the beloved game, sharing fantastic prizes and the chance to compete for bragging rights at a massive series of events.

Beginning on 11th October and running for 28 days, London Calling will give poker players the opportunity to enjoy a total of 57 tournaments. The games are staked to suit any bankroll with buy-ins set at amounts as low as £20 and as high as £100. Various playing styles will also be represented, London Calling featuring no-limit hold ‘em, heads-up, pot-limit Omaha, pot-limit Omaha eight games and a two-day HORSE series. The festival will wrap up on 7th November with a £300 buy-in main event and a PKR.Com leaderboard will see online participants being able to covert finishing position points into stacks that can be used at a future PKR freeroll tourney.  

The Fox Poker Club and PKR.Com told press that London Calling was designed in order to give all levels of players the ability to compete in a high quality tournament without the intimidating stakes of professional series. PKR.Com is celebrating more than four years of success in the online poker industry and has recently revealed that it holds 3.75 million registered members and has provided almost three million dollars in freeroll tournaments.

William Hill Unveils New and Improved Layout for Its Poker Site

William Hill poker players are in for an improved experience at their site of choice as the online poker platform has announced an update that seeks to boost performance and provide fans with great new features. The site revision will see the addition of fantastic tools and software functions that are designed with ease of use and flexibility in mind.

William Hill Poker and Playtech have been working hard to make their site an even bigger hit with existing members and prospective registrants by creating new features and redesigns that make play simpler than ever before. Changes include a complete poker table redesign that allows for cascading multiple tables, multi-monitor support and table resizing. Player status updates have also been revamped(with improved graphics and flashing avatars) in order to make it easier to identify an active hand or remaining time. Lastly, William Hill has also improved chat functionality by adding a side toolbar that can list statistics, hand histories, settings, commentary and notes. All of these features are customizable and allow members to tailor the platform to their specific needs.  
   
Each of the new features should help to further William Hill Poker’s position as one of the online poker industry’s most successful businesses. The redesign goes a long way toward making William Hill’s software amoung the most flexible currently available and should hold appeal for both serious and casual online poker players.  

Titan Poker Gives Players the Opportunity to Face Off Against a Team Titan Pro

Titan Poker’s newest bounty tournament is giving the site’s fans a chance to get closer than ever to Team Titan’s professionals. Team Titan Bounty has been revised and improved, turning a favourite site feature into a reoccurring event that gives Titan Poker members the chance to win big while testing their skills against some of the poker world’s most talented professionals.

The new Team Titan Bounty tournaments have already begun and are set to take place every week. Buy-ins are set at six dollars and, if a competitor is able to take down one of the Team Titan Pro players, they’ll be awarded with $100. Each week the top Bounty players will join a list that provides access to a heads-up qualifier (with the next qualifier scheduled for 1st November) that sees Titan Poker champions battling for the chance to win additional (but still unspecified) prizes.

A number of Team Titan Pro players have already confirmed their participation in the event. Thus far Team Titan has announced the inclusion of seven pros: Sam Trickett, Jonas Klausen, Yann Brosolo, Joel Benzinou, Sorel Mizzi, Marvin Rettenmaie and Florian Desgouettes. Titan Poker members that have watched these pros triumph at the 2010 World Series of Poker are sure to be excited about a chance to test themselves against them in upcoming Team Titan Bounty tournaments.

Party Poker Greets Winter Early with September’s “The Snowball” Promotion

Most of us are trying to keep winter out of our minds as we enjoy the last days of summer but not Party Poker. The company’s upcoming promotion, The Snowball, anticipates the arrival of colder weather as it kicks off early September, demonstrating that there may be more reason to look forward to the end of the summer than we think.

Online poker players will enjoy the chance to compete for hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout participant prizes ($5,000) and freeroll tournaments ($100,000) both up for grabs during September at Party Poker. Players are able to win 15 prizes and the entry terms set for The Snowball couldn’t be easier to satisfy. Party Poker members need only play at real money tables from 1st to 30th September to gain points that allow them to move up through levels. The greater a player’s level, the larger the amount of prizes they are eligible for. Points accumulate from level to level, allowing poker fans to snowball their chance at exceptional cash prizes.

Party Poker will be hosting The Snowball throughout the entire month of September with finals ($5,000-$50,000 freerolls) taking place at 2.30PM EST from 4th October through until 8th October. The promotion was designed for players of all skill levels and points can be earned by playing at any real money table, regardless of entry stakes.

PKR.Com Prepares Launch of New Website Software

Popular online gambling network, PKR.com, launched back in August of 2006 and, after four years of success in its industry, has decided to revamp its image with a software overhaul that will revitalize and improve its interface. The update looks to give site members an easier platform for their gaming by streamlining current features and adding others.

To celebrate its fourth anniversary, PKR.com has announced its Version 2.0 update, a facelift that seeks to improve both the aesthetics and functionality of its website. PKR.com’s Version 2.0 will include a brand new user interface that has been designed in accordance with collected user feedback. Players can expect to find a fresh-looking lobby that now comes equipped with helpful features like the “game finder wizard” — technology that makes it simple for users to locate their desired tournaments, titles and more. Other changes, included in the Version 2.0 update, include a new multi-tabling system that allows players to simultaneously run up to nine different tables at one time.

Leon Walters, PKR.com’s Chief Operating Officer, told press that Version 2.0 has been in the works for almost an entire year and that the company plans to launch the update as only the first step in an ongoing website improvement plan. PKR.com also revealed that it’s member roster now clocks in at an impressive 3.75 million registered players and that, since it’s 2006 launch, the site has provided nearly $3 million in freerolls.

