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PokerStars to Celebrate Sunday Million’s Seventh Anniversary

PokerStars, one of the biggest and most popular online poker rooms in the world, has announced that it will be celebrating the seventh anniversary of poker’s richest weekly tournament – the Sunday Million with a fabulous event that will feature a $7 million guaranteed prize pool.

The special event is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 3^rd March, 2013 at 14.30 ET.

The seventh anniversary celebration will see PokerStars awarding $1 million guaranteed for the first placed winner making this event one of the richest online poker tournaments ever.

Team PokerStars Pro, Lex Veldhuis said, “I remember playing in previous Sunday Million Anniversary tournaments well. The gigantic prize pools make them so memorable and I’m sure this one will be no different with $1 million for the winner! I’m going to stock up on food and drink so I’m ready to grind this one! It’s so big that it’s like playing an EPT online.”

The first Sunday Million was held on 5^th March, 2006 with a total of 5,893 runners playing for a prize pool of $1,178,600.   The biggest Sunday Million field to date was 62,116 players on 8^th December, 2011 which generated a total prize pool of $12,423,200.  This tournament was held in honor of PokerStars’ 10^th Anniversary.

Players are given an opportunity to buy into the $215 tournament directly or they can qualify through one of several satellite tournaments running on PokerStars as from Sunday, 24^th February, 2013.   A special deadline satellite on Sunday, 3^rd March at 14.25 ET will guarantee 1,000 seats, while feeder satellites of $1 into that deadline qualifier will run every hour from Sunday, 24^th February and every half hour from Friday, 1^st March, 2013.

On Saturday, 2^nd March, a few one-off ‘VIP Bash” satellites will run which will enable players to qualify for as little as 50 FPPs.  The qualifiers can be found by clicking ‘Tourney’ > ‘Satellites’ in the PokerStars lobby.

PartyPoker.com Confirms Six Players for Premier League VI

The sixth edition of the PartyPoker.com Premier League is scheduled to take place at Aspers Casino from Sunday, 17^th March to Saturday, 23^rd March, 2013.  Sixteen of the world’s top players are due to battle it out in this popular tournament which will cost each player an amount of $125,000 to enter.

The players will first be split into two groups of eight.  These groups will then play four league matches each.  Players will be awarded with points during the league matches that will depend on where they finish.  Each point will be worth an amount of $2,000 in cash.

Once the four league game has come to an end, the top three point earners will be put up into the final while the fourth and fifth place finishers will play a series of heads-up matches in order to determine who will go through to the eight handed final table.

The names of six players have been confirmed to play in this year’s Premier League, the first two being Daniel Negreanu and Scott Seiver.  Seiver was the winner of the Premier League last year and revealed that he enjoyed the interesting format immensely and that it was fantastic to win.  Seiver added that he is looking forward to defending his title.

Team PokerStars Pro Negreanu said that he is extremely excited to be back playing this year’s Premier League.  He added that he loved the format and special events like this are fantastic for poker.  Nebreanu also said that he is honored to have been invited and that he happily supports the event that he plans on winning.

Others making the trip to the British capital are Antonio Esfandiari, The Big One for One Drop winner, Phil Hellmuth, the 13-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak and Tony G.

Although PartyPoker have not yet released information on the other players, it is presumed that players such as Vanessa Selbst, Sam Trickett, Daniel Cates, Patrik Antonius and Tom Dwan will be announced in the near future.

Schedule for London’s Largest Poker Festival Confirmed by European Poker Tour

Details have at last been announced for the European Poker Tour (EPT) Season 9’sLondonpoker festival.

TheU.K.and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) and the European Poker Tour (EPT) will get together for the first time during this festival that is bound to create a substantial set of tournaments and opportunities for players at all levels.

EPT London will commence on Tuesday, 5^th March and continue until Saturday, 16^th March 2013 during which time it will feature 37 exciting events.

