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Poker Winner Online Poker Site Rolls Out new Promotions

Poker Winner, the leading online poker site and sister site to the Casino Winner gaming site has made an announcement that it will be offering its customers several wonderful new specials and promotions.

One of the many new exciting promotions at the site is The February Birthday Celebrations promotion which will give every player who celebrates their birthdays during the month of February a wonderful opportunity to participate in a novel and extraordinary series of freerolls which offer players the chance to win more than $1,000 in cash prizes.  This special promotion will also start after the month of February so as to give customers with birthdays in the particular month a chance to enter in the series of four freerolls which offer players cash prizes worth hundreds of dollars.

Another promotion is The Social Sunday promotion which also commenced at Poker Winner this week with an additional $500 tournament that the site has had specially designed for all its members at its Facebook community.  Members participating in this exclusive Social Sunday promotion are guaranteed plenty of prizes.

The online poker site has also announced that the flash-based version of Casino Winner is now offering its players five more language options, namely Russian, Spanish, German, Dutch and Swedish.

Poker Winner made a statement saying that “This promising start to 2011 has us all very excited about producing more
and more winners. We are always looking for more ways to try and broaden the variety and appeal of the products at Poker.Winner.com and Casino.Winner.com to our multilingual player base.”

The site added “We’re also ramping up the offerings on Poker.Winner.com by offering birthday freebies and answering the call of our Facebook fans by giving them more exclusive tournaments through Social Sundays. Rest assured that there’s plenty more to come from Poker.Winner.com and casino.Winner.com in 2011.”

Peter Eastgate Announces Return to Poker

After shocking the poker world last year with the announcement that he would be retiring from online poker for good and selling his World Series of Online Poker bracelet on ebay, 24 year old Peter Eastgate made a moving announcement last week that he has decided to backtrack on his previous decision to quit the world of poker and has come out of retirement.

The young Dane had this to say about poker upon retirement: “When I started playing poker for a living, it was never my goal to spend the rest of my life as a professional poker player.  I guess if you do not enjoy the game then maybe you got into it for the wrong reason and probably should get on with your life.”

However, 8 months after his retirement Eastwood said “I truly enjoy playing poker. I love the competitive element and the mental challenges of tournament poker.”

He added that he had missed his family and friends a lot while jetting around to all the tournaments and losing himself but has now realized that strong-willed people do not “lose” themselves.

The young Dane has spent the past eight months focusing on important aspects of his life and stated “Over the last eight months, I have had a chance to reconnect with my friends and, most important, my family. I have spent quality time with my family and really had an opportunity to figure out who I am and what I want to do with the rest of my life. When there is no financial pressure, it can sometimes be hard to get motivated to move forward as a person.”

 After thinking about his life and future Eastwood has now at last figured out how he can combine playing poker together with a healthy life outside of poker.

Eastwood will return to being sponsored by PokerStars and will start off by playing the PokerStars EPT Copenhagen which will allow him to return on home ground and the NBC Heads Up Championship.

Speculation over Future of Ongame Poker Network

Following numerous rumors within the online poker industry re the impact of the merger between Party Poker and the Austrian group bwin it has now been confirmed by a bwin spokesperson that the merger will probably result in the sale of the Ongame Poker Network.

It is understood that with the structure of the new company, the poker arm of bwin will be considered redundant as it may not fit into the newly merged company’s structure.

Considered to be one of the top ten poker networks in the world, outpacing major networks such as Merge and CEREUS, the Ongame Poker Network would be a very good acquisition for any company hoping to expand its customer base significantly.

Ongame was purchased by bwin, the Austrian gaming giant, for an amount of £474 million in 2005 during which time Ongame was still able to accept players from the United States.  However, after the country passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, Ongame Poker Network eventually exited the Unites States market.

Those in the online poker industry are wondering how the newly merged Party Poker and bwin would  handle the sale of Ongame as the network would immediately become one of  the their largest competitors in the online poker sphere.

Another question is whether a current major network like Full Tilt Poker would be interested in an acquisition and, if so, whether Party / bwin would be prepared to accept offers from companies such as Full Tilt in view of the fact that Party Gaming has a hyper-conservative approach to mollifying United States regulators and is currently attempting to court the United States authorities ahead of a potential entry into a regulated United States market.

Ongame could possibly be the chance that a United States operator is looking for as regulation approaches in that country.

The sale of Online Poker Network will no doubt make interesting reading as the events unfold.

Women’s Poker League Back Again at Poker Stars

Poker Stars Women’s Poker League for Year 2011 began once again on Monday, 7^th February, 2011 after witnessing a huge success in the past season.

Due to popular demand and the massive success achieved by the event, the leading online poker room, Poker Stars proceeded to once again organize and reinstall it for another year.

The Poker Stars Women’s Poker League promises to help bring even more women into the fold of exciting online poker entertainment and it is Poker Star’s aim to establish the League as the Go-Place for Women’s Poker and expects to create an online reputation of being the best No. 1 site where women can play poker.

It is also Poker Star’s intention to attract as many women players as possible and they have, therefore, made it a point to permit low buy-ins and free-rolls as they are aware of the fact that most women are money conscious and do not spend easily.  It is, therefore, presumed that women are more like to participate with a low buy in.