Doyle’s Room Gives Members the Chance to Win Seats at Todd Brunson Montana

Doyle’s Room online poker players are being given the opportunity to take their game to the next level as the website launches a special promotion set on sending talented players to the Todd Brunson Montana Challenge. The Challenge, set to take place at the end of this month, is one of the biggest events of the season and Doyle’s Room is doing its best to help ensure that as many of its site’s members as possible are able to attend.

Seats at the Todd Brunson Montana Challenge will be awarded to Doyle’s Room members through three different methods. The first, direct method allows players to buy into the promo’s 22nd August grand final event (for $226.60). One of every ten players at the tournament will be given a prize package that includes a seat at the Montana Challenge. Doyle’s Room will also be hosting a weekly satellite (with a $22.70 buy-in) that will provide one of every ten players with a spot in the grand final. Finally, site members can also take part in daily satellites (beginning at 4.00pm EST at a buy-in of $2.22). The player that progresses to the end of the satellites will also receive entry to the Montana Challenge.

Doyle’s Room will sponsor the Todd Brunson Montana Challenge as it gears up to take place this 31st August through to 6th September, 2010 at Big Fork, Montana. The $226.60 buy-in grand final kicks off at 3.00pm EST on 22nd August.

PokerStars and Partners Unveil Details of First Ever National Mexican Poker Tournament

PokerStars has partnered with other leading industry corporations to bring Mexico its first ever nation-wide poker tournament. Along with equipment manufacturer, PokerTek Incorporated and Spanish gaming company, Cirsa Gaming Corporation SA, PokerStars has organized a fantastic event that will bring plenty of excitement to the nation when the tournament launches late this summer.

The Life Poker Championship is set to take place at the end of the month at Cirsa’s CasinoLife Del Valle in Mexico City and it will feature a celebrity charity event (hosted by Mexican TV star, Monika Sanchez) and a number of great cash tables and enormous prizes. The tournament will make use of ten PokerPro tables (donated by PokerTek), feature software from PokerTek and will be lead up to by a series of PokerStars.net qualifier tournaments. PokerStars currently projects that the tournament will draw over 300 players and provide exceptional exposure for PokerTek, PokerStars and Cirsa. It is planned for live television broadcast throughout Mexico and will see Mexican Team PokerStars Pro player, Angel Guillen making a presence at the tables and around the casino.

Aside from great poker play, the aforementioned celebrity charity event at Life Poker also aims to raise $8,000 for the Mayan Sanchez Foundation, a group that provides assistance for special needs children. PokerStars, Cirsa and PokerTek will host the Life Poker Championship from Mexico City from 18 August to 22 August, 2010.

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Women’s League Poker Announced by PokerStars

Female poker players make up a large presence in the sport— taking titles at some of the industry’s biggest events and acting as important sponsors for various  websites, teams and competitions. With the launch of PokerStars Women’s Poker League female players are being given another great venue for enjoying competition against their colleagues in the game.

The PokerStars Women’s Poker League gives amateur and professional female players the ability to enter into ladies-only competitions that provide great rewards. The renowned poker website has already begun to announce some of the prizes that will be available through the Women’s Poker League schedule, detailing the launch of new daily tournaments and a lucrative points system. PokerStars will feature twice-daily tournaments (at 1.10pm and 9.10pm) with low buy-ins (starting at $5.50) and regular cash and point prize pools. All League entrants receive one point just for playing, an additional five points for cashing and upwards of 20 points for reaching the final table. The woman with the most points at the end of each month will receive either $300 or €200 and the top 50 players will also receive an unspecified monetary reward.

PokerStars has made the Women’s Poker League available to both North American and European players by breaking the new league into US dollar and Euro divisions. The PokerStars Women’s Poker League also gives members access to a yearly competition and satellite tournaments that grant entry to PokerStars numerous live events.

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2010 Asian Poker Tour Main Event Returns to Manila in August

Poker fans can look forward to the last week of August when the 2010 Asian Poker Tour (APT) returns to Manila, Phillipines for an upcoming leg of the series. The event will see competitors duking it out throughout seven days from within the Resorts World Manila building for the title of 2010 APT champion and, of course, a generous cash prize furnished by sponsors such as PartyPoker and PKR.

The Manila stop of this year’s APT will include a Main Event buy-in set at approximately $2,700 as well as eight side events that include a pot-limit Omaha event, a high roller tournament and the Greed competition, an APT original. For those that aren’t content just to watch the exciting competition play out remotely, leading online poker sites (such as PartyPoker, PKR and the iPoker Network) are set to offer qualifiers and satellite games that give members the chance to travel to the event and try their hand against the pros.

The previous APT Main Event was won by the Phillipines’ own Neil Arce, awarding the player $185,000 and marking him as the first Filipino to win an international poker tournament in his native country.  Arce has already confirmed that he will be defending his title when the 2010 Asian Poker Tour Manila leg begins on 23rd August and runs until 30th August.  

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BetFair Poker Joins Ongame Network Limited and Gives Back to Fans

It’s fairly common to see online gambling companies merging and partnering with other corporations but it’s quite rare that such an event actually leads to rewards for members of the sites in question. BetFair Poker, one of the industry’s most successful online poker websites, is breaking the mold however by joining Ongame Network Limited and sharing an increase in liquidity with site members.

Ongame Network Limited (a subsidiary of Bwin Interactive Entertainment AG) is the owner of the P5 Poker Engine and will be adding BetFair to its global network by the end of this month. This deal will see a number of changes to the poker site such as an increase in revenue, a greater number of available players and rooms at any time and the implementation of the P5 Poker Engine. Perhaps most exciting, BetFair will celebrate the move by offering up $500,000 in new promotions. These will kick off on 27th July and carry on through until 20th August.  