The festival will see the EPT returning to theU.K.capital after last holding aLondonevent in September 2011.  That particular event attracted over 2,000 players from around the world who competed for prizes worth in excess of 7 million pounds.  Benny Spindler, the German wunderkind, managed to take down the Main Event first prize of £750,000.  The poker tour, which is one of the world’s riches poker tours, is greatly anticipated by the poker community all over the world.

The EPT London Main Event will be played at The Grosvenor Victoria Casino which is one ofLondon’s favorite poker rooms.  The UKIPT event will be held at the same venue.

Due to the large number of players that are anticipated to attend the events, The Hippodrome Casino London, will serve as host for several of the side events during the period of the festival.  Cash games in a selection of buy-in levels will be taking place at both venues.

Victoria Coren, the EPT Season 3 winner And Team PokerStars Pro, said that she is thrilled that EPT London is returning to the Vic, where it all began.  Coren added that she thinks that the atmosphere there will be fantastic and that it is there that she won her own EPT title.  She is hoping that it will be lucky for her.

The festival will commence with the £770 UKIPT Grand Final Main Event as well as several side events which include a £2,150 High Roller and nightly Turbos that start from £110.

American Cardroom Pays Out Record Amount

American Cardroom, theUSfriendly online poker room, has announced that its $1 million guaranteed online poker series,OSS11, has paid out a record sized prize pool of $1.3 million.

According to the site, the $1.3 million in prize pool money that was awarded to players by theOSS11 was over $220K more than the organizers of this poker series had guaranteed.

TheOSS11 is American Cardroom’s signature online poker series and incorporated 82 thrilling online poker tournaments that offered a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million.

According to Michael Harris, a spokesman for American Cardroom, the past two weeks have been exceptionally lucrative for their players.  Harris added thatOSS11 was their most satisfying tournament series to date.

The OSS11 series commenced on Sunday, 13^th January, 2013 and continued until Sunday, 27^th January, 2013 with 82 recorded tournaments and daily tourneys totaling an average of $45K.  Weekend tournaments worth $100,000, $150,000 and $200.000 were also included in the series.  The guarantee was greatly exceeded in almost every event in the series.

Due to a tremendous response to the tournament series, the final total prize pool increased from the guaranteed amount of $1,088,000 to $1,308,702.49 (an additional $220,000).  The $75,000 Beast tournament which was held duringOSS11 and the 100-seat satellites that were guaranteed for the $100 K, $150 K and $200 K tournaments paid out an additional $64,500 worth of tournament seats.

Michael Harris also congratulated WiVil for taking home the first place prize of $38,220 in their $200K Guaranteed Tournament.

American Cardroom points based on how many tournaments players entered and how well they performed, were awarded to those players who participated in one of the over 80 online poker tournaments.

Players can still find lots of action at American Cardroom with several promotions and special offers still taking place as well as an opportunity to enjoy excellent online poker on the Winning Poker Network.

Rational Group Appoints Rafi Ashkenazi as COO

Mark Scheinberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Rational Group, recently announced that Rafi Ashkenazi has joined the Group as Chief Operating Officer.

Ashkenazi is an experienced gaming industry executive and will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Group as well as for its brands which include Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars, the world’s two largest online poker sites.

Rafi Ashkenazi previously served as COO and board member of global gaming software company, Playtech, where he was responsible for the day-to-day operations and business activities and helped the company grow from 200 to more than 2,400 employees.

The Rational Group of companies launched PokerStars in 2001 and has since then become the industry leader focusing on operational perfection and keeping their customers happy.

The Group operates gaming and businesses and brands that relate thereto, including PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker as well as the European Poker Tour.  This has resulted in the company becoming the largest poker business in the world.  The group comprises of online poker games and tournaments, live poker competitions and poker programming that is created for online audiences and television.

Scheinberg said “As the Group grows and continues to develop our business globally and across multiple platforms and brands, we need to strengthen the leadership of its increasingly complex operations.”  Scheinberg added “Rafi is a fine executive with outstanding management and people skills and has been very successful directing the operational complexities of a global gaming company. I am very happy that he will bring that expertise to our senior management team.”

Ashkenazi said that he was very excited to join the team and to add his skills to Rational Group’s tradition of industry leadership.