Players will now be able to learn the game and build up their bankroll slowly and safely with the highly affordable low buy-ins and regular free-rolls.

Women players are given the opportunity of enjoying two daily tournaments with $0.10 buy in events between 1 pm and 8 pm EST and $1.10 events at 2 pm and 9 pm EST.

These players are also being offered greater incentives other than learning how to play online poker and a prize package worth $4,000 to the Poker Stars Women’s Live Event at the end of the year will be awarded to the winner of the League.

Players will also have a chance to enjoy monthly and yearly cash prizes throughout the current season.

Last year, two Poker Stars Pro Team members, Vanessa Rousso and Live Boeree, earned $2.87 million and $1.83 million respectively.

Pocket Kings to hire 100 Employees

The subsidiary of Full Tilt Poker, Pocket Kings Ltd. which was founded in September 2003, has reported that it will be recruiting 100 Irish residents for its Dublin base. 

Pocket Kings Ltd. currently provides exclusive software development and marketing consulting services for one of the world’s fastest growing poker sites, Full Tilt Poker.

The additional 100 jobs will now bring the workforce at Pocket Kings Ltd’s operations at the Cherrywood Science and Technology Park in Dublin to 800.  The staff will be employed to focus on specific requirements that Pocket Kings Ltd. needs in order to expand its operations.  This includes Analysts for the French, German and Italian markets and customer service agents for the Japanese, Greek, Norwegian, Hebrew, Russian and Korean markets.  These new employees will be paid between €20,000 to €100,000 and more.

Ireland is presently experiencing issues with its economy and it was therefore welcome news when a newspaper from Ireland reported that the company is looking at expanding its workforce.   

Since the end of 2009, the number of people employed by Full Tilt Poker has doubled from 390 and a spokesperson for the group confirmed that even after these new posts were filled, Pocket Kings would continue to recruit employees as it is estimated that its growth trend would continue at a strong rate for all of 2011 and beyond.

A spokesperson for Pocket Kings Ltd. said “From our last accounts filing we have sustained our accelerated growth and almost doubled our headcount. Ireland has always been an attractive location for us and continues to be so. The accessibility to a skilled and educated workforce in Ireland along with an attractive corporation tax rate continues to be deciding factors in our decision to remain here.”

Full Tilt Poker is one of the most successful and recognizable brands in online poker and is the only poker community where players can learn, chat and play poker with 28 of the best poker professionals in the world on a regular basis. 

Victor Chandler Poker Launches Hall of Fame and European Masters of Poker Qualifiers

Victor Chandler’s online poker arm has launched its exciting Hall of Fame promotion which will see top online poker players at the site being inducted into this exclusive club on the basis of their success at poker, both online and live.

Players who manage to earn 100,000 VIP points at Victor Chandler throughout the month of February will have an opportunity to win unique prizes as well as induction into the special Hall of Fame.

Victor Chandler has a host of Hall of Fame qualification routes open to players which include the monthly sit ‘n go leader boards, the European Masters of Poker live events, the Monthly Special £100,000 Guaranteed, the

€15,000 No Limit Hold’em Race, the €10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Race as well as the €5,000 Telesina Race, to name but a few.

Those players who make it to the Hall of Fame will receive “gift packages” upon being admitted in recognition of their achievements and will at the same time become eligible for special rewards such as generous cash bonuses and live tournament sponsorship.

As a welcome to the first inductee and in order to launch the Hall of Fame, Victor Chandler Poker will be awarding a Euro 2,500 European Masters of Poker Grand Final package to the inaugural entry.

In addition to all these wonderful offers, throughout the month of February, Victor Chandler Poker is offering lucky players eight packages to European Masters of Poker Lisbon in March via its European Masters of Poker Iron Man freerolls.

In order to gain entry to the Iron Man freerolls, players should accumulate VIP Points during February when every Iron Man freeroll will award players with one package to European Masters of Poker Lisbon.

Victor Chandler is also inviting players who qualify for an EMOP event to play in a freeroll where a Euro 2,000 package for the following EMOP live event is guaranteed.  There will be Euro 10 rebuys featured in the free-to-enter event that will provide the opportunity for more EMOP Packages to be won.

Aussie Millions $100K Poker Challenge Won by Sam Trickett

Professional UK poker player, Sam Trickett, who is considered to be one of the country’s best high stakes cash game players succeeded in winning the Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge at the Crown Casino in Melbourne on Saturday, 22^nd January, 2011.

All in all 38 players came to the felt, thus smashing the record field of 24 set for the event at the 2010 Aussie Millions.

The event came to an end with Trickett and Tony Bloom facing off for the first prize and gold ring.

Twenty Four year-old Trickett held a healthy chip advantage as heads up play got underway and landed a damaging blow to Tony Bloom’s hopes after completing top two pair with A-Kd hole cards and closing out the victory soon after to land the impressive jackpot.

UK born Sam Trickett has now won $3,165,466 during his live poker tournament career.

The Aussie Millions $100K Poker Challenge attracted almost 40 of the top pros in the poker industry, including Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Patrik Antonius and Australian Joe Hachem.

