On December 27th, Pokerstars broke their own world record of most players in a single real money tournament. It was a $1 tournament that registered an astounding 149,196 players and featured a $300,000 guaranteed prize pool. The tournament offered a $50,000 top prize, and a $150,000 overlay!
With 5 minute blind levels, the tournament moved along in quick fashion. Start to end only took about 6 hours, with oskar69 taking down the win. Wouldn’t it be fun to tell your friends that you won a tournament that had almost 150,000 players in it?
All of the final table players made at least $3000, with 2nd-4th worth $30,000, $20,000 and $10,000 respectively. Not bad for a buck.
Making the money in this tournament was pretty simple for anyone that made a couple of hands along the way. The top 30,000 players made the money, meaning 1 in 5 players. Players were busting so fast that all players just needed to get paid off on a couple of nice hands, and otherwise a sit tight. Anyone making the money got a minimum of $2.22. While $2.22 is nothing to get excited about, players more than doubled their buy-in at one of the easiest tournaments ever.
The old world record was also held by Pokerstars, but this one clobbered it in terms of player count. The old record was 65,000, set back in July.
If you don’t already have an account at Pokerstars, what are you waiting for? Could a site generate 149,000 + players for a single tournament if they weren’t huge? Pokerstars is the largest online poker site for a reason, and every player should have an account there. No other site can compare to Pokerstars when it comes to tournaments, player traffic, or promotions. Pokerstars just plain works harder than every other room, and players are kept happy at this site. You can also use our marketing code for Pokerstars to get a $600 bonus when you sign up.
Register at Pokerstars Now.
- A bit off-topic, there is a new TV show on the Discovery Channel that begins tonight. I know a lot of poker players are also gearheads, and we wanted to quickly mention a site that a buddy of ours owns. The show is called Motor City Motors, and our buddies site is MotorCityMotors.net. He’s already got people from the show commenting in his posts, so check it out and see what the show is all about.
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- Bonus Code: Stars600
Pokerstars $500,000 Freeroll Tournament Series
Finally a freeroll tournament worth talking about! I can’t tell you how many freerolls make me yawn, but this one going on at Pokerstars right now definitely got my attention.
All players (new or existing) can play in up to 120 $2500 freeroll tournaments, plus a $25,000 freeroll as well. Did that sink in? I said 120 $2500 freeroll tournaments!
To play in them all you have to do is make a deposit by November 28th – so don’t wait. Existing players need to write down and use Pokerstars bonus code 500K.
New players at Pokerstars need to grab a pen and write down two codes. First, write down Pokerstars marketing code PSP2175. You’ll need to enter this when you sign up at Pokerstars. Then, write down bonus code FIRST500K and enter that when you make your first deposit. Remember, November 28th is the deadline for making your deposit.
Pokerstars $500K Freeroll Details
Beginning on November 28th and running through December 13th, Pokerstars will be running eight freeroll tournaments with $2500 prize pools each. That’s 15 days, times 8 freerolls a day, for a total of 120 tournaments and $300,000. Play in as many as you like. Sign Up Now
The top 500 players in each freeroll make the money, with a $200 top prize. The top 500 players also win a seat into the $25,000 Finals Events which have $2000 top prizes.
On December 13th Pokerstars will be running the $25,000 Final Events. These are eight tournaments in total, each with $25,000 prize pools for another $200,000.
If you’re looking to build a bankroll, gain experience, or just have some fun, this is a great opportunity – especially for new players. While other sites might offer a few $500 daily freerolls, this is a chance to play in 8 $2500 freerolls per day at the best online poker site in the world.The download and registration process only takes about 10 minutes, and US players can make instant deposits using Visa, Mastercard and Instant eChecks. Non – US players can use those deposit options plus Neteller, Moneybookers, or a huge variety of other payment systems.
Grab $25 bucks and play already!
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Written By: Jess, RSSPoker.com
With enforcement of the UIGEA scheduled to begin on December 1st, I thought now would be a good time to start talking about the future of US online poker deposit options. Before I go any further, if you’re just looking for available US deposit options, you can find them on our US Poker Deposit Methods page.
While bills like H.R. 2266, H.R. 2267, and H.R. 2268 seek to improve the current situation in US online gaming, the likelihood of anything changing before the December 1st deadline is looking slim. With bigger issues like health care, two wars, and a weak economy dominating almost all of the political discussion going on, our challenge to get online poker moving in a positive direction will be difficult.
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Beginning on December 1st, banks in the US are to begin enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). If you aren’t familiar with the UIGEA, it’s a bill that was signed into law on October 13th, 2006 when it was piggy-backed (at the last moment) on the Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006 (SAFE Port Act) . This was considered a ‘must pass’ bill which was voted in at a 409-2 rate by the House of Representatives, and unanimously by the Senate.
Former Tennessee Senator Bill Frist is the person given credit for piggy-backing the bill onto the SAFE Port Act. It is commonly thought that the reason Frist did this was to look good in the eyes of his conservative Republican colleagues, helping him make a run in the Presidential election in 2008. Like every politician, Frist’s job was to serve the people. In this case, he was serving himself, and his selfish political goals are the reason why millions of Americans have lost another piece of the freedom our Constitution promises us.
UIGEA Deadline & Impact on Poker Deposit Options
Beginning on December 1st, 2009, US banks and credit unions are to begin enforcing the regulations within the UIGEA. Their job is to attempt to block transactions to and from online gaming player accounts. While that sounds imposing at first glance, there are reasons to believe that enforcement of the UIGEA will be difficult at best.
Online gaming sites aren’t stupid. They use multiple processors, change processors frequently, and have too much at stake to simply wave the white flag. At the same time, most players and industry insiders are unclear on exactly how the enforcement of the UIGEA will impact player deposits & withdrawals. Will casual players find themselves having to jump through too many hoops to make it worth their time & effort? Will the fear of player funds being seized by the US government cause players to stop playing? Until several December days have come and passed, nobody will know for sure.
Among poker webmasters, it’s hard to find anyone who feels strongly one way or another. In fact, everyone I’ve talked to about this has said basically the same thing. They’re saying that while they don’t know what to expect, they feel confident that alternative deposit options will arise, or that the current options will continue to work.
Nick, a friend who runs one of the better Online Poker Room Review sites told me “Everything changes, but it all stays the same.” During our discussion, I got the clear impression that while he’s concerned about this, he’s not worried about it.
Until we have a better idea of how the US poker rooms are going to respond, guesses are about as accurate as anyone can get right now.
There are a number of significant legal and monetary issues the US poker rooms are facing. How does the enforcement of the UIGEA effect them legally? How much risk are they willing to take? How hard will they fight to keep US players depositing and playing? Can they come up with new deposit options? These are just a few of the questions that we don’t have solid answers for.
Well, I’m not writing this article to tell you “I don’t know”, so I’ll use the best resources I have available, common sense and experience.
Common Sense Re: Post-UIGEA Poker Deposit Options
Since I can’t seem to get any of the powerful US poker room attorneys to comment (shocker), I’ll use the one resource I can usually count on, common sense. Remember, I’m no legal expert, I don’t work at an online poker room, and I have no experience in the banking industry. I’m just a guy with a good amount of time in this industry as a webmaster & player. So, take my thoughts for what they’re worth.
First, when the UIGEA was initially passed 3 years ago, the entire US poker playing population went into panic mode. While we did see publicly traded poker sites like Party Poker, Pacific Poker, and others leave the US market, privately owned rooms like Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker stuck around. Not only did they stick around, but they defiantly fought the UIGEA by spending hundreds of millions of dollars marketing their rooms online, on TV, print ads and supporting the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). They also discovered and developed new ways for US players to makes deposits & withdrawals.
Does it make sense that on Dec. 1st the poker rooms will simply give up? After all they have invested to develop their businesses, that’s not going to happen. They’ve proven an incredible desire to offer their products to US players, there is no way they’re going to just give up.
A month after the UIGEA first set us into panic mode, the poker rooms made adjustments, and the players adjusted to the changes. With that in mind, this may turn out to be little more than a revisit to 2006.
Next, you have to remember that sites like Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker are multi-billion dollar companies with highly paid & experienced attorneys. Knowing the deadline for enforcement of the UIGEA was coming, would it make sense for these rooms to continue to pour millions of dollars into US marketing strategies if they didn’t have a way around this? If they weren’t going to be able to provide real-money games to US players, wouldn’t their attorneys have told them this?
Full Tilt Poker has a TV show called Face The Ace, and Pokerstars has the Million Dollar Challenge. Both of these shows are new, and both target the US player market. Does it seem like a good idea to develop a TV show targeting the US market if the player base was about to go away? It sure doesn’t.
Another thing to consider (and possibly the most important), is the ease of creating processors. Every month, thousands of new businesses all over the world begin accepting credit card payments. In fact, just about anyone can do it, in just a matter of days. This means that the poker sites will likely be one or two steps ahead of the banned processor list that the banks and credit unions will be using. Before a processor can be banned, it has to be identified as a processor for online gaming. By the time one processor is identified, it’s likely the poker sites will already be using a different processor.
In 2006, after Neteller stopped accepting US player transfers, new processors started popping up. When money is to be made, someone will find a way to make it. While we may have to jump through a hoop or two, I’m suspecting that new processors will be created, catering to US poker players. As a processor, there is too much money to be made to think that nobody is going to grab it. Someone will pick up the cash.
While it’s possible that we’ll see an increase in processing fees for deposits and withdrawals, most players are accustomed to paying a fee for making a withdrawal. In most cases, players are not directly charged a fee for deposits, and that’s not likely to change.
It costs a minimum of $8 for a cashout at Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet. Bank Wires at Full Tilt and Pokerstars typically generate a processing fee by the bank accepting the wire (charged to the player). Maybe these fees will go up, maybe they won’t.
Regardless of what happens, serious players will adjust. The real concern is for the casual player – the guy who may or may not be willing to jump through hoops to open an online wallet, pay higher withdrawal fees, etc..
Only time will tell, but we’ll keep you posted on any changes we discover. Bookmark RSSPoker.com and keep an eye on the ‘Online Poker’ section of this site for updates.
For more information about current deposit options at the best US poker sites, read our US Poker Deposit Methods page. You can also check out our sister site for details on the Pokerstars Deposit Bonus or read our Full Tilt Poker Room review for everything you ever wanted to know about Full Tilt Poker.