Rational Group was established in 2001 and is currently a privately held global leader in online gaming, operating top brands which include PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, European Poker Tour, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Asia Pacific Poker Tour and the Latin American Poker Tour.

The company holds multiple online poker licenses, including fromFrance,Italy,Isle of Man,Malta,Estonia,Belgium,SpainandDenmark.

Poker Pro in Armed Robbery

A court in Stafford heard last week how UK Poker pro, Tom Carpenter, had a most frightening experience on the eve of his departure to play in a major tournament in Las Vegas when he was confronted by a gang of masked burglars who had made their way into his property and forced open his back door in order to enter his home in Tamworth in the United Kingdom.  As a result of the scary armed robbery Carpenter lost all his World Championship stake money to the burglars.

A report that appeared in the Tamworth Herald stated that last year, on the day that the UK Poker pro had drawn amounts of US $ 5,000 and approximately £ 7,000 in order to finance his stay in the United States and for tournament buy-ins, he was busy with preparations for his flight to Las Vegas when the burglary took place.

Prosecutors are of the opinion that Carpenter may have been overheard giving out his address while obtaining the foreign currency and that this may have prompted the gang to invade Carpenter’sTamworthhome.  One of the burglars evidently wielded a machete while threatening the frightened Carpenter and demanding his money from him.

The police succeeded in tracking down and arresting two of the robbers by using forensic techniques.  Andrew Craig (27) and David Burns (30) each admitted a charge of burglary against them.  Craig was jailed for a period of 32 months while Burns was jailed for a period of 42 months.

According to Judge Michael Chambers (Queens Counsel), the burglary was a highly planned and professional one and it was without any doubt an extremely frightening experience for Carpenter.

A bloodstain that matched a third suspect who has since died was also uncovered by forensic testing along with the fingerprints of both Craig and Burns.

Betfair Poker Launching Poker Room on iPoker Network

Betfair, the leadingUKbetting exchange, casino and poker group, has announced that it intends launching an online poker room on Playtech’s iPoker Network.  This move comes just 18 months after Betfair moved from its own proprietary software to the Ongame Network.

The new online poker room is to be called the New Betfair Poker room and will run in conjunction with the existing Ongame poker skin for a period of six months after which it will move exclusively to the iPoker Network.  Betfair Poker customers will be able to access both the Ongame and iPoker networks from Monday, 21^st January, 2013 while the full move to iPoker should be completed by July, 2013.

Sam Hobcroft, Betfair’s Director of Gaming, stated that “Our intention has always been to offer our customers a rewarding and varied poker experience. Launching “New Betfair Poker” on Playtech’s platform will help us to continue to achieve this goal. It’s a world class product, offering unique and innovative features. This coupled with Betfair Poker’s renowned community and loyalty offerings will help us better retain our existing player base and attract a new audience to Betfair poker.”

Despite many rumors over the years that Betfair intended moving to the Playtech poker platform, the group dismissed these rumors and struck a deal with Playtech to supply games to its Spanish and Italian poker platforms.

Betfair’s move does not sound too good for the future of the Ongame Network which was purchased by aMontreal based entertainment solutions provider, Amaya Gaming, in November, 2012.  During December, 2012, bwin – the flagship skin on the Ongame Network and owners of the network before it was sold to the Canadian Amaya Gaming group, moved its poker customers to PartyGaming.

Players at the New Betfair Poker site can look forward to playing against more recreational poker fans as well as a different tournament set up.

Paddy Power Summoned to Testify in Irish Poker Case

Paddy Poker, one of the leading Irish Bookmakers, has been summoned to appear before the Limerick District Court in order to give evidence in the case of a local poker player, Paul Carr, who is attempting to have his winnings returned to him by the police.

Irishman, Paul Carr, scooped an amount of €312,000 in a Paddy Power poker tournament that was held at the Burlington Hotel inDublinin April, 2010.  Due to the fact that there were many people who were aware of the amount of cash that Carr had in his possession, he decided to keep a portion of the money at a friend’s home for safekeeping so as not to be robbed.

