Fifty up!
It?s taken just a little more than nine years but PokerStars dealt it?s 50
billionth hand last week, giving away more than $950,000 in the process.
The 50 Billion hand promotion rewarded players with cash prizes as every
millionth hand ticked away on the way to the landmark hand. Then at
10.37am ET on September 22, with 220,000 players playing on 33,000 tables
at PokerStars.com, tbvle, from Germany, on table Ornamenta (a $0.02/$0.05
no-limit Hold?em cash table) won the 50 billionth hand, collecting $56,140
in the process.
The other five players at the table also scooped between $2,990 and $3,070
each just for being there, a sum based on the number of VIP Player Points
they had amassed at the table over the previous 50 hands. As an additional
bonus each player at the table also received a WCOOP Main Event ticket
worth $5,200. As with previous promotions of this type it was an exciting
time, with the table frozen prior to the deal to allow railbirds time to
log-in and watch. The entire promotion paid out $952,239.50 to PokerStars
players. That?s history made. Now on to the 60 billionth!
EPT London
The British leg of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour starts on
Wednesday, September 29. London will mark not only the third stop of
season seven, but the last tournament of a long and successful first
season of the UKIPT. The EPT London Poker Festival is one of the
highlights of the global poker calendar, attracting thousands of players
for 37 events, including featured heads up, high-roller and ladies events,
as well as a charity tournament benefiting cancer research.
Last year Aaron Gustavson took down the EPT London Main Event, winning
?850,000 in a thrilling heads-up duel against former world champion and
Team PokerStars Pro Peter Eastgate. The event attracted 730 players,
making it the biggest tournament ever held in the UK. This year organisers
expect no different, with players and media from all over the world
descending on the capital for 37 events spread over eight days, including
the ?5,250 Main Event, the ?20,000 High Roller, three ladies events and
the ?2,000 European 8-Game Championship.
EPT London Charity
A special feature will highlight this year?s PokerStars.com EPT London
Poker Festival. A Charity Event aimed at raising money for Cancer Research
UK will hope to raise thousands of pounds for one of the world?s leading
charities dedicated to beating cancer through research.
The fund-raiser, with a buy-in of ?100 + ?10 + ?10, will be held at the
London Hilton Metropole Hotel from October 2-4, and features a guaranteed
prize pool of ?100,000, with ?10 of every entry going directly to Cancer
Research. In addition PokerStars will match both the ?10 charity
contribution as well as all additional player donations.
PokerStars regularly commits to raising large amounts of money for good
causes. In January this year, stars such as R&B singer Kelly Rowland,
former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash and hip-hop star Nelly helped raise
more than $150,000 for AIDS research charity, amfAR, at a charity poker
tournament during the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Other events have
raised money for Ante Up for Africa as well as the Royal Marsden Cancer
hospital in London.
Players can register online for the EPT London Cancer Research event on
PokerStars. They can also start donating funds online by transferring
chips to PokerStars user ID ?cancerUK?.
Women?s Poker League
The first season of the Women?s Poker League ? one of the new innovations
from PokerStars that went live on August 1 this year ? has now come to a
close. A total of 7,316 players took part in the league with thousands of
dollars awarded in prize money.
The league featured Team PokerStars Pros, as well as professionals and
amateurs alike. After a successful first year the Women?s Poker League
will be back for a second season in January 2011.
Now to the shores of the South Pacific
PokerStars is returning to the Philippines, wading ashore on the beaches
of the South Pacific Island of Cebu, one of the highlights of last year?s
PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour season.
The event, which is set to take place at Shangri-La?s Mactan Resort and
Spa from November 12-16, presents players with an opportunity to play
world class high-stakes poker in one of the world?s most beautiful
locations.
With a Main Event buy-in of 100,000 Pesos (approximately $2,165 USD), the
region?s best players are expected to attend to compete for another
prestigious APPT title. Side events will include the Cebu Cup, a Ladies
event, a Pot-Limit Omaha event (one of the first PLO tournaments ever run
in Asia), a High Roller and a live satellite to APPT Sydney.
Last year, 319 players created a prize pool of more than $630,000, in an
event won by Korea?s Dong-bin Han, who collected $156,722.
Over the border and into Slovenia
Luca Pagano has more cashes (16) than any other player in the world on the
PokerStars.com European Poker Tour, and now the Team PokerStars Pro is on
the brink of making a big impact on home turf. The Italian leads the Nova
Gorica leg of the Italian Poker Tour going into the final day.
Pagano, with 508,000 chips, is the tournament leader with just 36 players
remaining. Sandro Mazzei (478,000) and Antonio Ranaldi (416,000) are the
players closest to Pagano, as they vie for the winner?s cheque of
€190,000.
Down south
Season three of the PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour came to a
close yesterday as Peruvian PokerStars qualifier Martin Sansour won the
Grand Final in Rosario, Argentina, and a first prize of $322,280. A field
of 254 had made their way to Rosario?s City Centre Casino for the event,
creating a prize pool of $1,176,200. Bolivar Palacios from Panama finished
second. Austrian Matthias Habernig also reached the final table, following
his win at LAPT Florianopolis earlier in the year.
The Brazilian leg was one of three new events in the LAPT?s third season,
along with Lima and Rosario.
Up north
As the LAPT came to a close in Rosario, and IPT Nova Gorica moved into its
final day, the French Poker Series was concluding its Divonne-les-Bains
leg, where Frenchman Serge Didisheim collected €108,894 for first place,
ahead of runner-up Yann Pelletier.
A field of 399 players had assembled in the shadows of Mont Blanc,
creating a prize pool of €421,344. Divonne-les-Bains was the second leg of
the new French Poker Series which now moves to the third leg in Saint
Amand from October 16-17. For more details go to:
