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PokerStars to Launch $9 Million-Added Players Championship Next Year

PokerStars announced the launch of the annual Players No Limit Hold’em Championship (PSPC) last month, an exclusive live poker tournament that will see it pump at least $9 million of added value into the prize pool, intending to make it the richest $25,000 buy-in tournament in the history of poker.

The inaugural PSPC is scheduled to be held the week before the 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas.

PokerStars add a massive amount of $9 million to the prize pool.  An amount of $8 million in PSPC tournament will be awarded throughout this year by PokerStars by way of 300 free PSPC packages, known as Platinum Passes, with a value of $30,000 (including travel and accommodation).  The additional amount of $1 million will be awarded to the prospective PSPC champion.

Rafi Ashkenazi, the Chief Executive Officer of The Stars Group, commented that they expect that the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship will set the new global standard for live poker tournaments.

Ashkenazi went on to say that they would like to demonstrate and reinforce their commitment to the game, and give something back to the players by investing in their live events in a meaningful way.  He added that their objective is to create an event that brings professionals and amateurs together, creating many winning moments and unforgettable stories.

Daniel Negreanu, Team PokerStars Pro added that he is super excited about the Players No Limit Hold’em Championship.  He also said that this is going to be an incredible experience for those who participate and that everyone, no matter their skill level, has a chance to win a Platinum Pass.  He added that it will be a must-play event with loads of added value.

Each Platinum Pass is worth $30,000 and includes –

• The $25,000 buy-in to the PSPC
• Six nights’ accommodation at Atlantis Resort Nassau
• $2,000 in travel expenses
• Some exciting rewards and surprises that are still to be announced.

Players can earn a $30,000 Platinum Package by winning key online tournaments, such as the Sunday Million and Sunday Storm, or by winning a Micro Millions event, a Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP) tournament, a World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) event or some other specified tournaments throughout the year.  Platinum Packages could even be put in PokerStars’ chest rewards and9+ can also be received by players by winning Main Events at PokerStars’ live events and via last longer competitions and wildcards.

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure

A good way to bring in the New Year is by heading to the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort in the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) which is due to take place between Saturday, 6^th and Sunday, 14^th January 2018.

Included in the schedule are 31 action-packed tournaments, the highlight of which is the six-day $10,300 PCA Main Event taking place from 8^th to 14^th January when players will start off with 30,000 in chips and 60-minute blind levels before increasing to 90 minutes later in the tournament.

Last year saw Christian Harder finishing on top of the 738-entrant field when the event was branded as the PokerStars Championship Bahamas Event.  Harder won an amount of $429,664 after agreeing to a heads-up deal with Cliff Josephy.

The upcoming Man Event will see the buy-in being doubled from $5,000 to $10,000.  In addition, 300 players qualified online at PokerStars for a full package to the Main Event, valued at $14,855.

Those who participate in at least one tournament in the festival will be invited to a PCA $50,000 Freeroll on Sunday, 14^th January 2018.  Side-event buy-ins commence at only $160.  Any player appearing at the final table will be given a gift, valued at up to $500 over and above the cash amount awarded.

Players can also get involved in the $50,000 Player Giveaway and earn tickets in tournaments as well as cash games.  Tournament players can earn five tickets into a random draw where six players will be awarded prizes by being seated in an event at the first blind level.  Another five tickets will be given if they bubble any event and one ticket if they finish in the money in any event.

Anytime cash game players are dealt a full house, they will earn one ticket while two tickets are earned any time they are dealt quads and three tickets if they are dealt a royal flush.  Cash game players will also automatically participate in a High Hand Jackpot where $300 is awarded every hour during 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. between Sunday, 7^th and Saturday, 13^th January 2018.

Record-Breaking $20m Gtd. MILLIONS Online announced by partypoker

Partypoker hosted the $5,300 partypoker MILLIONS Online a few weeks ago, which was the biggest event in the site’s history.  The event gained lots of attention in the poker world, proving to be a great success by surpassing its $5 million guarantee with 1,047 entrants generating a prize pool of $5.135.  The inaugural event was won by Jonathan “sordykrd” Van Fleet who walked away with $1,027 million which was slightly more than the $1 million guaranteed for the first place.

Partypoker has revealed that they will return the event next year from 1^st till 4^th December 2018 featuring a guaranteed prize pool that will be quadrupled to a whopping $20 million, which is the biggest guarantee in the history of online poker.

Partypoker has announced two ways that players can win a free seat to the event in addition to a couple of satellites and feeder tournaments that are planned for throughout the year.

The online poker room will be hosting a weekly MILLIONS Online Leaderboard as from 5^th February 2018 with the top 10 spots each week being awarded entry to the $5,300 buy-in event.  This promotion will see a total of $3 million being awarded which will also include mid and low leaderboards giving out $22, $109 and $530 satellite tickets to the top 20 players.

Partypoker will also be rewarding the best players in each partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Main Event with 10 seats to the partypoker MILLIONS Online or $53,000 in value awarded to the top 10 players.  This will commence for the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Germany to be held from 10^th to 18^th February 2018 at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic.

Tom Waters, the Managing Director at partypoker, thanked the players who supported the event and revealed that running the first MILLIONS Online this year was an exciting time for them, bringing the concept of their live tour online.

Waters went on to say that the feedback they had from their players was overwhelming and there was no better way to say thank you than to run it again, but this time making the guarantee a massive $20,000,000.

PokerStars to Launch $9 Million-Added Players Championship in 2019.

The Stars Group Inc. is pleased to announce the launch of the PokerStars Players No Limit Hold’em Championship.  This $25,000 buy-in poker tournament will be the culmination of all PokerStars online and live promotions and player rewards throughout next year.

The tournament is scheduled to take place in the Bahamas between Friday, 6^th January and Wednesday, 10^th January 2019 and will see PokerStars giving away an estimated $8 million worth of free tournament packages and contribute an additional $1 million to the prize pool generated by entrants for the first prize.  PokerStars is endeavouring to see the tournament being the richest-ever $25,000 live event in the history of poker.

The aim of this special poker tournament is to bring the poker world together in celebration of the game and providing a one-of-a-kind riveting live poker experience and the opportunity for all players of every skill level to win millions of dollars.

Rafi Ashkenazi, the Chief Executive Officer of The Stars Group, commented on the launch by saying that they expect the PokerStars Players’ No Limit Hold’em Championship will see the new global standard for live poker tournaments.  He added that they want to demonstrate and reinforce their commitment to the game, and give something back to the players by investing in their live events in a meaningful way.  Ashkenazi also said that their objective is to create an event that brings professionals and amateurs together, creating many winning moments and unforgettable stories.

PokerStars will be giving away over 300 tournament packages throughout next year.  These packages are known as Platinum Passes on PokerStars live tours all over the globe and online in tournaments, cash games, promotions, as well as via the Stars Rewards loyalty program.

It is expected that each Platinum Pass will be worth approximately $30,000 and include the $25,000 tournament buy-in, accommodation in the Atlantis Hotel and Casino Resort in the Bahamas as well as $2,000 in cash towards travel expenses.  Players also have an opportunity to buy in directly for an amount of $25,000.

Daniel Negreanu, Team PokerStars Pro, revealed that he is super excited about the Players No Limit Hold’em Championship.  He added that this is going to be an incredible experience for those who participate and everyone, no matter their skill level, has a chance to win a Platinum Pass.

My PP Live $$$ Introduced by partypoker

The partypoker LIVE tour proved to be extremely popular around the industry with a number of awesome events and massive guarantees.  However, a common complaint among poker players was the fact that by not qualifying for an event online at partypoker and not being able to attend and play, their chip stack was blinded off without them receiving anything in return.

In response, the team at partypoker will be introducing MY PP LIVE $$$ in January 2018 which is a new currency that can be used for live buy-ins to any partypoker LIVE Main or side events across all the live brands it is associated with including partypoker LIVE MILLIONS, Country Championships, Grand Prix’s and other events sponsored by partypoker, including WSOP Brazil.  Players can also use MY PP LIVE $$$ for hotel and travel expenses.

The introduction of MY PP LIVE $$$ will see players playing daily and weekly satellites instead of qualifying for an individual event, with the knowledge that they have the flexibility to pick the events that are best suited to their schedule.

According to President of partypoker LIVE John Duthie, PP LIVE $$$ is a result of listening to its players.  He added that the virtual currency has no expiration date.  He also said that a new leaderboard next year will see the players that earn the most PP Live $$$ awarded a share of $1 million.

Duthie went on to say that Partypoker LIVE $$$ can be used to buy into any partypoker LIVE event all over the world and pay for travel and accommodation without there being any expiry date.  He added that in order to launch partypoker LIVE $$$ they intend creating a Leaderboard in 2018 with $1,000,000 being divvied up between the top players.

