Poker Blog

Two partypoker Online Qualifiers Took The Aussie Millions

Posted on by giorgio

More and more you don’t have to be rich or a well known player to make it big thanks to online poker. Now players have the opportunity to play major events as long as they’re willing to work for it by playing in online satellites and other qualifiers.

Recently players at partypoker were trying to qualify online for the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia and 43 players made it.

Tyron KrostAmong the online qualifiers were Tyron Krost, 23 from Bondi, Sydney, took 1st place and AUD $2,000,000 and Frederik Jensen, 27 from Copenhagen, finished in 2nd for AUD $1,100,100.

The two online qualifiers made it through to the final table after outlasting 749 other players and then had to outplay pro’s Sorel Mizzi and Annette Obrestrad among others to take 1st and 2nd place.

Tyron Krost is currently working in his family owned furniture business in Sydney but is now considering making poker his full time occupation.

After winning Kroft said: “This is totally unbelievable – it is beyond my wildest dreams. If it is a dream, I don’t want to wake up! In total I spent $700 trying to qualify for a package and I have managed to turn that into AUD $2,000,000! I got some really good spots on the final table. When I needed a hand I seemed to get it.”

“It just hasn’t sunk in at all how much money I have just won. I have no idea what I am going to with it. I cashed at the World Series in 2008 but nothing like this.”

It wasn’t a dream though and many poker pro’s can attest to that. Krost took out Gus Hansen on his way to 1st place and apparently it was time for a little payback. Back in the 2008 WSOP Main Event Gus Hansen had knocked him out.

Cash Ladder At bet365 Poker

Posted on by giorgio

bet365 Poker Cash LadderPlayers are going to be climbing up the Cash Ladder at bet365 Poker since February 9th. Each rung you climb on the ladder will increase your potential bonus.

How to Qualify

The Cash Ladder is the newest promotion at bet365 Poker and this promotion isn’t automatic. If you want to participate you will have to opt in. All you need to do is click the opt in logo at bet365 Poker, and put in your username, password and email to join in the fun.

Climbing the Ladder

After you’ve opted in you will need to find your starting position on the Cash Ladder and then start to climb. There are different starting points for each VIP level so all players will have the opportunity to earn a bonus.

Points for climbing the Cash Ladder are earned by participating in raked hands or in real money tournaments. You will receive 18 points for every $1 dollars paid in rake or in tournament fees.

Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum players will all have a different Cash Ladder to climb and if you climb your way to the top of the Platinum Cash Ladder before the promotion ends then you can repeat the Platinum ladder as many times as you wish.

If you are a Diamond VIP player then you will start on the Platinum cash level. You can view the different Cash Ladders at the Cash Ladder promotion page on the bet365 Poker website.

Cash Ladder Bonus Details

You have until 12am on March 2nd to opt in for your Cash Ladder Bonus and then all payments will be credited to all players by 12am on March 4th.

Your bonus amount will increase with every rung you complete. The different VIP levels have higher starting bonuses and if you can move up in VIP status you will earn better bonuses.

If you have a current bonus such as a bet365 Poker Deposit Bonus or a Reload Bonus you will be ineligible for the Cash Ladder Bonus until your previous bonus is cleared.

Final Tables Sit ‘n Gos At bwin Poker

Posted on by giorgio

bwin Poker has announced a new tournament, the Final Table Sit ‘n Gos. The new Final Table Sit ‘n Gos with the new format will run every day up until February 28th.

What is a Final Table Sit ‘n Go?

Final Table Sit ‘n Gos will only be found for No Limit Texas Hold’em. These new tourneys allow you to skip through the hours of playing and just start at the final table.

If you’ve ever played a final table you know what to do, this new game is going to make things more exciting because when you play in a regular Sit ‘n Go you have time to get to know how your other players play the game while the stakes are still small.

Now that you’re not going to have that time to figure out a players style it’s going to mean larger risks and more surprises in the game.

How to Play bwin’s Final Table Sit ‘n Gos

There are going to be different Final Table Sit ‘n Gos offered. There will be shorthanded and regular games plus turbos. The shorthanded games will have a limit of 5 players and the regular game will have 10 players.

Each player will start out with 400,000 in chips and blinds will increase every three minutes in a turbo and every fifteen in a regular game. Blinds will start out at 5,000/10,000 plus a 1,000 ante, and the top three players will win in a regular tourney and the top two players will win in a shorthanded game.