Registered members of BetFair Poker can expect to see big changes toward the end of July and ongoing promotions and site improvements into the future. The most exciting events to watch out for include twice daily $500 freerolls (with no entry requirements), a $60,000 rake race (that promises cash rewards to the top 100 competitors) and leaderboard competitions with $30,000 in cash available to winners.

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PokerStars’ Peter Eastgate, Youngest Ever WSOP Champion, Quits Poker

Poker fans were amazed by 22 year old Peter Eastgate’s performance at the 2008 World Series of Poker when he took not only the title of Main Event champion but also became the youngest player to do so. Now, less than two years after setting the record, Eastgate is shocking industry spectators again by announcing that he’s retiring from professional poker.

Eastgate hails from Denmark and became an instant star after defeating Russia’s Ivan Demidov at the 2008 WSOP and cashing over nine million dollars. His win broke the previous record for youngest WSOP champion held by Phil Hellmuth (who triumphed in 1989 when he was only 24 years old) and also gave Eastgate access to the lucrative sponsorship opportunities that led to his signing with Team PokerStars Pro. Despite a career that continued to demonstrate a profound level of talent, Eastgate recently announced that he has lost his motivation for playing professional poker. Stating that his goal was always just to become financially independent, Eastgate now feels that the poker world has little left for him.

Neither PokerStars nor Eastgate have spoken to press as to the young player’s future plans but, for better or worse, they won’t include the world of professional poker. Peter Eastgate has only commented that he wants to “. . . try to focus on Peter Eastgate the person” rather than on his career in cards.

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Full Tilt Poker Announce Schedule and Details for FTOPS XVII

One of the poker world’s favourite annual events, theFull Tilt Poker’s Online Poker Series (FTOPS), has been confirmed for 2010 by organizer and sponsor Full Tilt Poker. FTOPS XVII will return this August with a massive guaranteed prize pool, a packed event schedule and plenty of action for competitors and spectators alike to enjoy.
Since August 2006 the Full Tilt Poker’s Online Poker Series has given poker professionals and fans an annual series worth anticipating. This year’s FTOPS XVII continues the trend by offering up a guaranteed $19 million in prizes over a total of 34 events. Leading up to the climatic ($640 buy-in, $3 million minimum guaranteed prize pool) Main Event itself, FTOPS XVII will feature tournaments that include Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo games, No-Limit Hold ‘Em Six Maximum Turbo and HORSE events and a two-day series that will run alongside the Main Event knockout competitions.
Amateur players looking for a chance to enter the series can begin competing in satellite tournaments at Full Tilt Poker’s now. Lucky members will be able to secure a seat while others can still vie for cash prizes and more. The website will also be hosting special freerolls and other tournaments that conincide with August’s FTOPS celebrations. FTOPS XVII kicks off on 4th August, 2010 with a $216 buy-in, $750,000 No-Limit Hold ‘Em tournament.
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Two New Players Join the Team PokerStars Pro Roster

Team PokerStars Pro has added two new members to its prestigious line-up of players. David Williams and Vanessa Selbst mark the two most recent professionals to sign on with PokerStars , both players bringing years of experience and talent to the team.  

Selbst, a Brooklyn, New York native and current Yale Law School student, is only 25 years old and comes to the PokerStars line-up with an impressive resume. Her credentials include roughly $1.5 million in live tournament wins, a World Series of Poker bracelet and impressive showings at various other international events.

Williams, 30 years old and a Texas native, entered the poker world in earnest in 2004 when he made a splash at that year’s World Series of Poker by fighting his way all the way through PokerStars online satellites and to the main event where he nearly won against Greg Raymer. Williams has raked millions of dollars, a bracelet at the 2006 WSOP and titles from high profile events including the World Championship of Online Poker and the 2010 World Poker Tour’s $25,000 Championship.

The roster of professionals at Team PokerStars Pro is sure to benefit from the addition of Williams and Selbst’s combined skill. The website has revealed that David Williams will play under the handle “Dwilliams” and that Vanessa Selbst will use “V.Selbst” for her online sessions.

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PokerStars Opens Satellite Series for the Upcoming EPT Tallinn

Amateur poker players looking to break into a professional event will be happy to learn that PokerStars has just revealed its newest satellite series— and a great prize package for its winners. By providing entry to the upcoming EPT Tallinn premier, PokerStars are giving many hopefuls the chance to compete in one of the largest (and most lucrative) poker events to hit the Baltic region.

The satellite qualifying tournaments for EPT Tallinn have already kicked off with PokerStars recently accepting new entries (at as little as €5.45/250 Frequent Player Points) and outlining prize packages. Just under 50 players have already won their way to EPT Tallinn through PokerStars ’ satellites and the recent PokerStars Baltic Adventure but there are still spots for determined players. Those that are able to triumph in the EPT Tallinn satellite will win a €6,000 value prize package that includes Main Event buy-in, a full week of accommodations and a further €770 in spending cash.

Those that win the satellite will still have to face some tough opponents if they want to make a mark in Estonia however. Team PokerStars Pro members and notable professionals (including Katja Thater, Carter Phillips, Max Lykov, Kevin MacPhee and more) have already signed up to take part in the event.

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Everest Poker Offers Freerolls to Celebrate the Everest Spanish Poker Tour

Everest Poker is giving back to their fans and celebrating this summer’s Everest Spanish Poker Tour at the same time with a series of fantastic freerolls. Serious competitors can hope for the break they need to enter the world of professional poker play by taking part in the many freerolls and satellite games that act as qualifiers at the renowned poker site.

