Poker News

PokerStars freeroll series continues at 9.30pm tonight

If for some reason you find yourself stuck indoors tonight and want some cheap entertainment then PokerStars has just the thing.

PokerStars Sunday Million: $2m guaranteed

Remember when the Sunday Million was just that? A million dollar guarantee? Those days are long gone as the $1,500,000 guarantee is regularly shattered but now PokerStars are taking another step up, whacking a huge $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool on this Sunday’s edition.

PokerStars Sunday Million: $2m guaranteed

Remember when the Sunday Million was just that? A million dollar guarantee? Those days are long gone as the $1,500,000 guarantee is regularly shattered but now PokerStars are taking another step up, whacking a huge $2,000,000 guaranteed prize pool on this Sunday’s edition.

Bluff Europe Weekend Round-Up

Most of the poker stuff that has been happening has been happening in Melbourne. The Aussie Millions is upon us, the $10,000 Main Event has kicked off and consequently the high-stakes action on Full Tilt has been subdued. PokerStars are still going strong on the tournament front, though:

Second time lucky for vietcong01 in Sunday Million

Juan Antonio Maceiras – not a big name in the poker world, but this online MTT grinder known as vietcong01 at PokerStars has accomplished a remarkable feat – his $255,954 score for winning the PokerStars Sunday Million is his second victory in the huge tournament.

Bluff Europe Weekend Round-Up

Most of the poker stuff that has been happening has been happening in Melbourne. The Aussie Millions is upon us, the $10,000 Main Event has kicked off and consequently the high-stakes action on Full Tilt has been subdued. PokerStars are still going strong on the tournament front, though:

PokerStars launches new daily freeroll series

PokerStars is giving players in the UK and Ireland a chance to boost their bankrolls by launching a series of daily freeroll tournaments with £2,000 to be won in each.

Levi leads the way at EPT Deauville but ElkY is looming

Day Two at the PokerStars EPT in Deauville was a rapid-fire affair with the 395-strong starting field whittled down to just 133 by the close of play.

No Decision Handed Down in Kentucky Internet Gambling Case

The Kentucky Supreme Court failed to hand down a decision on Thursday in the case involving the seizure and potential forfeiture of 141 internet gambling domain names.

The list of sites that could be affected includes PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. Officials from the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) and others involved in the case had anticipated a Thursday release of the Kentucky Supreme Court's decision. However, none was passed down as the day came and went.

A press release distributed by iMEGA on Thursday added that the next time the case could be addressed is late March. iMEGA Chairman Joe Brennan told Poker News Daily what his reaction was to no decision being rendered by the Commonwealth's highest court: “Everyone was surprised in Kentucky. The rumor mill thought the decision was going to be rendered. That could have been why their attorneys acted so quickly at the end of December, so if they got an adverse decision, they could keep it alive.”

No dates for releases of court opinions are listed in February. The next date shown for verdicts to be handed down on the Kentucky Supreme Court's calendar is March 18th. Others include April 22nd, May 20th, June 17th, August 26th, September 23rd, October 21st, November 18th, and December 16th. Twenty pages' worth of decisions were handed down on Thursday in the Frankfort court.

Back in October, oral arguments were heard by the six of the seven justices that comprise the Kentucky Supreme Court. In December, two months after the proceedings occurred, attorneys for the Commonwealth filed a motion to add names to its original complaint. Its counsel explained the reasoning behind identifying more defendants two months after oral arguments transpired: “In the course of the litigation and the Commonwealth’s continuing investigation, the Commonwealth has learned the identity of certain entities and individuals involved in internet gambling operations, some of whom are U.S. citizens.”

The motion called for a hearing in front of Judge Thomas Wingate on January 20th. However, because the motion was never acted on by the Kentucky Supreme Court, no such hearing took place. Wingate upheld the initial seizure order as part of a decision rendered in October 2008. The last-second move by Commonwealth attorneys to add names to the record, to some in the industry, indicated that the Kentucky Supreme Court was readying to hand down a verdict. However, those inclinations ultimately proved to be false.