Final Table Sit ‘n Go Buy-ins
Regular (10 players) Shorthanded (5 players)
$1 + $0.20 Turbo $1 + $0.20 Regular
$5 + $0.50 Regular $5 + $0.50 Turbo
$10 + $1 Turbo $10 + $1 Regular
$20 + $2 Regular $20 + $2 Turbo
$50 + $4 Turbo $50 + $4 Regular
$100 + $8 Regular $100 + $8 Turbo

partypoker Asks Hit Or Run?

Posted on by giorgio

Players can win up to $10,000 dollars a day throughout the month of February at partypoker. All you have to do is play a little poker and then when the time is right decide where to Hit or Run, it’s that easy.

If you’ve ever played Video Poker then you know what I’m talking about. It’s typically called doubling up, you win a hand and you can double it up, or just take the original winnings.

How partypoker’s Hit or Run Works

Each player that collects 20 PartyPoints will receive a $1 dollar bet on their special Hit or Run Heads Up Game. If you win partypoker will double your money. You can then ‘Hit’ and get another hand for another chance to double your money or ‘Run’ and just take your money and go.

If you lose at any point you will lose it all. For example you start with $1, double up to $2, again to $4, then on to $8, etc until you decide to run, double up to the max reward or lose it all.

In order to earn Frequent Player Points at partypoker you must play at real money tables. If you earn over 20 FPPs you will get another chance at the game within an hour.

Hit or Run Rules

You can only successfully Hit 10 times per game, making each game worth $1,024 dollars if you make it all the way through without losing. If you have enough FPPs you can play up to 10 times a day.

If luck is on your side and you win the max all ten times that would be a $10,240 dollar payday. You can play every day since February 1st up to February 28th.

European Poker Tour Snowfest

Posted on by giorgio

European Poker tourThe European Poker Tour (EPT) has seen a lot and has been in a lot of exotic and beautiful locations in the last five years and now they are headed as far from the sun and sand as possible.

The PokerStars EPT is cooling off with the EPT Snowfest which will be held in the Austrian Alps. The €3,750 event is going to happen in of the best places to ski in the world, Saalbach-Hinterglemm which is near Salzburg.

The event is going to take place on March 21st through March 26th at the Alpine Palace Card Casino in the New Balance Luxus Resort.

EPT Snowfest Prizes

The winners of the PokerStars EPT Snowfest qualifiers will stay at the Wolf Hotels during the six day event. You can choose from the Alpine Palace or the Dorfschmiede Hotel. Also included in the package are transfers to and from the Salzburg airport.

EPT Snowfest 2010Plus how can you go to one of the skiing capitals in the world and not ski? Each prize package will also have a six day ski package that has your lift pass, skis, boots and poles.

How to Win a Snowfest Entry

You can start qualifying online at PokerStars for as little as €5.45 or 100 Frequent Player Points.

EPT Snowfest Schedule
# Date Day Time Event Buy-in
1 March 20 Sat 19:00 NL – Super Satellite to Main Event
(unlimited rebuys)		 €200
+ €20
  March 20 Sat 20:00 1 and 2 Table Satellites to Main Event  
2 March 21 Sun 14:00 Main Event Day 1A €3,500
+ €250
3 March 21 Sun 21:00 NL Turbo €500
+ €50
2 March 22 Mon 14:00 Main Event Day 1B €3,500
+ €250
2 March 23 Tue 14:00 Main Event Day 2 €3,500
+ €250
4 March 23 Tue 21:00 NL Freezeout – Day 1 €1,000
+ €100
2 March 24 Wed 12:00 Main Event Day 3
(play down to 24 players)		 €3,500
+ €250
4 March 24 Wed 15:00 NL Freezeout – Final Day €1,000
+ €100
5 March 24 Wed 21:00 NL Freezeout – Day 1 €2,000
+ €150
2 March 25 Thu 14:00 Main Event Day 4
(play down to 8 players)		 €3,500
+ €250
4 March 25 Thu 15:00 NL Freezeout – Final Day €2,000
+ €150
5 March 25 Thu 21:00 NL – 1 Rebuy Tournament – Day 1
(2nd day if needed)		 €500
+ €50
2 March 26 Fri 14:00 Main Event Day 5 – Final Table €3,500
+ €250
6 March 26 Fri 14:00 NL – 1 Rebuy Tournament – Final Day
(if needed)		 €1,000
+ €100
7 March 26 Fri 14:00 NL – Turbo €500
+ €50
8 March 26 Fri 18:00 NL – Super Satellite to EPT Monte Carlo
(1 rebuy)		 €500
+ €50

There are also going to be daily cash games and Sit ‘n Go’s at the 2010 EPT Snowfest.

bet365 Poker Sending Players To Les A London Open

Posted on by giorgio

Les Ambassadeurs Clubbet365 Poker is going to be sending players to the Les A London Open on February 23rd and 24th and if you play your cards right you could be among them. The Les A London is going to be held at the Les Ambassadeurs Club, the club is located in Mayfair, London.

This is a great poker tournament to play in an exclusive casino that usually only open it’s doors to a select few people. Only those among the rich and famous are typically permitted through the doors but this tournament will have the doors open wide.

Les A Open Prize Packages

If you are one of the lucky that wins a package worth £3,500 you will be on your way. Each package includes the £2,000 + £200 buy-in for the Main Event. Three nights accommodations at the Hilton Park Lane Hotel in London.

Plus £470 for travel expenses and spending money and a year’s free membership at the Les Ambassadeurs Club, worth £1,000.

How to Win

To win your seat at the Les A London Open Main Event you will need to play in one of bet365’s Super Satellites every Thursday at 20:00 GMT. The buy-in for the Super Satellites is £175 + £14 to enter.

If you would rather not open your wallet that wide, bet365 Poker is also going to be running satellites that will award seats into the Super Satellites. For dates and times, look at the Sit ‘n Go lobby at bet365 Poker.

Please have a look at our bet365 Poker Bonus page if you haven’t played at bet365 Poker before.

Meet PokerStars Pro Joe Cada

Posted on by giorgio

Despite the fact that our site mainly targets poker players from the United Kingdom, we also have a large crowd of visitors from the United States, hence we like to share an article on Max Poker Bonus specifically written for visitors from the US. Nevertheless, if you’re not from America, this article shows you exactly the quality of promotions running at online poker room PokerStars.

Online Poker Tournament to Meet PokerStars Pro Joe Cada

Joe Cada PokerStars

US online poker players are offered the opportunity to meet PokerStars Pro, and 2009 WSOP Main Event winner, Joe Cada. PokerStars is hosting a series of tournaments that will send one lucky online poker player to Las Vegas, the poker mecca of the world, plus award entry into PokerStars’ North America Poker Tour (NAPT) main event, and a day spent hanging out with professional poker player Joe Cada.

PokerStars is running daily freerolls and $1.10 satellites in which players can advance to one of the Weekly Finals. Each of the Weekly Finals will award 18 seats in the Grand Final, and the chance to win the prize package, which includes a flight from any any major US airport to Las Vegas, 5 nights of hotel accommodations, entry into the newly announced NAPT main event, $1,000 spending money, and a day with Joe Cada.

Free-to-Enter Satellites

The free-to-enter satellites will be running from January 6 to February 12, 2010 at 9:00 pm ET, each granting 45 seats in the Weekly Finals. The $1.10 satellites start at 8 and 11 pm, and 1 in 5 players will receive a seat in the Weekly Finals. Register for these online poker tournaments by going to the PokerStars lobby and clicking ‘Tourney’ and ‘Regional’.

The Weekly Finals will be held at 6:30 pm ET, every Sunday from January 10 through February 7, and Saturday, February 13, 2010. Eighteen seats to the Grand Final will be awarded in each of the Weekly Finals. The Grand Final will take place February 13, 2010 at 9:00 pm ET.

Joe Cada won the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event for a startling $8,546,435, and the coveted gold bracelet. Since his tremendous victory, Joe Cada has joined the group of renowned professional poker players that form Team PokerStars Pro.

PokerStars is the largest online poker site in the world, and hosts some of the biggest online poker tournaments in the industry. The NAPT is one of PokerStars’ newest ventures, and will be making stops throughout the United States and Canada – including a recent stop in the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure where US player, Harrison Gimble bagged $2.2 million dollars in the NL Hold’em Main Event, and the first NAPT Championship title. The NAPT is aimed to rival the most live poker tournaments in North America.

Enhanced Software Features At bet365 Poker

Posted on by giorgio

bet365 Poker is starting off 2010 with several new features that extend the functionality of the bet365 online poker software. The recent additions provide enhanced options and improved playability for online poker players at bet365.

First, bet365 Poker has revamped the tables. A sleek new look accompanies the newly added ability to re-size the tables to suit your own preferences. A table tiling option now allows players to automatically re-size up to four tables to fit perfectly on the screen with a single click, providing the ideal, multi-tabling experience. Players at bet365 will find they can also choose any seat at the table, and the other players will be re-situated as needed.

Also numbered among the new features at bet365 Poker is the addition of Razz. Razz is an established poker form that has been growing in popularity. A variation on seven card stud, in Razz it is the lowest hand that wins.

