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.

Tags: paddy power

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.

Tags: paddy power

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.

Tags: PKR

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.

Tags: Sky poker, Sky Bingo

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.

Tags: Titan Poker

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.

Tags: Full Tilt Poker

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.

Tags: Full Tilt Poker

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.”

Tags: PokerStars

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.

Tags: Titan Poker

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.”

Tags: William Hill

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.

Tags: Sky poker

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.

Tags: PokerStars

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.”

Tags: ipoker

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.”

Tags: Titan Poker

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.

Tags: ipoker

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.”

Tags: Sky poker

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).

Tags: PKR

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.”

Tags: PokerStars

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.

Tags: Titan Poker

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.

Tags: PKR

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.

Tags: PokerStars

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

Tags: Titan Poker

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.”

Visit PokerStars For the best online Poker experience now

Tags: PokerStars

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.”

Visit PokerStars For the best online Poker experience now

Tags: PKR

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.

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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.

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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.

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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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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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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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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 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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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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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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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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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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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.

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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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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).

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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’ 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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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’ 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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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.

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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.

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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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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 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.

Tags: poker, PKR

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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Tags: poker, PokerStars

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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Tags: poker, Full Tilt Poker

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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Tags: UltimateBet

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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Tags: PokerStars

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.

Tags: PKR

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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Tags: Asian Poker Tour

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.

Tags: poker, poker competition

The upcoming 2009 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour is already creating a lot of buzz and the world of professional poker has been quick to respond to the event by selling out the £2500 GUKPT Heads-Up Tournament. Now the full list of entrants has been confirmed and is sparking arm-chair speculation and mounting excitement leading up to the games.

The Heads-Up Tournament has proven to be one of the most popular events at the annual GUKPT and this year should prove no different. Poker professionals have flocked to the £2500 tournament, creating a veritable who’s-who of noted UK players. Among the list are immediately recognizable names such as Barny Boatman, Neil Channing, Surinder Sunar, Jeff Duvall and John Kabbaj. Boatman and Channing have both been identified as favourites for the win but the other fourteen competitors are all respected players in their own right and should help to make the tournament an exciting one for all involved.

The first round draw takes place on Thursday, March 19th at 2.45pm and kicks off the initial big event of the 2009 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour. Play commences at 3pm and will be decided as the hands and hours go by into the evening. The £2500 Heads-Up Tournament should be a great start to the venerable series and provide a lot of thrills before the rest of the 2009 GUKPT starts to play out.

Tags: poker, gUKPT, Grosvenor UK Poker Tour

Everest Poker has been sparking fan excitement with the announcement of their Everest Poker European Cup events. Even though the series doesn’t start off in earnest until a few more weeks from now, the Everest Poker network is garnering plenty of interest with a preliminary entry series for members of the site.

The EPEC Freeroll is coming up soon and is meant to act as an exciting kick-start for the upcoming, brick and mortar events themselves. The Freeroll winner will be rewarded with a trip to Sardinia on the Mediterranean for three nights of all-expense paid accommodations. Aside from a luxurious vacation itself the top placing Freeroll player will also receive paid entry to the €500 buy-in tournament. Lastly, the lucky competitor will be given €300 spending cash to help them enjoy their time at the games.

Interested players should log on today to take part in the wider range of events encompassed in the Everest Poker European Cup. The EPEC Freeroll takes place this Sunday, March 22nd at 2.30pm GMT and is available for all Everest members that have made the minimum deposit and collected at least 10 Everest Poker Summit Points from playing rake games. The 2009 European Cup itself takes place at the Chia Laguna Resort from May 8th to 10th and will host some two hundred players competing in the main event.

Tags: Everest Poker, Freerols, EPEC

After the success enjoyed by PokerStars with its UK and Irish Poker League leaderboards the site has continued to branch out with the announcement of an upcoming tournament series. The UK Poker Open is set to kick off soon in order to provide a little more excitement for the spring before tournament season starts off in earnest this summer.

The Open is a No-Limit Texas Hold ‘Em tournament that gives players from all across the United Kingdom and Ireland the opportunity to win out against stiff competition and take home the guaranteed $50,000 prize pool. The tournament begins on Sunday, March 24th at 7.30pm GMT (3.30pm EST) with the chance to take home the considerable pot.

PokerStars has made the UK Poker Open available for essentially any poker player with the determination to enter and compete in the games regardless of the size of their bankroll. Even without much money to their name, would-be competitors can still prove their worthiness by testing their skills against others in qualifying satellites leading up to the event.

Interested players can buy-in or register to the UK Poker Open through a few different methods. The most up-front manner of gaining Open entrance is via the $111 direct buy-in but poker fans can also get into the tournament by qualifying through the daily cash ($2.20 required) or Frequent Player Point (10 FPP required) satellites.

Tags: PokerStars, poker event