The case centers on whether domain names, which are housed in the depths of cyberspace, constitute “gambling devices” under Kentucky state law. The two-word phrase traditionally refers to physical objects like roulette wheels and slot machines that you'd find in an underground casino. The domains were allegedly seized without due process back in September 2008. Wingate mandated that the affected sites cease taking customers from Kentucky immediately, else risk losing access to their domain name worldwide.

For now, it appears that the future of domain names like FullTiltPoker.com and PokerStars.com will remain up in the air in the Bluegrass State. Also involved in the case is the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the industry's 1.2-million member strong lobbying force. The PPA filed an amicus brief to the Kentucky Supreme Court charging that poker is a game of skill and therefore not gambling under state law.

Original estimates pinned a decision in the Kentucky Supreme Court between three and six months after oral arguments took place, or sometime between January and April. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest on the case.

EPT Deauville sees 339 runners on Day 1a

Last year's PokerStars EPT event in Deauville saw a record field. This could well be surpassed this year, however, as 339 entrants signed up for the first flight. Team PokerStars pros were present but not in force - despite the recognisable names of Katja Thater and Arnaud Mattern, there were some faces missing.

Four $530 UKIPT Manchester satellite seats to be won in $5.50 Card Gang special tonight at 8pm

The latest fantastic Card Gang tournament is at PokerStars.com tonight at 8pm. As well as cash prizes there are four seats worth $530 apiece for satellites into next month’s £100K guaranteed UKIPT event in Manchester to be won. All for just $5.50!

Bluff PokerStars UK and Ireland Poker Tour tournament 8pm Wed 20 January

Bluff Europe has teamed up with PokerStars to celebrate its new UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) by hosting a very special tournament at 8pm UK time on Wednesday 20th January 2010.

Massive value in tomorrow’s Card Gang UKIPT special

Bluff Europe has teamed up with PokerStars to celebrate its new UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) by hosting a very special tournament at 8pm UK time on Wednesday 20th January 2010.

Bluff Europe Weekend Round-Up

The first BluffEurope.com weekend round-up of 2010 brings news from the Bahamas as PokerStars turns the islands into the centre of the poker universe while on the other side of the globe Full Tilt hosted the largest ever tournament in Australia. Online, six-figure pots were played routinely. Here it all is:

AceQuad wins $179,000 for Sunday Million victory

Rolling in like a gigantic freight train, the PokerStars Sunday Million again surpassed expectations this week as 8,885 players came together to create a $1,777,000 prize pool; begging the question – when will it become the Sunday $2,000,000?

Dusty “leatherass” Schmidt joins DragTheBar

Dusty “leatherass” Schmidt, the consummate grinder who kicks lumps out of high-stakes games on Full Tilt and PokerStars yes the hardest games on the Internet – despite mass-multi-tabling, has left his position as lead instructor of StoxPoker in order to assume that role at fledgling video training site DragTheBar.

Chinese Taipei win World Cup of Poker VI

It’s not just football that is hosting a World Cup this year. Poker’s equivalent took place towards the end of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas last week with nine countries involved in the finals.

Help the Haiti earthquake appeal with PokerStars

The devastating scenes from Haiti have prompted PokerStars to do its bit for the earthquake disaster relief effort. The online giant has started a campaign that will enable poker players to donate funds to the Red Cross. PokerStars has also said that it will match each donation, dollar for dollar.

PCA High Roller Final table set

It proved to be an eventful day in the $25,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure High Roller Event yesterday with the 24 starters whittled down to a final table of eight. There were a few shocks along the way too, most notably the demise of long time chip leader Dario Minieri.

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure final table set

The 24 remaining players of the 1,500 plus that entered the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $10,300 main event returned to the Atlantis Resort’s Imperial Ballroom to play down to the final table, with the likes of John Duthie, Robert Mizrachi, Jeff Madsen and Praz Bansi gunning for a spot in the final eight.

Bodog Drops Bonomo

The 24-year-old joined David Williams and Evelyn Ng as a member of the Bodog Pro Team in 2007, but confirmed reports that he was leaving the team Wednesday.

“Bodog and I have officially parted ways after a two-year sponsorship relationship,” said Bonomo. “I want to thank Bodog and its staff for giving me an opportunity to play for them.”

