February 23rd, 2009
The PokerStars European Poker Tour Scandinavian Open finally came to a conclusion last Saturday after Jens Kyllönen defeated Peter Hedlund in heads-up to take down the title, worth $1.1 million.
Saturday, February 21, 2009, the final eight took their seats at the www.PokerStars.com sponsored EPT event in Copenhagen. With the Championship on the line, Jonas “slaktarn” Klausen became the first to exit the final table, followed by Eric Larcheveque.
With six players remaining, the current chip leaders Rasmus Hede Nielsen and Anders Langset declared war on each other. Langset scooped a 700,000 pot that left Nielsen short stacked, and soon after eliminated from the tournament.
After a long period of chip exchanging, another flourish of derailments took place. Peter Petterson left the table with a 5th place finish, followed closely by the elimination of Jussi Nevanlinna in 4th. The final three would reveal an interesting turn of tides as short-stacked Kyllönen aimed his skilled weaponry at the leader, Langset.
With Kd-Qh, Kyllönen went up against Langset’s Pocket 8s. The cards fell in Kyllönen’s favor, with a fourth Diamond on the River to complete a King-High Flush. It took only a few more hands for Kyllönen, now the leader, to oust Langset from the table.
Heads-up action between Kyllönen and Hedlund didn’t last long. Having started with the lowest stack as the final table got underway, Jens Kyllönen now possessed a strong 3-to-1 chip lead over Hedlund. Holding a respectable A-J, Hedlund pushed all-in against Kyllönen’s Pocket Jacks. With no help from the board, Hedlund was eliminated in 2nd place for nearly $650k.
At only 19 years of age, the Finnish poker player Jens Kyllönen won his first EPT Title, pocketing $1.14 million for his outstanding efforts.
PokerStars EPT Scandinavian Open Final Table Results
1st - Jens Kyllönen ($1,141,474)
2nd - Peter Hedlund ($646,190)
3rd - Anders Langset ($369,414)
4th - Jussi Nevanlinna ($286,335)
5th - Petter Petterson ($236,033)
6th - Rasmus Hede Nielsen ($185,731)
7th - Eric Larcheveque ($147,038)
8th - Jonas Klausen ($104,473)
February 16th, 2009
PokerStars has been promoting its upcoming 25,000,000,000th hand for quite some time now, promising $100,000 to the winner, $100,000 split among the remaining participants, plus an awesome $50,000 prize package to four major live poker tournaments.
The hand finally took place in the wee hours of Monday morning, February 16th, but no one could have predicted how it played out.
At a $1/$2 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo cash game sat 5 players – “NeonFrost”, chris12080”, “tupapi777”, “FrtSpkndMn” and “n47j25s”. Joining the table just before the prolific hand took place was “Confederate”.
Confederate was given the option to post the Blind out of turn to be dealt in the hand, or sit out and wait for the next hand. In what will be talked about for months to come as the worst decision ever made around the felt, Confederate chose to sit it out.
As the hole cards were dealt and the first betting round set to begin, it was announced that this was the 25,000,000,000th hand at PokerStars. Everyone was incredibly excited at the prospect, including Confederate. Tupapi777 was quick to point out – what would happen should the hand end in a split pot, as is typically the case in Omaha Hi/Lo?
PokerStars.com responded quickly, stating that the split-pot winner would also split the $100,000 grand prize for winning the hand. It was also confirmed that the split-pot winners would both walk away with the $50,000 prize packages, which included the following:
- European Poker Tour Monte Carlo Grand Finals
- PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
- World Series of Poker
- World Championship of Online Poker Main Event
Everyone was pleased with the decision, and the hand continued. Unfortunately it, it was about this time that it dawned on Confederate that since he chose to sit out and post blinds on the next hand, he would not be sharing in the phenomenal prize. He could do nothing but sit and watch as the hand played out, without his participation.
A crowd of near 1,600 joined the waiting list to view the table and watch it play out. This caused a “hiccup” on the server. When it restarted, NeonFrost’s was overcome with anger as his hand disappeared. It appeared as if he had Folded, but “Why would I ever Fold?” came his enraged response. He had $7 remaining in his chip stack, certainly enough to stay in the hand.
Regardless, the hand played out, and tupapi777 was clearly the Low Hand winner. PokerStars was quick to review the hand and determine how NeonFrost would have come out. His hand, a Queen-High Flush, would have been strong enough to take the High Hand half of the pot, and tupapi777 was more than happy to oblige when PokerStars required him to split the $100,000 grand prize with NeonFrost.