Unfortunately for Carr, Gardai (Irish police force) searched the house of his friend where his money was kept as he was suspected of misusing drugs.  Although no drugs were found at his friend’s address, the police seized an amount of €36k of Carr’s money as they claimed that it had been obtained through the proceeds of crime.

Carr has been insisting for years that the money was won by him through poker when he finished runner-up in the 2010 Irish Open after losing heads-up to Englishman James Mitchell and has been attempting to recoup his money for the past year and a half.   His attempts to do so at the District Court level resulted in the Judge ruling in favor of the Gardai.  Counsel for the state, John O’Sullivan has, therefore, requested that Paddy Power take the stand as a witness in the matter in order to prevent Carr’s €36k from being forfeited over to the state.

Since Paul Carr’s big win in 2010 he has continued to play in poker tournaments but has failed to come anywhere near to his win at the Irish Open with his biggest win since this tourney being €6,500.   However, Carr has already earned €463,326 in live poker tournaments.

Caesars Interactive Entertainment Inc. receives Online Poker License in Nevada

Caesars Interactive Entertainment Inc. was recently issued with an online poker license by theNevadagambling authorities and intends launching the site as a World Series of Poker together with their partner 888 Holdings.  However, the site will not be launching until such time as 888 Holdings is also approved for a license.

In response to a query during an interview prior to the approval of the online poker license when he was asked what the legalization of online poker would mean to the company, Ty Stewart, the Executive Director of World Series of Poker, said that he thought that they could most certainly revolutionize the category.  Steward added that he felt that they would be successful due to the fact that they have smart and genuine people like Mitch Garber who is Caesar’s Interactive Entertainment Chief Executive Officer who led PartyPoker which is the world’s leading poker site and that they also have fantastic brands.

Caesar’s anticipated online poker offering will use software from the group’s World Series of Poker brand as well as games and support that will be supplied by 888 Holdings.

Although the games will at first be offered for free, it is planned to eventually create a real money gaming platform.

In terms of Caesar’s new license, the online poker platform will only be available to the state’s poker players on an intrastate basis.

Caesars is one of several other online gambling providers who have been successful in their application for a license inNevadaand are hopingNevadawill eventually pass a federal bill that will enable nationwide, regulated online poker to be offered.

888 Holding’s wait for approval of a license by theNevadaregulators is only a technical matter and it is expected that the group will be receiving the green light very soon.

Vice President of Corporate Communications for Caesars, Seth Palansky, said “We want to thank the Commission for all their efforts throughout this process. There’s no doubt they do a thorough review and will ensure that Nevadais the best regulated market for online poker. We look forward to the opportunity to serve Nevadans when we complete the necessary steps to do so.”

Poker770 Celebrating 10th Anniversary

Poker770, the pioneer in the world of online poker, is celebrating its’ 10^th anniversary this month by thanking their customers and spoiling them with an offer of $177,000 in prizes.

The online poker room’s Advent Calendar that commenced on December 1 will continue until Monday, December 24, 2012.  Players are required to collect 100 points770 each day, log in to Poker770’s Advent Calendar and find out whether they have won one of the daily gifts.

Poker770 will be giving away $60,000 in gifts which includes tokens, bonus cash, iPods and game consoles with this Advent Calendar promotion.

Each day’s box can only be opened after collecting 100 points on the day in question and once the prize is uncovered, players will be contacted by email to credit their account or send their prize.

The Magic Box game has been running at Poker770 since 10th December and will continue until 6^th January, 2013.  Players will find 3 winning boxes in each game and players must try and choose the box offering the best gift. 

Players will receive 2 “Magic Box” games, when they make a deposit, receive the referral bonus and one “Magic Box” game when they refer a friend, receive one “Magic Box” game when they play 500 hands on the cash tables in one day and receive one “Magic Box” game when playing 5 MTT tournaments in one day.

As from Thursday, 20^th December until Wednesday, 26^th December, 2012, Poker770 is offering players $1,000 for a buy-in of only $1 to play for in their “Christmas Gift” tournament.  The schedule and prizes for this tournament is as follows –