Although he didn’t go into detail regarding his departure, Bonomo stressed that he did not quit the team. Despite the change, Bonomo is already in talks with other poker rooms regarding sponsorship.

“Moving forward, I will be focusing my attention on aligning with a sponsor who will better utilize my play and media presence,” he said.

Just two months ago, Bodog also dropped poker pro Jean-Robert Bellande, which means Ng and Williams are the room’s only remaining pros.

Bonomo learned poker online and won countless tournaments using the screen name ZeeJustin. In 2005, he broke onto the live poker scene by making the final table of PokerStars.com EPT Deauville. At the time he was the youngest player to make a televised final table. Since then he has accumulated $2.3 million in live tournament winnings.

Controversy arose in 2006 when it was learned Bonomo had been multi-accounting, a practice banned on almost all online poker sites. He eventually made a public apology and was subsequently signed by Bodog Poker in 2008.

The young pro recently launched a redesigned website and will be featured on the cover of Bluff Magazine’s January issue.

Visit PokerListings.com

Poker News in Brief: Dec. 21-27, 2009

This week the front page of PokerListing was slammed with huge stories like Brian Townsend getting suspended by Full Tilt Poker, Tom “durrrr” Dwan making a desperate charge to get even for the year and Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler finally finding a structure he likes.

Of course, like every week, there were still a few lesser-known stories that threatened to get lost in the shuffle. Fortunately, on PokerListings.com we compile all those stories in our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature.

This week we’re going to take a look at Poker2Nite heading to Europe, new poker chip technology, a new PokerStars rewards program and more.

The Poker Channel Europe Airs Poker2Night

It’s already a hit in North America but the Joe Sebok and Scott Huff hosted Poker2Nite made its debut in Europe last week on the Poker Channel Europe.

The channel is airing episodes of the show every Wednesday at 22:00 CET for the entire run of the first season. Repeats will run Thursdays and Saturdays at 16:00 CET. The channel is Europe’s largest dedicated gaming TV network and shown in more than 18 million European homes.

Poker2Nite is now its fifth week of operation in North America, where it appears on Fox Sports West on Wednesday at 23:00 EST.

To celebrate the show’s success, UB is also currently running a Poker2Nite Pro Challenge promotion, awarding two WSOP packages.

Nicole Rowe Applies for Million Dollar Challenge

Cancer victim Nicole Rowe will be trying out for a spot on the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge.

Rowe is perhaps most well-known in the poker world for finishing second to Abraham Korotki, a man, in the 2009 Borgata Ladies Event.

Inspired by witnessing a taping of the Million Dollar Challenge, Rowe decided to enter a 10,000 player tournament on PokerStars just for the chance to audition for the show. She won the tournament and has since posted her audition video on YouTube.com.

“My plan is to come out and beat Daniel Negreanu for the $1 million and use that money for breast cancer awareness and donate a portion of my winnings to breast cancer foundations such as the Susan G Komen,” said Rowe in the video.

Earlier this week 911 Veteran Mike Kosowski became the first player in the show’s history to win all his heads-up matches and take home the $1 million first place prize.

PokerStars Introduces VIP Stellar Rewards

PokerStars upgraded its VIP program this week with the announcement of VIP Stellar Rewards.

Starting Jan. 1, 2010, PokerStars players who earn 750 VIP player points will be able to go to the PokerStars store and spend 1 frequent player point (FPP) to receive $10.

It doesn’t stop there as players will have the opportunity for 18 cash bonuses as they journey from 750 VIP points all the way up to 90,000 Supernova status.

In total, players will receive an extra $1,000 if they make it all the way to Supernova thanks to the VIP Stellar Rewards program.

To learn more go to PokerStars.com.

GPI to Unveil New Poker Chip Technology

Gaming Partners International Corporation will present a dramatic new approach to the construction of poker chips at the 2010 International Gaming Expo in London on Jan. 26-28.

At the Expo, GPI will introduce RFIDPoker, which is being developed to improve accuracy and increase the speed of various actions at the poker table.