The Everest Spanish Poker Tour’s Castellón leg is kicking off in just a few short months and, to celebrate, Everest Poker has been offering its site members a chance to get in on the action. Sunday, 20 June saw the poker platform giving players the opportunity to qualify for a private tournament, the $2,100 Everest Spanish Poker Tour Freeroll. The Freeroll’s winner will receive a €1,100 buy-in and $1,000 USD for travel and hotel expenses during the 20-22 August, 2010 SPT Castellón stop. It’s not too late to get onto Everest Poker and begin honing your skills in time for the SPT’s other upcoming dates. Already started, Everest is offering another $2,100 Freeroll (scheduled for 19 September, 2010) that also gives its winner a great prize package and a spot at an upcoming SPT date.

The Everest Spanish Poker Tour began on 9 April, 2010 and will continue throughout the summer and fall (with events in August, October and early November) before culminating in a Grand Finale on 23-27 November at the Gran Casino in Costa Brava.

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PokerStars North American Poker Tour Adds Scheduling Details

The PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) has already made waves throughout the continent with its massive prize pools and fierce competition. Now the next event in the series has been announced, bringing the tournament to California and giving PokerStars site members another chance to gain entry.

PokerStars has started to reveal details of the next stop scheduled in its NAPT series, outlining information for this fall’s Los Angeles tour leg. The industry giant has announced that Southern California’s The Bicycle Casino will act as the venue for the fourth event in the NAPT. From 12 November through to 17 November, 2010, poker players will flock to the city to compete in either the $5,000 Buy-In Main Event or a wide variety of side events that have been designed to accommodate any size of bankroll. Team PokerStars Pro, Daniel Negreanu told press of his excitement to compete against California’s local players and the thrill that comes with being part of an event that draws in undiscovered talent from the LA poker community.

As always, PokerStars will be giving its fans the chance to get in on the NAPT excitement through a series of qualifiers and other site-hosted events. The PokerStars North American Poker Tour has previously enjoyed successful events this year as tournaments took place during January (at the Atlantis in Bahamas), February (at Las Vegas’ The Venetian) and, most recently, in April (at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut).

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Finnish Poker Player, Ville Wahlbeck, Signs to Team PokerStars Pro

The prestigious Team PokerStars Pro has just gained its newest member with the signing of Finnish player, Ville Wahlbeck. PokerStars, one of the most popular online poker websites in the gaming industry, officially announced the addition of Wahlbeck to the team recently and will be promoting him at the upcoming PokerStars.com Baltic Festival.

Wahlbeck is thirty-four years old and has become the first Finnish poker player to join PokerStars’ famous team of professional competitors. Hailing from Helsinki, Wahlbeck has made a name for himself through six outstanding years of professional level play. He finally caught the notice of PokerStars when he took down 193 competitors to win a World Series of Poker bracelet, becoming Finland’s first player to do so, and earning a $492,384 cash prize. His performance at the WSOP also saw Wahlbeck cashing six times, receiving over a million dollars, and becoming the runner-up for the title of WSOP Player of the Year.

Team PokerStars Pro is composed of some of the biggest names in the poker world and Wahlbeck now stands alongside celebrities such as Joe Cada, Daniel Negreanu and Vanessa Rousso. Ville Wahlbeck’s first appearance under PokerStars’ sponsorship will be at upcoming the PokerStars.com Baltic Festival in Tallinn, Estonia. In the 2009 edition of the same event, Wahlbeck won $52,000 at the high roller event.

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William Hill Poker Offers $1,000,000 for 2010 World Cup Promotion

William Hill Poker is giving online poker players a great reason to spend a little time away from their TV sets and a little more on their computers throughout this month’s Fifa World Cup. With a fantastic $1,000,000 prize up for grabs and other promotions running alongside this opportunity, William Hill is looking like the best choice for World Cup related poker playing this June and July.

Members of the William Hill Poker site are able to compete in two of the site’s biggest promotions to date through either The $1,000,000 Challenge or an updated version of the World Cup Super Series. The $1,000,000 Challenge gives William Hill members the chance to bet on the outcome of World Cup matches, earning points through poker games and receiving cash or prizes for every accurate football game prediction. Correctly choosing 25 games awards lucky (and skilled) competitors a million dollars. The World Cup Super Series will feature added prizes that are awarded daily to players of the World Cup poker tournaments hosted on the site.

William Hill Poker’s latest promotion promises plenty of exciting competition and incentive for ambitious players with dreams of taking home the million dollar prize. The $1,000,000 Challenge is currently open and accepting players so register or log on today to get started on making your million.

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Full Tilt Poker’s, Annette Obrestad Makes Controversial Comments

Annette Obrestad, one of Full Tilt Poker’s most recognizable names, recently commented on the poker world in a manner that is sure to bait controversy. Speaking out on female poker players and internet poker in general, Obrestad has put herself into the spotlight by criticizing aspects of the game through an ESPN interview.

Obrestad, only 21 years old, hails from Norway and has made a name for herself by becoming one of the youngest female players to reach such a massive level of success in the poker world.

Currently standing as the career leader in live winnings throughout Norway, Obrestad is perhaps most famous for winning a tournament without looking at her hole cards at just 18 years old but, due to her ESPN comments, the Norwegian pro may become better known for her outspoken remarks.

Obrestad covered a few topics in the poker world, criticizing live poker players (including Doyle Brunson) and stating that “… girls suck at poker” because they “…just aren’t as competitive and don’t try to learn from their mistakes.”

No public response has yet been given from either Doyle Brunson or any of the many female poker professionals that are sure to take umbrage with Obrestad’s opinion. Annette Obrestad, an enormously talented player, has still yet to clarify her remarks.