The prizes for playing and/or winning the PokerStars 25-billionth hand were doled out a follows:
NeonFrost: High Pot Spilt, $50,000 + $50,000 live tournament prize package
Tupapi777: Low Pot Spilt, $50,000 + $50,000 live tournament prize package
FrtSpkndMn: $33,333.33
n47j25s: $33,333.33
chris12080: $33,333.33
February 9th, 2009
Over the weekend, there was reportedly an attempt made to hack the accounts of online poker players at PokerStars.com. Several emails were sent out to inform members of the online poker community that may have been accessed, but thus far, no accounts have come up incorrect.
PokerStars sent out urgent emails to various members who they believe may have been the victim of an attempted hacking device, including keyloggers that record every key stroke. The keylogger then sends the full list of key strokes back to the hacker, potentially giving them logins, passwords and any personal information the user may have typed.
What caused a big scare in numerous online poker forums, however, was the way the emails came in from PokerStars. Though written in English, the grammar used was questionable. This caused many recipients of the email to correspond with PokerStars to confirm that the email in fact came from PokerStars Security.
PokerStars replied, validating that yes, the emails did come from PokerStars Security. The online poker room employs many multi-lingual employees, and considering the urgency of the email, grammar was apparently not the main concern.
For example, a portion of the email read: “Please run the Antivirus in your computer and search for any type of virus or spyware. We have the suspicious your computer(s) can be infected by a key logger. That is why need to know your computer is clear from threats.”
PokerStars was forced to block the accounts of all members whose information may have been compromised, but the action was taken to prevent any negative exploitation of these accounts. As we mentioned above, thus far, no accounts have lost funds.
The hack attempt is believed to have originated in the Netherlands. Many members who received the original email received a follow-up asking to confirm whether they accessed their account from the Netherlands at a specific time and date.
For optimal security purposes, PokerStars is asking that all blocked account members fax proof of identity to the online poker room before their account can be reopened. This is cumbersome at best, but well worth the knowledge of knowing your online poker account and personal information is sheltered.
Security has always been a top priority for online poker players, knowing that they are leaving their funds and identities in the hands of an online poker room that may or may not be able to protect them. Fortunately for member of PokerStars, the security measures are of the highest quality in the industry, and they are doing everything they can to continue upholding an impeccable security record.
February 2nd, 2009
Another Sunday, another $1.5 million guaranteed at the world’s largest online poker room, PokerStars. But it wasn’t just another day for “hutzlerCrew”, an online poker player who displayed incredible skill and perseverance as he routed the field to pocket $184k.
Once again, PokerStars Download did not see an overlay, but the possibility was closer than it has ever been in recent months. A field of 7,513 boosted the $1.5 million guarantee ever so slightly, increasing to $1,502,600, leveling the bubble at 1,080.
The grueling tournament went on for several hours as “hutzlerCrew” maintained a steadily growing chip stack throughout most of the competition. His talents became more and more obvious as the final table drew near.
The 3rd place elimination of “BodogAri” brought about heads-up play between “hutzlerCrew” and “MCLegend”, a seasoned American poker player who’s cashed in countless online poker tournaments, earning 5- and 6-digit figures on numerous occasions.
Both online poker players displayed incredible skills at the final table, but when it came down to the wire, “MCLegend” was simply no match for “hutzlerCrew”. The runner up finish awarded “MCLegend” another 6-digit cash of $125,167, while “hutzlerCrew” walked away with $184,820 and the esteemed honor of winning the PokerStars Sunday Million.
PokerStars $1.5M GTD Sunday Million Final Table Results
1st - huztlerCrew ($184,820)
2nd - MCLegend ($125,167)
3rd - BodogAri ($84,146)
4th - FRfr1111 ($69,120)
5th - youjizz ($54,094)
6th - Kripp85 ($39,068)
7th - niuniu09 ($26,296)
8th - kiaswer ($17,280)
9th - freakypokerd ($10,518)
January 26th, 2009
PokerStars is the absolute hot spot for weekend online poker tournament action, featuring the Sunday Million, Sunday Warm-Up, Sunday $500k and Sunday Second Chance events, worth a combined total of $3 million guaranteed. For online poker player “Snookerfun”, however, it’s become a lot more than an exciting way to spend you weekend.
On January 25th, 2009, Snookerfun routed a field of 4,366 competitors at the PokerStars.ru Sunday Warm-Up. Excessive entries brought the usual $750k Guarantee to a whopping $873,200, awarding $112,643 to Snookerfun for the 1st place victory. Pretty impressive, right?
Now let’s travel back in time to just two months ago in November of 2008, where Snookerfun had another remarkable finish at the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up, taking down the tournament for just under $100k.