Easily fitted to any poker table the technology sees every chip outfitted with a small RFID chip, which makes calculating a pot size error free. The system can also calculate pot-size in real time, while a hand is being played out.

According to GPI’s studies, RFIDPoker has the potential to increase hands per hour by as much as 30%.

Titan Launches 2010 Irish Open Promo

The 2010 Irish Open doesn’t start until April, but Titan Poker is already running satellites to the tournament.

Titan Poker will run a weekly Super Satellite on Sundays that will award a $7,200 package, which includes the €3,500 buy-in. It’s possible to qualify for these weekly satellites for just $2.20.

The Irish Poker Open is the longest running No-Limit Hold’em tournament in Europe and it typically takes place over Easter weekend in Dublin.

Last year Christer Johansson beat Kara Scott heads-up to claim the €600,000 first place prize.

Titan Poker generally has a large presence at the Irish Open and last year sent 32 players to represent the brand.

Click here to learn more about Titan Poker’s Irish Open promotions.

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European Poker Tour Prague Day 1a: Marc Gork Leads the Way

Over 200 assorted pros, qualifiers and other punters made it to the Hilton Hotel on the banks of the Vltava for Day 1a of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Prague. Among their number were more than a few familiar faces, including Katja Thater...

New Pokerstars Bonus Code for $500k Freerolls

PokerStars are rewarding their players with a combined prize pool of $500,000 in their Depositor Freerolls.

The Tournaments are to be held between November 28th and December 13th – 8 freerolls a day, around the clock, for each of the 15 days, each freeroll will have a prize pool of $ 2,500. If you’re lucky enough to end up in the money - the top 500 – then you get a chance of the big prize in one of the 8 $25,000 finals to be held on 13th December! Terrific!!

Just one qualifying deposit gets you a ticket for ALL of the freerolls, deposit before 28th November to get the opportunity of playing in them all.

Existing Real Money Players need to enter the code 500K when depositing.

New players enter the PokerStars Marketing Code DIRPOKER along with the Pokerstars Bonus Code FIRST500K – you also get to take advantage of the current, generous 100% up to $600 first deposit bonus. There truly has never been a better time to sign up with the Planet’s favourite online poker site, PokerStars.com, ever!

The Freerolls will be easy to find, select Tourney / Freeroll / Depositor. Get depositing with PokerStars and play some free poker and maybe boost your bankroll at the same time – Excellent stuff Pokerstars!

European Poker Tour Vilamoura, Day 5: António Matias Keeps the Title in Portugal

The final day of the first-ever PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Vilamoura is in the books after a thrilling and successful Main Event. Fittingly, it was a local amateur from Portugal that rose through the field of 322 runners to claim the title...

European Poker Tour Vilamoura, Day 4: Wild Day Sets Up Tomorrow’s Final Table

With rainclouds lingering along the Portuguese coastline, the remaining 24 players were back inside the cozy confines of the casino today for Day 4 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Vilamoura. And did they ever come to play. With each of...

European Poker Tour Vilamoura, Day 3: Down to 24

Day 3 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Vilamoura has come and gone in a flash with two-thirds of the remaining field eliminated in less than four levels. Just after noon local time, the final 69 players sat down at the table for the push...

European Poker Tour Vilamoura, Day 2: Jeff Sarwer Leads the Way to Day 3

As Day 1a and Day 1b survivors combined in a single Day 2 field, 177 players trudged back from the beach to the bunkeresque confines of the Casino Vilamoura today when play began to get serious at the inaugural PokerStars.com...

European Poker Tour Vilamoura, Day 1b: Chess Prodigy Jeff Sarwer Leads the Way

Perhaps it was the weather that was more gray today compared to yesterday, perhaps it was because of the super-satellite last night. Whatever the reason, today's Day 1b at the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Vilamoura attracted 186 runners, a...

European Poker Tour Vilamoura, Day 1a: Ljubomir Josipovic Jumps Out of the Gate

Middle of November it may be, but the weather was glorious at the beaches and on the picturesque streets of Vilamoura for Day 1a of the Pokerstars.com European Poker Tour Vilamoura, the first EPT ever held in Portugal. Lounging on the beach was not on...