There have been several other improvements as well. In answer to a request from their players, bet365 Poker has improved the betting slider functionality, making it much easier to bet a larger percentage of the pot in online poker games at bet365. The speed of play has been increased, too, in an ongoing effort to streamline game-play at bet365 Poker. Players can expect faster load times and improved game speed.

bet365 has made updates to the favorites section, as well. Players will be able to access their preferred cash tables and tournaments much more easily. bet365 Poker has also added a new calendar function for convenient scheduling.

One last expansion of the bet365 Poker software is an observer chat. Now, players can chat and show their support as they rail a friend or poker buddy’s online poker game.

To get the enhanced software, those who already have the existing bet365 software simply need to open the bet365 lobby to trigger the automatic update. Those who are new to bet365 can download the updated software to their PC to start enjoying the enhanced functionality of bet365. New players are eligible for Max Poker Bonus’ special bet365 Poker Bonus – a 100% match on the first deposit, up to $500.

partypoker Sends Players To La Poker Classic

Posted on by giorgio

WPT LA Poker ClassicThe 2010 LA Poker Classic, part of the World Poker Tour(WPT) series, starts on January 20th and will host 51 events at Commerce Casino ending in the No Limit Hold’em Championship starting on February 28th.

The buy-in for the event is $10,000 dollars but partypoker is awarding winning players with LA Poker Classic packages valued at $14,000 dollars for the Main Event.

How to Win a LA Poker Classic Main Event Ticket

You can win your seat in the LA Poker Classic by playing in daily freerolls and qualifiers at partypoker. The daily freerolls for the event will start running on February 7th.

Plus there is going to be a $1 million dollar prize pool that is going to be paid if one of their package winners takes the LA Poker Classic Main Event title.

The champion will be taking home an extra $500,000 dollars on top of their tournament winnings and the other package winners will split up the remaining $500,000 dollars equally.

LA Poker Classic Prize Package

Each LA Poker Classic prize package includes your $10,000 dollar buyin into the Main Event. Seven night accommodations and $2,500 dollars for airfare and spending money.

If you make it to the final table at the Main Event then your hotel stay will be extended courtesy of partypoker.

PokerStars VIP Program Changes

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PokerStars VIP ProgramPokerStars have made some big changes to their VIP program starting on January 1st. The first is their new VIP Stellar Rewards program, it will now automatically reward you with cash as you climb the different VPP levels throughout the year.

It is also going to be a lot easier for players to attain SilverStar status and maintain Supernova status. There is also going to be $1,000,000 dollars VIP freerolls.

You will see most of the changes on January 1st but the final changes will take full effect on all tables after the first server restart in January.

VIP Stellar Rewards

All VIP players are eligible to participate in the new Stellar Reward program. You will start out by getting $10.00 dollars after you earn 750 VPPs. The rewards will increase with each level.

Once you earn 5,000 VPPs for the year you will get a $50 dollar reward and $100 dollars once you hit 50,000 VPPs and so on until you get to the maximum reward of $1,000 dollars when you hit 90,000 VPPs.

All you need to do in order to participate is earn the required number of VPPs and then purchase your reward from the PokerStars VIP Store for 1FPP.

PokerStars VPP Earning

It is now going to be easier and faster to earn VPPs and FPPs especially in most tournaments and Sit ‘n Go’s. Players earn points according to the amount of tournament fees paid.

You will receive 5.5 VPPs for each $1.00 you pay in entry fees (or 8 VPPs for each €1.00). For all of the information on how to earn VPP’s and the rates at which you earn them check out PokerStars or our PokerStars Poker Bonus info page.

$1 Million Dollar Quarterly VIP Freerolls

There are now going to be $1,000,000 dollar quarterly VIP Freerolls instead of the old $75,000 dollar weekly freerolls. If you are a Supernova VIP you can enter them for free.

GoldStar and Platinum VIPs will need to win their seat by playing in FPP entry satellites. The upcoming quarterly freerolls are on February 6th, May 1st, August 7th and November 6th at 2:00pm EST.

Attaining VIP Status & Bonuses

If you couldn’t attain VIP status before you should be able to do so now because PokerStars has reduced the amount of VPPs required to attain SilverStar status to only 750 VPPs. Players used to need 1,200 VPPs in order to be a SilverStar VIP in the past.

There are also changes to the Supernova bonuses so players will receive extra rewards when they reach various milestones. Players that attain Supernova status will get a $200 dollar increase when they hit 100,000 VPPs.

Pro Sit ‘n Gos

SilverStar VIPs will now be also be to play in the Pro Sit ‘n Go’s on PokerStars. There are also going to be reserved seats for players that are from the same country as the Pro. You can use your FPPs to buy-in into these Sit ‘n Go’s.