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WCOOP Schedule Announced by PokerStars

It’s getting close again to that time of year when online poker players get ready for the biggest virtual event of the season, the World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP). Now the WCOOP schedule has been announced with tentative dates and outlines for the events and timeline players and fans can expect for this year.

The current schedule will see the WCOOP adding twelve brand new events to the line-up, bringing the prize money guarantee to a formidable $40 million. A total of 45 events will kick off with the $215 Buy-in No Limit Hold ‘Em Six-Max event ($1.25 guarantee) on September 3
rd at 2.30pm EST. Later that day the schedule continues with a $215 Razz tournament ($200,000 guarantee) before September 4th hosts a $215 Pot-Limit Omaha Six-Max game ($500,000 guarantee), a No-Limit Single Draw 2-7 tournament and a $109 Buy-in Eight Game competition ($50,000 guarantee).

With the 2009 World Championships of Online Poker bringing in over 20,000 players, the added events (and prize money) should help to guarantee an even greater showing for PokerStars and co.. The decision for PokerStars to accept fan suggestions and comments before the September 16
th, 19th and 20th final events will also play a large part in keeping the monumental Championship viable for years to come, showing a commitment to improvement and player interaction not yet demonstrated in other tournaments.

Full Tilt Finishes FIVE Celebrations with $1.5M Guarantee

As the fifth anniversary celebrations going on at Full Tilt Poker began to wrap up members were given one last chance to help commemorate their favourite site with a massive game. The $1.5 Million Guarantee assisted in winding down the FIVE party by awarding an enormous prize to skilled players who were able to take on fierce competition in order to reach the top of the challenge.  

Some 3,315 player registered to take part in the
$1.5M Guarantee game, providing a tough road for all of those hoping to make a name for themselves as the champion of the event. Ultimately it was one Full Tilt Poker member with the username PAhrPK that took home the glory after a vicious fight for the top spot leading up to the end of the game. Although the heads-up finale occurred between two gifted players it was a relatively brief affair, PAhrPK holding K10 against second place winner blarkin’s A9 and winning with two pair against a board that ran K-3-4-10-9.

The final results saw PAhrPK leave the tables with $296,775.38 in winnings, dwarfing the second place finalist blarkin’s (still considerable) amount of $180,667.50. Third place was relatively close behind with Charles “HellaStacks” Lee netting $117,682.50. Although the rest of the placing contestants couldn’t rise above the $100K mark at the tournament Full Tilt Poker definitely aided in providing a memorable and exciting conclusion to the blowout of the FIVE anniversary celebrations for every challenger entered in the $1.5 Million Guarantee.

Justin Bonomo Secures Win in PokerStars Super Tuesday

PokerStars Super Tuesday is one of the biggest recurring tournaments in online poker and is consistently filled with talented and ambitious players. The second last week of July saw one of these determined contestants rise to the top of the pack, winning plenty of cash (and bragging rights) thanks to some excellent playing and a few spots of good fortune.

Justin Bonomo (who goes by the handle, “ZeeJustin&rdquoWinking went up against a number of other PokerStars members in order to secure a stunning victory at the tables. Of the 389 entrants to the Super Tuesday event Bonomo managed to emerge triumphant, making his way to the final table as chip leader (with 344,256 to the second highest player’s 256,900 chips) and holding the position through until the end of the game. With a 3-1 chip lead, Bonomo went heads up against contender, Mumtum23 and clinched a win with a bit of luck and a decent helping of bravado. Bonomo held a K and 7 of hearts while Mumtum23 was facing a jack of spades and 4 and 9 of hearts with a K of clubs and 4 of diamonds.

Bonomo finished the game with a total of $75,855.00, a considerable lead over second place winner “Mumtum23” (with $57,377.50) and third place entrant, “Opperstoof69” (with $42,790.00). The cash winnings are sure to help finance the PokerStars member as he continues to advance in the game both in online and real-world tournaments.

PartyPoker Launch PokerNews Cup Australia Satellites

Never far behind the latest and greatest events in the gambling world, PartyPoker has now announced the availability of satellite games aimed at sending players to the 2009 PokerNews Cup Australia. Skilled players need to set up an account and enter the $380 or $535 buy-in games in time to take part in the exciting satellites.

PartyPoker is set to challenge competitors with a number of events aimed at getting the best members of the site on their way to global recognition (and maybe a tidy cash sum) via the upcoming PokerNews Cup in Melbourne, Australia.

One of two prize packages are available to winners in the satellite games — the $5,000 or $3,500 Package. The $5,000 Package provides the winner with entry to the Main Event, accommodation at the Crown Promenade Hotel and $1,500 in traveling money. The winner of the $3,500 Package will receive Main Event entry and accommodations at the Crown Promenade as well. Alongside these satellites, PartyPoker has also set up a $6,000 PokerNews Cup Australia Freeroll scheduled for 30
th August.

The 2009 PokerNews Cup Australia is orchestrated by the well known gaming portal/news service, PokerNews and is set to take place from 27
th September to 5th October 2009.  Events at the Cup (including a packed schedule of celebrity games, No-Limit Hold ‘Em tournaments and more) will be held at the famous Crown Casino Melbourne in Australia.

PokerStars Holds on to Guinness World Record for another Year

PokerStars Holds on to Guinness World Record for another Year

After battling it out with another of the world’s most notable
internet poker platforms, fan favourite, PokerStars managed to hold on to its Guinness World Record title for yet another year. The record in question was previously awarded to PokerStars for the site’s ability to hold the largest-ever online poker tournament in 2008, and now, they have been confirmed as the winner of the position for 2009 as well.

