The Poker Blog

You asked for it and here it is: The return of the top 50 Rake Race!

Summer is time for Hollywood to shine, so we’ve come up with 2 blockbuster races for July.

The total prize pool is a whopping $50,000,  with $35,000 for raked hands and $15,000 for VIP points!

The TOP 50 players in terms of hands this month will all see a payout, the top prize weighing in at a massive $8,000! On top of this, we’ll be running a box office busting VIP points race for a further $15,000! Win this Hollywood couple and your payday will be a chart topper at a total of $11,000!

Raked hands are the easiest races online, as it doesn’t matter who you are, what you play or at what level. If is a raked hand it counts! Get onto the tables early this July and show your true colours!

The VIPs point race rewards those that are good enough. Collecting VIP points is easy to do, but what’s easy for you is also easy for the guy beneath you! You’ll have to play hard to stay on top and take the accolades and awards.

Great news for poker players and poker affiliates, CircusPoker.co.uk  is offering its players the chance to win a package to the Asian Poker Tour Macau main event in August worth a massive $8,000.

To be held in the Rio Hotel & Casino, Macau - August 17th – August 24th, 2009

The package includes:

• $4000+$300 buy-in to the WSOP Main Event, Aug 19th – Aug 23rd, 2009
• $1,000 for 7 night’s accommodation and breakfast at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Macau (Aug 17th – Aug 24th, 2009)
• $100 for an exclusive iPoker party – August 18th, 2009
• $270 for registration fees
• Up to $2,330 for flights and spending
• Total Package Value - $8,000

Tom MacDonald has been crowned Leeds champion in the second event of the 2009 Coral.co.uk British Masters Poker Tour.

Tom, an 18-year-old student from Hull, beat 93 other players to take the title, the first prize of £14,300 and a seat at the season final play-off for the coveted Coral.co.uk sponsorship deal in 2010.

Outlasting a final table that included tour regulars Eddie Lundon (2^nd in Edinburgh) and Jamie Coonan (qualified online), Tom was heads-up against Jamie Sykes with a 3:1 chip lead; it was over in just 30 minutes when 10h fell on the river and made Tom’s flush against Jamie’s two pair, giving us our second champion of the tour.

Asked how he felt after the presentation, Tom said: “Oh, it’s great! I’m glad that I won – it’s good to have a tournament win on the British live poker scene. I thought that it was well run and it started on time and I thought that the structure was really good.”

Next stop for Tom, who despite a young age has already chalked up £46,000 in career earnings, is University, but he intends to keep up his appearances at British Masters events; “I’m going to Newcastle University in September to study maths and economics. I learned to play online, and I usually prefer to play online but I’ll play in the other legs now as they’re not too far away.”

Coral.co.uk’s head of poker, Mark O’Donnell, said: “Tom played well throughout and thoroughly deserved his win. He’s only 18 so I think we’ll see plenty more of him.”

Mark added: “That’s the second seat at the end of year play-off [for the 12010 Coral.co.uk sponsorship] sorted and there are six remaining so everyone has got a shot at it.” *

The total prize money for the weekend’s three events was £70,900, with full details of finishing positions and prizes outlined below.

The next event on the tour is Teesside, 24-26 July, at the Gala Casino Teesside. Online qualification is available on  www.eurobet.com.

Coral.co.uk British Masters Poker Tour, Leeds 19-21 June 2009 results:

20-21 June 2009: £500+50 NLHE Main Event Freeze-out

Entrants: 94; Total prize pool: £48,000

19 June 2009: £200+20 NLHE Freeze-out

Entrants: 75; Total prize pool: £15,000

21 June 2009: £100+10 NLHE Freeze-out

Entrants: 79; Total prize pool: £7,900

* The End-of-season play-off is a live 8-seater event, comprising the winners of the six 2009 Coral.co.uk British Masters Poker Tour events, the top money winner on the 2009 tour, and the highest online points scorer (points are awarded for finishing position in CBMPT online finals on www.eurobet.com. The winner of the play-off will receive a £10,000 poker sponsorship package for 2010 from Coral.co.uk.