The obvious skills of this exceptional poker player have not gone un-noted as many of today’s regular online poker players now view Snookerfun as a force to be reckoned with.
The final hand that brought Snookerfun the dual victory at PokerStars Sunday Warm-up last weekend came in a grueling heads-up battle between Snookerfun and “emyjim”. Snooker’s Pocket 10s would prove strong enough to defeat emyjim’s A8 suited, declaring the 6-figure finish.
PokerStars $750k GTD Sunday Warm-Up Final Table Results
1st - Snookerfun ($112,642.80)
2nd - emyjim ($78,588.00)
3rd - SexSeen ($52,392.00)
4th - J0hnny_Dr@m@ ($43,660.00)
5th - spiderfrank ($34,928.00)
6th - 21aek21 ($26,196.00)
7th - Iteopepe88 ($17,464.00)
8th - ToBeTheMan ($10,915.00)
9th - harima ($7,072.92)
January 21st, 2009
Badugi on the Rise at PokerStars
Badugi, one of the lesser known poker games, was recently added to the roster at PokerStars. In the past few months, Badugi has received a lot of attention at the online poker room and continues to climb the popularity ladder in 2009.
There are very few online poker rooms offering the game of Badugi, which certainly left the managers of Poker Stars.net to wonder just how well it would attract online poker players. Any doubts may now be set aside as Badugi has drawn thousands of players just in the month of January.
Badugi is virtually unlike any other poker game. It could be compared to Low-Hand poker games, but the hand development rules are completely different. A player gets only 4 cards to work with, followed by three draw phases.
A Badugi hand may consist of no pairs and no same-suit cards, with the winner being the payer with the lowest hand. If, after three draws, a player has a pair or same-suit, the highest of the two is left out, leaving a 3 card (or less) hand. A 4 card hand always beats a 3 card hand, regardless of the numerical values. Aces are always low and straights do not count. A hand of A-2-3-4 off-suit is best possible hand, known as Badugi.
PokerStars offers Badugi in both cash games and tournaments, Multi-Table and Sit’n’Go alike. Badugi Ring Game stakes range from $.25/$.50 up to $10/$20, Fixed Limit only. Multi-Table Badugi Tournaments are offered with buy-ins of $2+$.20 up to $20+$2 in both Fixed Limit and Pot Limit. Over on the Sit’n’Go side, PokerStars has Badugi tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $1+$.20 to $200+$15 in Fixed Limit, plus Turbo Badugi.
January 15th, 2009
PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Crowns Victor, Poorya Nazari
The much anticipated PokerStars Caribbean Adventure has finally come and gone, leaving in its wake a number of highly skilled, significantly richer participants. The most notable among them is Poorya Nazari, a 22 year old Canadian poker player whose impeccable talent awarded him $3 million for routing the competition at the PCA Main Event.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” came the immediate reaction of Nazari after just having eliminated his final, heads-up opponent, Tony Gregg. “It feels unbelievable, surreal. I can’t believe it’s happening!”
Along with his $3 million 1st place prize for winning the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Nazari is also being awarded a sponsored seat in the European Poker Tour Grand Final. This will be Poorya’s first trip to Europe, a multi-faceted profiteering opportunity in Monte Carlo later this year.
Poorya Nazari’s road to millionaire status is an amazing one, costing a mere $33 out of pocket. From his home in Richmond Hills, Canada, Nazari won a $33 rebuy turbo tournament at the PokerStars online poker room. After winning a series of these intense tournaments on the single buy-in, Nazari (as well as 746 other online poker players), found himself packing his bags for the Bahamas to take part in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event.
Poorya Nazari is no stranger to poker play, though most of his skills are displayed in the online environment. Nazari graduated from McMaster University just last year, where he studied biochemistry, but has been sustaining a healthy income from online poker play at PokerStars for several years now.
January 11th, 2009
PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Gets Underway
Like a long-awaited dream vacation, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) got underway Monday as nearly every member of Team PokerStars Pro, as well as hundreds of online poker qualifiers and direct buy-in participants took to the tables at the Bahamas’ Atlantis Resort and Casino.
A lot of familiar faces - or at least familiar usernames to online poker fans, frequent forum posters and bloggers – showed up for the first day of PCA action. Among them are Danny “THE_D_RY” Ryan, Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb, John “apestyles” Van Fleet, John “PearlJammer” Turner, Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke and Adam “ajunglen” Junglen.
Even PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein took to the tables, though his interest seemed more drawn by the newspaper on his lap than the cards at the table. Sorel Mizzi was seated comfortably, more so than most, as he took advantage of one of the on-hand massage therapists.