PokerStars had to hold off attempts at the record by another enormously popular online poker network,
Full Tilt Poker in the weeks leading up to the award. Earlier in the year PokerStars held an $11 buy-in tournament that attracted a total of 35,000 players to the game.

While this was certainly a difficult milestone to top,
Full Tilt Poker recently announced their plans to top the record as part of their fifth birthday celebrations. Full Tilt’s “The Record Breaker” hosted a 50,000 player cap and a $5 buy-in, all but ensuring the win until PokerStars retaliated with a 60,000 player cap, $1 buy-in event that managed to draw in the full number of players, securing the record for another year.

The site’s ability to provide such an enormous series of games is sure to help drum up publicity for
poker fans and Guinness readers alike. Although Full Tilt Poker failed to wrest the title from PokerStars this year it would still not come as much of a surprise if yet another attempt was made at the record in the time leading up to the Guinness World Records for 2010.

Full Tilt Poker Become Poker Million Sponsors

Full Tilt Poker Become Poker Million Sponsors

An unexpected turn of events has seen one of online poker’s most high profile events, the
Poker Million, switch sponsorship and fall under the wing of internet gaming network, Full Tilt Poker. The company will now be in charge of promoting and backing the prestigious television tournament when it kicks off this summer.

The
Poker Million was formerly sponsored by UK gaming giants, Ladbrokes but is now moving forward into 2009 with a brand new face. Matchroom Sport’s TV poker tournament entered into partnership with Full Tilt Poker as part of a multi-year contract that should ensure some stability with the event for the foreseeable future. As proof of a well-functioning relationship, the two companies have already released details regarding the launch of the 2009 Poker Million, a tournament slated to take place on July 15th at London’s Sky Sports Studios.  

British poker players are apparently delighted to host American professionals in England this summer. Most notably, Roland de Wolfe has compared the Full Tilt/Poker Million union to his “. . . best mate marrying his sister . . .” and gone on record to make boasts about “knocking out” his professional pals from across the pond (specifically, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson and edog) before showing them around his hometown.

Party Poker Advertisement Banned

Party Poker Advertisement Banned

Yet another online gambling advertisement has been removed from broadcasting schedules as the ASA targeted Party Poker’s newest campaign spot. After an evaluation by the regulatory ASA committee the magazine ad was declared as misleading and was thus decided as worthy of banning from future use.

The massively popular
UK poker site recently launched an advertisement campaign in promotion of its $2 million prize pool game. After the filing of a single public complaint, ASA investigators examined the ad’s questionable content, a phrase reading “Players win more at Party Poker” and a small piece of text stating the reference of “Poker Players Research Ltd. Opinion Poll, May 08, Sample size 10,000”. The ASA released a statement regarding their final verdict that explained the rationale behind the removal of Party Poker’s spot, citing the possibility that many readers would misinterpret the advertisement as concrete proof that Party Poker has the largest number of winners amongst competing sites while this ‘fact‘ is unsubstantiated.

The ASA is notoriously critical of even remotely questionable advertisement campaigns from the online gambling industry, hoping to combat addiction through rigorous screening and censoring programs. While many of the removed ads’ offensiveness may be fairly debatable the motive behind the work is often in the interest of gamers themselves, a fact made clear by the censure of Party Poker’s aforementioned ad.

Mansion Poker Expands Service to Russia

Mansion Poker Expands Service to Russia

Premier internet poker service,
Mansion Poker, has announced an expansion of their network intended to capture the interest of Russian players. The popular gaming site spoke to press regarding their release of additional platform programming that will offer a skin of every familiar feature and site bonus for Russian poker fans access.

The language options at
Mansion Poker are already fairly robust but translation services have been geared primarily toward the European market until now. Mansion currently offers linguistic support for speakers of Dutch, Swedish, Spanish, French, German and English. While these options do cover a large portion of Europe, most areas further east in the continent have been left out of inclusion. Now the site will feature a Russian skin as well, allowing access to an enormous number of would-be registrants and players. Mansion Poker management hopes that Russia’s gambling enthusiasts will respond positively to their wealth of special rewards, tournaments and 100 percent sign-up bonus in the same manner as their other demographics, allowing the network to grow even more in the coming months.

Mansion Poker are one of the few European-centred poker sites aiming to take advantage of the
Russian market, a population that has been mostly ignored despite the massive financial potential that can be gained by an intelligent approach to the business sector.

Jesper Hougaard Wins PokerStars Sunday Million

Jesper Hougaard Wins PokerStars Sunday Million

Jesper Hougaard has been making quite a splash throughout the
poker world during the last few years, racking up high-profile wins and quite a reputation in the process. Now the Danish pro has done it again at the recent PokerStars Sunday Million event, taking home a massive cash prize and yet another title to add to his constantly improving reputation.

Hougaard is no stranger to the Sunday Million having won the title of tournament champion once before in April of last year. Although his recent win in this Sunday Million came at one of the few PokerStars events that failed to reach the $1.5 million prize pool, Hougaard did manage to take home a considerable reward for his stellar performance. He finished ahead of users with the handles “philipoo” and “praetoriancz”, ending up at the final table without having actually eliminated any other players throughout the rest of the game. Despite his cautious play, Hougaard entered into the final hands as the chip leader and beat philipoo after forcing his competitor into an all-in push for the victory.

For his troubles Hougaard walked away with
$206,834.57 from the overall pot provided by PokerStars for the venerable tournament event. philipoo finished second with $174,580.93 and praetoriancz came in third with a still impressive $129,139.50. Hougaard made his mark against some 7,177 opponents registered at the Sunday Million, emerging as the champion after coming up through the daunting task of fighting off six other players with higher chip counts.