To introduce the new virtual currency, partypoker ran a promotion that saw a satellite qualifier who won the $5M Gtd MILLIONS Online on 3^rd to 5^th December being awarded $1000,000 in their PP Live $$$ that will be used in any partypoker sponsored events of their choice.  This includes partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Germany on 12 to 18^th February at King’s Casino, located on the border of Germany in the Czech Republic, featuring €10 million in guaranteed prize pools including the €5,300 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Germany €5 Million Gtd. Main Event.

Partypoker’s 2018 LIVE Schedule with $100 Million Guaranteed

Partypoker LIVE held a number of popular live poker tournaments this year, which included the rewarding partypoker MILLIONS.

Following last year’s success, partypoker has announced the 2018 partypoker MILLIONS schedule, which guarantees over $100,000,000 in prize pools between now and December 2018.

The Caribbean Poker Party will still be taking place this year from Sunday, 17^th to Monday, 25^th December, 2017 offering $10 million in guaranteed prize pools and the partypoker Online Millions that commenced on Saturday, 2^nd  December will run until Wednesday, 6^th December 2017.

Next year’s schedule will feature events in North America, Russia, the Caribbean and Europe and return to King’s Casino in the Czech Republic, Playground Poker Club in Canada and Sochi Casino Resort in Russia.  A new stop is also planned at Casino Barcelona as well as a new venue planned for next year’s Caribbean Poker Party.

Multiple opening flights and guaranteed prize pools of at least $5 million with five events guaranteeing at least $10 million will be featured at all the festivals.  Each of the $10 million guaranteed events will pay out a minimum of $10,000 to at least 250 players while three players will be guaranteed to walk away with at least $1 million.

Other popular aspects of the poker festival include players being able to qualify for events for as low as $1.10 and to play online Day 1s from their own home.

Players will also be offered the opportunity to qualify for and play in partypoker MILLIONS events online prior to competing at the venue during next year’s festivals with those buying into live opening flights.

Partypoker MILLIONS Schedule

Partypoker LIVE President John Duthie has revealed that he is excited about partypoker’s commitment to growing its live brand and next year’s planned growth.

Mike Sexton, partypoker Chairman, also commented that he is thrilled about how partypoker MILLIONS has taken off and its prospects for next year.

£1 Million Red Spade Open Returns to PokerStars

Players at PokerStars will be pleased to learn that the mid stakes tournament, the Red Spade Open, with a likely overlay and £100 bounty on every Team PokerStars member in the field, is scheduled to take place next weekend.

PokerStars is bringing back the $1 million guaranteed Red Spade Open on Sunday, 3^rd December 2017 at 21:00 CET in the Events tab of the PokerStars client after having taken a break last year.  Satellites are already running around the clock at PokerStars.  The Red Spade Open event was launched by PokerStars six months after Black Friday in 2011, beginning as a $55 buy-in $1 million guarantee with a first-place prize of $200,000.

The massive guarantee for the price point of $55 is the obvious draw of the Red Spade Open.  It is necessary for the event to get 20,000 entries including rebuys in order to cover the guarantee, failing which it will be an overlay.  The relatively low buy-in is, however not the only enticing feature.

The tournament has, as a rule, offered bounties for knocking out any Team Pro or Team Online member with a red spade next to their name.

After starting off at $100, the bounties have seen increases to $250 in 2014 and then to $500 in 2015 when there were more than 50 bounties offered in the field.   It is not yet known if this latest Red Spade Open will once again offer bounties and if so, how many and for how much.

It is also not clear how much the first-place guarantee will be as, although it started at $200,000, after a few years, the first-place guaranteed prize was reduced to $100,000, probably in an endeavor to flatten the payout structure and pay out a higher percentage on the field.

PokerStars are expected to provide more details of the Red Spade Open soon but players with access to the client can prepare for the event to take place on Sunday, 3^rd December, 2017, which is the day that the recently announced PokerStars High Roller series comes to an end.

Virtue Poker Adds Phil Ivey as Adviser

Phil Ivey, one of the greatest players in the history of online poker, has joined the burgeoning team at cryptocurrency-based online poker start-up Virtue Poker.

Ivey will be lending his expertise in a number of areas and will assist with product development by helping the Virtue team to fine-tune their almost finished poker client.  Ivey can also use his widespread contacts in the poker world to enhance relationships for the company and provide important information about the state of the poker world.

Ivey commented on joining the company through a press release by saying that he is looking forward to serving as a strategic adviser to the Virtue Poker team.  He added that he believes their new peer-to-peer solution built using blockchain technology can add considerable value to the online poker experience.

Brian Rast and Dan Colman, Ivey’s fellow poker superstars, also teamed with the Ethereum-based business as ambassadors two months ago when the company announced its enterprising business.