A few current Team PokerStars Pros who fall into the category of “past WSOP Champions” can also be found corralled in the PCA Ballroom: Joe Hachem (2005), Greg Raymer (2004), Chris Moneymaker (2003) and Tom McEvoy (1983).
It goes without saying that this year’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure has grown much larger than that of recent years, enough so to already have drawn the label of the “biggest live poker tournament outside the United States”.
With the elated shouting of Daniel Negreanu - “Shuffle up and deal!” - the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure has begun.
December 30th, 2008
PokerStars.net World Record Tournament A Huge Success
PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room, continued its usual astonishingly high rate of player traffic last weekend, but this time with an interesting twist. The online poker room closed out 2008 with a “Guinness World Record Tournament” that would attempt to break the record for the largest participation of any poker tournament.
The endeavor was not only a success; it attracted as many poker players as could possibly be seated. PokerStars.net capped the action at 35,000 players, and every single seat was filled before the tournament got underway. This comes as little surprise as the online poker room required a buy-in of only $11 ($10+$1), paying a guaranteed prize pool of $500,000. A little basic match tells us that even with the seats full, the buy-in only covers $350,000 of the purse, topped off by an extra $150,000 put up by PokerStars. Any moderately seasoned online poker player will tell you the added value of such an overlay is always welcome.
The odds of winning an online poker tournament whilst competing against 34,999 other players are obviously minuscule at best, but it certainly helps when a whopping 8,749 players are guaranteed to finish in the money bubble.
Surprisingly, the PokerStars Guinness World Record Tournament only lasted about 9-1/2 hours. With so many competitors, you would have expected a longer session. Then again, this isn’t the WSOP, where players invest $10k just to participate. With only $11 at stake, players could afford to take more risks – risks that paid off undoubtedly well for “stan34powa” who won the online poker tournament, claiming a top prize of $30,000. (See PokerStars Guinness World Record Tournament Final Table Results below.)
As if that weren’t enough to make the headlines for PokerStars over the weekend, the online poker room hosted several other highly valuable events that drew in astounding traffic. Eleven 10,000-seater SNG’s with $1 buy-in and $10,000 added were extremely popular, but then who wouldn’t pay $1 for a shot at $2,000? The cash table traffic piqued at nearly 37,000.
Another big traffic boost came from the special Sunday Million tournament, upped to a guaranteed prize pool of $2.5 million for this special occasion. With over 16,000 players taking part, the prize jumped well over $3.2 million before the participants converged on the tables.
It just goes to show why PokerStars is the world’s largest online poker room.
PokerStars Guinness World Record Tournament Final Table Results
1st - stan34powa ($30,000)
2nd - meiky777 ($20,000)
3rd - rumred14 ($15,000)
4th - Goldman007 ($10,000)
5th - Nekochan48 ($7,500)
6th - gustave44 ($5,000)
7th - n0ideahh ($3,500)
8th - alepolice ($2,500)
9th - ONE_TIMEE ($2,000)
10th - FuFish ($1,500)
December 23rd, 2008
PokerStars 2009 Caribbean Adventure Attracts Boris Becker
Poker tournament gurus are being given even more ways to participate in the upcoming 2009 EPT Caribbean Adventure sponsored by PokerStars.net. It’s been announced that Boris Becker, former renowned tennis pro and current celebrity star team member at PokerStars, will be taking part in a special side-show event that will see someone awarded the $10,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event buy-in.
Seven lucky members of the online poker room will take on Boris Becker heads-up in a Battleship tournament. This means that they will be seated across the table from Boris, looking him directly in the eye as the hands go down, but there will be no real cards or live dealer. Instead, all players will play their usual “online poker” style on laptops – hence the ‘Battleship’ reference.
Boris Becker commented in a company statement, “Battleship poker gives you all the fast play luxuries of online poker, but also allows you to look your opponent in the eye. It’s an exciting game to play and I’m really looking forward to competing against these players.”
The main prize for the Boris Becker Battleship tournament will be a PokerStars Caribbean Adventure prize package that includes the $10,000 buy-in to the Main Event. So far, four players have already won their seat to compete again Becker, all from North America: Michel Dion and Keith Anderson of Quebec, Canada, Itsik Oknin of Ottawa, Canada and Joshua Miloy of Oley, Pennsylvania, USA.
There are still 40 Caribbean Adventure prize packages up for grab at PokerStars. Satellites will be running through December 28th. The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure kicks off January 5th, 2009, and will continue through January 10th at the Bahamas Atlantis Resort and Casino.
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