Full Tilt Pros Make Waves at 2009 WSOP

Full Tilt Pros Make Waves at 2009 WSOP

Of all the high-profile
poker teams in attendance at the event perhaps the most impact at this year’s World Series of Poker has been felt through the combined efforts of the Full Tilt Poker professionals. Known for attracting some of the best players in the game, Full Tilt Poker Pros have already managed to pick up six bracelets at just over the halfway point of the 2009 WSOP.

Russian member, Vitaly Lunkin came first in Event #2, marking Full Tilt’s team at the first open event of the series just as Phil Ivey went on to capture his sixth WSOP bracelet and further represent the Full Tilt Poker Pros at the prestigious poker event. Full Tilt also made waves with three days that saw three different team professionals winning bracelets across a trio of tournaments. Greg Mueller and Roland de Wolfe have also helped to contribute winnings to the Full Tilt scoreboard, capturing their first WSOP bracelets at the Triple Crown and $10K World Championship Limit Hold ‘Em respectively.

Full Tilt Poker Pros have definitely proven themselves as the sponsored team to keep an eye on for the remainder of the 2009 World Series of Poker. Considering that there are still roughly fifteen games to be decided in the annual poker event Full Tilt Poker professionals should still be able to make a bit more news by taking even more victories for their sponsors.   

Full Tilt’s FTOPS XIII comes to a Close

Full Tilt’s FTOPS XIII comes to a Close

After several weeks of intense competition the 2009 edition of Full Tilt Poker’s FTOPS has come to a close, unveiling bright new stars in the poker world and marking a record for the site’s venerable tournament series. Immense traffic and enormous cash prizes combined to make for a spectacular finale, all of which lead to the promise of an even larger showing for next summer’s edition.

With over 5,300 entrants to the
FTOPS XIII Main Event the tournament quickly became the largest season of the series to date. The $500+$35 buy-in Main Event ended up hosting a $2,653,000 prize pool, a massive jackpot that lead to fierce competition. “Poligraph” emerged triumphant over the event, earning $453,663 for his troubles.

Close behind was “Inoriisss” with a $315,707 finish and Kameron “Kamdini” McRay with a still impressive $225,505 in winnings. The staggering prize pools were also present in the previously mentioned NL Hold ‘Em games as top competitors took home sums as high as $102,465 (in the Knockout) and $453,687 (in the 6-Max).

Big winners were also declared in the other lead-up events as well, making rich players out of almost every competitor that managed to make their mark on the proceedings. With each year making the Full Tilt Poker FTOPS into a bigger and bigger part of the summer gaming season, fans should be excited to see the fourteenth edition play out when it is announced next year.

Poker in the Park Returns for Third Year

Poker in the Park Returns for Third YearQuickly becoming an annual tradition for British poker enthusiasts, the Poker in the Park festival has been announced as scheduled for its third consecutive year. Set to take place this August, Poker in the Park III will bring back the same festivities and gaming events that have helped to make the event such a success in the past.

Poker in the Park will again be sponsored by
Bluff Europe and a host of eleven leading pub leagues including Red Tooth Poker, Big Time Poker League, Masters Poker League, LondonPubPoker.co.uk and LondonPokerMeetUp.co.uk. These sponsors will band together to offer two days full of traditional poker play and an enormous turbo sit-and-go game. The massive SNG will allow up to 80 players at a time to compete every hour in events sponsored directly by each of the participating pub leagues. Spectators will be able to watch the action from Leicester Square where a giant television screen will broadcast the sit-and-go gameplay.

The events will play out over two days at and around London’s Leicester Square. The first day, Thursday August 13
th will run from five o’clock in the afternoon until nine thirty at night before picking up again on Friday August 14th from noon until nine thirty. Thousands of poker fans are expected to be in attendance again late this summer and the return of pub league sponsors should ensure that Poker in the Park III is no less of a hit than its proven itself in its previous two years. 

This is a link to the official Poker in the Park Website

This is a link to the Bluff Website

Bodog Provide Details for July’s Mini Poker Series

Bodog Provide Details for July’s ‘Mini Poker Series’

Poker fans can be forgiven if they passed over Bodog’s big announcement, dwarfed as it was by plenty of news from the continuing Las Vegas events of the 2009 World Series of Poker. While it may have been a case of bad timing however, the Bodog Mini Poker Series is certainly an event that shouldn’t be overlooked.

The upcoming Bodog Mini Poker Series will be made up of a set of No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em games designed to capture the interest of aspiring poker players currently studying the techniques of professionals competing in the
WSOP. The thirteen individual events host a low buy-in ($10+1 each) stretched out across almost two weeks of play. Top players (within the highest thirty percent) will gain entrance to a July 21st semi-final where they will then be whittled down to the top eighteen contestants eligible to battle it out in the July 23rd final event.

Bodog Poker will be awarding a seat package to the 2010 World Series of Poker for the Mini Poker Series’ champion, a prize worth approximately $12,000 USD. Interested players without a Bodog account owe it to themselves to sign up soon so they can take part in the action-packed events. The Bodog Mini Poker Series non-final and semi-final games run from Friday, July 3
rd to Wednesday, July 15th beginning at 8.35pm EST.

Titan Hosts $1K PokerNews Qualifier for the WSOP

Titan Hosts $1K PokerNews Qualifier for the WSOP

Online gaming site, Titan Poker, has announced plans to partner up with PokerNews in a series of events aimed at sending players to the upcoming 2009 World Series of Poker. While even qualifying buy-in spots can be far too expensive for the average player to afford, proving your skill in Titan Poker weekly tournaments may be just the right way to show how worthy you are to compete in the WSOP, regardless of bankroll size.