Virtue will endeavor to solve two issues with online poker, namely trust in the fairness of the software and trust in the operator as a neutral party that holds player funds in escrow, with blockchain technology being the key in both cases.

Virtue employs a program called Mental Poker which is a peer-to-peer card shuffling protocol.  All players seated at the table contribute to the card shuffling and company employees, therefore, are not able to see players’ cards.

Ryan Gittleson, the co-founder of Virtue, commented that instead of trusting a random number generator from an operator stored in some offshore server, every single player has an RNG built into the machine that they utilize and they shuffle the deck for each hand played on the platform.

Poker players have become wary of trusting sites with the money after Lock Poker, Ultimate Bet and Full Tilt Poker did not prove to be liquid when it came time to pay up.

Virtue, however, eliminates that potential issue as the site never actually controls player funds.  Cryptocurrency is used by players to fund a digital wallet enabling players to then buy in and send the funds into an escrow via an Ethereum smart contract with the contract executing and automatically paying out winnings at the end of the game.

Vivian Saliba Joins 888poker as Newest Ambassador

888poker announced its newest ambassador live on Wednesday, 8^th November 2017, at King’s Casino in Rozvadov.

Vivian “Vivi” Saliba signed her contract live on Facebook after accepting her new position as 888poker Ambassador after which she commented that she is officially part of the team and that it is a privilege to be an official.

During an official press release, Saliba went on to say that there are many aspects that she likes about 888poker.  She added that first of all, the 888live events are due to the affordable buy-ins with good structures and amazing locations.  She said that she also likes the online platform because of the variety of different tournaments and cash games with a large number of players online at any time.

Saliba logged her first win in 2014 when she earned over $174,000 in winnings but has been slow in getting noticed on the tournament scene.  However, she made a splash this summer finishing in 11^th place in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha 8 Handed Championship at the World Series of Poker.

The new ambassador also came 1^st place in the 888Live in London Woman’s Event, 3^rd place at WSOP International Circuit – Sao Paulo in Event No.6 – Pot Limit Omaha and 3^rd place at PokerStars Championship Barcelona in Event No. 38 €1,100 Pot Limit Omaha.

Saliba joins the 88poker team that includes Parker Talbot, Chris Moorman, Kara Scott, Sofia Lovgren, Natalie Hoff as well as fellow Brazilian, Bruno Foster.

In the 888poker press release Saliba also revealed that she could not be happier about joining the 888 Team and that as a professional poker player, she always looked forward to a partnership.  She also said that 888poker is one of the biggest poker companies, and she is fortunate to be a part of it.

Saliba went on to say that she prefers PLO as there is much more action compared to Hold’em, making it more enjoyable to play.  She added that a lot of players are new to the game and make many mistakes which is obviously good for her as a professional poker player.

Chris Moorman Wins 26th Online Triple Crown

Chris “Moorman1” Moorman, an 888poker ambassador, managed to win his 26^th PocketFives.com Triple Crown last week after winning a qualifying tournament at his sponsor’s site.

A Triple Crown is awarded by PocketFives.com to those players who win three poker tournaments on three different poker sites within a seven day period with each tournament meeting the following criteria –

• Must have a buy-in of at least $0.01 — free-rolls do not qualify
• Must have at least 100 entrants
• Must have a prize pool of at least $1,000

Moorman won the Uppercut Warm-Up $20K Gtd at partypoker for an amount of $8,060 on 26^th October 2017 after which he took down the $109 Fast Friday Early Edition at PokerStars for $4,163.  The Essex-born star then placed second and third in four other tournaments before succeeding in the $10,000 Monsoon at 888poker on 20^th October for an amount of $2,591.

Triple Crown was created by PocketFives.com in the year 2005 and saw 13 recipients in the first 12 months.  The number of winners increased each year with the exception of 2011 which was due to Black Friday and reached its peak in 2013 when 208 Triple Crowns were won.  Triple Crowns were awarded to 60 players last year and there have been 24 thus far awarded during this year.

Although a number of players have won multiple Triple Crown titles, only Nicolas “PokerKaiser” Fierro and Moorman have managed to win more than 20.

Moorman is now looking to win a live poker edition of the Triple Crown, which is similar to that awarded by PocketFives.  Any player who wins a World Poker Tour, World Series of Poker bracelet as well as a European Poker Tour title is given the live Triple Crown.

The 888poker ambassador managed to win the 2014 WPT World Poker L.A. Poker Classic for an amount of $1,015,460 after which he won his first bracelet when he emerged victorious from the $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed event at the 2017 World Series of Poker that netted him $498,682.