Bubble boy Jeff Lisandro and Chris Ferguson were the last two players to head for the exit door.

The final table of the event consisted of players such as James Obst, David Benyamine, Erik Seidel, David Steicke and Tony Bloom and actually looked like a Who’s Who in the poker celebrity world.

Due to the fact that only top pros can afford the high buy in stake to the $100,000 Challenge, it is considered one of the most prestigious poker events of the year.  The event is very exciting as players all begin with 100,000 in chips and have to make their decision in only 30 seconds.

Trickett was awarded AUD$1,525,000 (1.5 million USD) for his efforts.

Those players who finished in the money were rewarded with prizes as follows:-

Sam Trickett                                $1,525,000

Tony Bloom                                    $975,000

Erik Seidel                                      $625,000

David Steicke                                 $325,000

James Obst                                    $200,000

David Benyamine                           $150,000

Snowball Promotion Returns to Party Poker

Party Poker, the leading online poker room, has announced that the site will once again be launching the Snowball Promotion and will be giving away cash prizes worth up to $10,000 next month.

Players are already getting hyped up and ready to play at the Party Poker real money tables between the 1^st and 28^th February in what should be one of the hottest online poker promotions of the month. 

Other than the $10,000 in cash prizes, the Snowball promotion will also see players winning freeroll entries into tournaments where prize pools total a whopping $100,000.

The fact that the Snowball promotion is not only tailored for high rollers, like many promotions of this type traditionally are, makes this promotion unique.  In fact, only five points need to be earned by players throughout the entire month of February in order for them to walk away with a prize.

In order to enter this exciting promotion, players are required to enter real money games at Party Poker and to earn points.  Each point earned by players between 1^st February and 28^th February will bring them one step closer to winning a prize.

The more points earned by players, the more the prizes are snowballed.

A detailed description of the prizes that can be won can be found in the table below:-

Points   Prize                  Total prizes won

Players can obtain more information by going to the Snowball promotion page on Party Poker.

PKR to sponsor BAMMA Martian Arts in the UK

Leading online poker room, PKR Poker, has announced that it will be sponsoring BAMMA, the British Association of Mixed Martian Arts, for the upcoming season.

BAMMA has been broadcasting Martial Arts events for many years and during that time it has featured many of the sport’s most popular fighters including Bob “The Beast” Sapp and Tom “Kong” Watson.

The latest sponsorship deal will see PKR Poker brands and logos being featured at BAMMA venues and events during the 2011 season.

After the sponsorship deal with the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts was signed PKR Poker launched a press release and Erika Schwartz Poole, the group’s Marketing Manager, said “It is with great pleasure that we announce our official partnership with BAMMA. Mixed Martial Arts is becoming hugely popular and we are very much looking forward to working with them throughout the coming year.”

The British Association of Mixed Martial Arts will not only be benefiting from the deal’s sponsorship money but part of the arrangement will see PKR also featuring BAMMA branding in a few of their poker rooms.  PKR Poker will also run promotions and competitions that will see the winners take home tickets to Mixed Martial Arts events.

BAMMA’s vice president of business development, Liam Fisher, commented on the arrangement by saying that this was a signal of how fast the sport has been growing in the United Kingdom.

Fisher added that 2011 is bound to be a very exciting year for Mixed Martian Arts in the United Kingdom and the fact that they are partnering with such a progressive and high profile company such as PKR is a true reflection as to how much its partners can gain from this business.

The partnership between BAMMA and PKR has already come into effect and BAMMA’s next event which is scheduled for Monday, 11 August, 2011 will be displaying PKR’S banners.

Milestone Promotion at Virgin Poker

Virgin Poker, the leading online poker room, is currently running a super new promotion in order to celebrate a momentous milestone – the 2.5 billionth hand dealt at the site.

This exciting promotion will see players share a prize pool of £250,000 and will start paying out cash as soon as hand 2,470,000,000 has been dealt.  The competition will end with the completion of the milestone 2,500,000,000^th hand.

Those players who hit the 0.02/0.04 tables and upward will put themselves in line to win some of the cash and all “marker” hand winners will win prizes which will depend on their stakes.

Players who win a “marker” hand on their way to the 2.5 billionth will win £500, £1,000, £1,500 or £2,000 depending on the stakes being played. Players need, therefore, merely be involved and do not necessarily have to win a marker hand in order to receive a cash prize.  Marker hands will increase in number as the 2.5 billionth hand approaches.

All players who are dealt into the 100 hands that lead up to the 2.5 billionth hands will also be entered into Virgin Poker’s special £4,000 freeroll, details of which will be announced in due course.

The winner of the 2,500,000,000^th poker hand at Virgin Casino will win a whopping £25,000 over and above the amount that they win from the hand itself.  Every other player at the table will also get to share a further £25,000.  Due to the fact that these amounts will apply regardless of the stakes being used at the table, players at 0.02/0.04 tables will have just as much chance of winning £25,000, or a share thereof, as those players at higher stake tables.

Players are well advised to start playing at the Virgin Poker tables as they could be in line to win a big cash prize by simply being in the right place at the right time.