The partnered sites are hosting a $1000 WSOP Qualifier Freeroll through a sponsorship with affiliate/news site, PokerNews that will reward a first place prize of free access to the Titan Poker $535 WSOP online qualifying rounds. The remaining $465 will be distributed in cash to all other players to make up the rest of the pot but it can be easily predicted that the most action will centre on competition for the WSOP entry spot. Winning the Titan online qualifying will be no easy feat for the tournament champions but, if they’re able to do so, they’ll be heading to Las Vegas with one of the site’s rather hefty $13K prize package.

Users that have registered at Titan Poker through PokerNews are eligible to take part in the freeroll (and a chance to play in this year’s World Series of Poker). The $1000 WSOP Qualifier Freeroll will be hosted at Titan Poker weekly on Tuesdays at 6.45pm GMT throughout the entirety of the month of June.

Full Tilt Online Poker Series Wraps Up

Full Tilt Online Poker Series Wraps Up


After an exciting series of games the eleventh edition of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series has finished up for this year. The tournament came to a close with Sunday’s Main Event, a $500+35 No Limit Hold ’Em game that saw one skilled player walk away with a new title under his belt.

The big winner of the 2009 Full Tilt Online Poker Series is Adam “csimmsux” Geyer who managed to come out on top of the tournament’s tough opponents, triumphing and receiving the grand prize.

Geyer played against a body of 5,287 registered players, making it all the way to a climatic showdown against “KAISERfknSOZE”. The two entered the Main Event’s final hands with a substantial chip-lead over the third place competitor while their own amounts were more evenly matched.

Geyer finished the showdown with
$456,056.62 while KAISERfknSOZE took home $276,245.75. Third place at the Main Event went to “PartyPimp” who received $177,643.20, a considerable sum that still falls a long way short of the showdown pool.

The game finished after nearly thirteen hours of continuous play, proving that Geyer is a player who is able to hold his own in exhausting games of attrition. While Full Tilt had set a guaranteed prize pool of
$2,500,000 for the FTOPS, the massive number of registrants eclipsed the amount to a substantial $2,643,500 by the series’ kick-off. Adam “csimmsux” Geyer’s victory is his third overall win at a Full Tilt Online Poker Series event.

Full Tilt Poker Ramps up Late Night Poker and Poker Million Qualifiers

Full Tilt Poker Ramps up Late Night Poker and Poker Million Qualifiers

It’s only been a short time since Full Tilt Poker officially signed on as the new sponsors of the Poker Million and Late Night Poker but the successful poker site has evidently been hard at work setting up tie-in games for its members.

Full Tilt Poker is hosting a number of great, upcoming events to give their users brand new competition incentives in an already packed season of high-profile brick-and-mortar tournaments. Among the imminent events are the June 15
th Full Tilt Poker Late Night Poker satellite, a $300+$22 cash satellite on June 7th and the May 31st Full Tilt Poker Million satellite. Fans will also have a chance to compete in another Poker Million tournament with the $500+$35 satellite on August 2nd. Tough competition and the shot at plenty of UK exposure should mean plenty of excitement at the Full Tilt Poker rooms for this summer’s duration.

Not only will members of Full Tilt Poker reap the benefits of the site’s new sponsorship deals but viewers should be able to as well. The wider range of expected players (qualified via satellite) at both the Poker Million and Late Night Poker should yield some truly exciting competition and possibly even a few new bright stars making their name in the game throughout the months ahead.

World Poker Tour Scheduled in Venice

World Poker Tour Scheduled in Venice

The constantly expanding
World Poker Tour is set to make its next stop in a beautiful (if rather unlikely) location — Venice, Italy. The newest instalment in the popular series will mark the first time that the nation has hosted a WPT event and will ultimately end with the premier crowning of the World Poker Tour Venice Champion.

World Poker Tour Venice is only a few short weeks away and is set to play out at the famous Casino di Venezia on the east banks of the Grand Canal. The main event will consist of a €4,000+400 buy-in although Venice will also be hosting a wide variety of cash games throughout the rest of the tournament series. The first World Poker Tour Venice Champion will receive a bracelet marking their accomplishment along with a seat in the 2010 World Poker Tour Championship, a prize worth $25,000. World Poker Tour founder and CEO Steve Lipscomb told press that the company is excited to branch out with pioneering events in Italy and the rest of Europe, Venice being only the first part of future plans.

World Poker Tour is assisted by bwin in their efforts to carry out their first ever Italian WPT stop. The latter company’s support should be beneficial to fans as well considering that bwin plans to broadcast World Poker Tour Venice through their website at the same time the action itself is occurring. World Poker Tour Venice is scheduled to take place from May 6th to the 10th.

PokerStars Launches the UK and Irish Poker League

PokerStars Launches the UK and Irish Poker League

PokerStars has provided some good news for
British Isles poker fans with the announcement of the brand new UK and Irish Poker League. The league has been set up to provide incentive and reward for frequent play at the site, giving members the goal of reaching for the top of the heap and becoming part of a select group of winners.

The UK and Irish Poker League will be determined based on a leaderboard now active on the PokerStars client. Members of the popular PokerStars site will have their table time recorded for entry into the competition ladder, tracking accumulated points and exactly how they stack up against other British and Irish players. The more events that members enter, the higher their win and the larger their point earnings, the better they will fare on the leaderboard which rewards $300 to the top one hundred players on a monthly basis.

PokerStars players can choose to compete within all or any one of the three league divisions. Division One requires a $1 buy-in while Division Two allows free play (2,000 play money chips equal one buy-in). Division Three (or the FPP Division) allows the exchange of 25 Frequent Player Points for one buy-in. There are new opportunities for substantial rewards every month, a system that should help encourage stiff competition and busy tables at the PokerStars network.