The dates and venues for the 2009 CBMPT are as follows:

·         Edinburgh – Gala Maybury Casino: May 15 to 17

·         Leeds – Gala Casino Leeds: June 19 to 21

·         Stockton-on-Tees – Gala Casino Teesside: July 24 to 26

·         Nottingham – Gala Casino Maid Marion Way: August 14 to 16

·         Liverpool – Gala Leo Casino: September 18 to 20

·         Bristol – Gala Harbourside Casino: October 23 to 25

Poker Training Powered by the Fastest Growing Online Poker Room

Full Tilt Poker Academy gives you the opportunity to learn how to play poker with world famous pros, exclusive poker videos, interactive poker games, prizes and rewards, and direct access to online play for real or play money.

Start to learn poker strategy now, it’s free to join.

Use the tips from the pros in real online poker games 24 hours a day, on state-of-the-art online poker software that is free to download. Full Tilt Poker’s online poker room and Full Tilt Poker Academy’s poker education tools were designed by world-class poker professionals, offering you the opportunity to learn, chat, and play poker online with the pros.

Full Tilt Poker Academy offers tips and strategies on a wide variety of online poker games, including No Limit Texas Hold ‘em, Pot Limit Texas Hold ‘em, and Fixed Limit Texas Hold ‘em, as well as varieties of Omaha, Stud, and Razz, and mixed games such as HORSE. They offer poker tutorial videos on ring games, Sit & Go tournaments, and multi-table tournaments. The educational materials come in the form of topic-specific Lessons, lesson-specific Challenges , interactive Sit-n-Learn quizzes, real-money online Sessions and daily Podcasts that are available for easy download using iTunes software.

If you can find it in a poker room, you can find it covered at Full Tilt Poker Academy.

Rewards, Bonuses, Academy Credits

The online poker training school offers rewards in the form of Academy Credits and free online tournament entries, based upon achievement in the Academy’s interactive games and real-money play in the online poker room. Credits can be used to obtain shirts, hats, outerwear, electronics, books, DVDs, bags, poker equipment, luxury items, sport/lifestyle gear, tournament tokens, CardRunners memberships, or StoxPoker memberships. Full Tilt Poker also offers a deposit bonus of 100% up to $600, as well as frequent reload bonuses. Download their free online poker game now and join Full Tilt Poker Academy to learn to play better online poker.

How to Play? Learn From The Pros.

Full Tilt Poker Academy features videos starring top professional poker players. This unparalleled access to the pros creates the best possible online poker learning environment. These poker pros reveal strategies for play in Texas Hold ‘em and other poker games, analyze memorable poker hands, and open their minds while playing actual online poker games for real money. The team of poker professionals is committed to having both the safest, most secure online poker site and the most effective online poker lessons.

Team Full Tilt pros who have authored educational materials on the site include Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, Phil Gordon, Erick Lindgren, Andy Bloch and Allen Cunningham. Lederer and Gordon are the official deans of Full Tilt Poker Academy and they lead a special Dean’s Tour introducing users to the site.

Start Earning Credits and Playing Online Poker Now

Full Tilt Poker and Full Tilt Poker Academy are designed to be compatible for both the PC and Mac platforms. You can start playing online poker for play or real money in just a matter of minutes. You can gain access to all educational videos instantly by becoming a member. .

Join the 32Red Cash Stampede, their brand new improved performance-based loyalty system designed to reward their most loyal and regular players.

The Cash Stampede boasts an amazing $25,000 prize pool and works on the basis of Redbacks collected throughout the month, with the $25,000 split between players depending on their standings at the end of each month. As soon as you feature on any subsequent leaderboard, your free poker chips will automatically be credited to your account.

The $25,000 Cash Stampede Leaderboard is shown on the site, so download the software today to see how big your share of the loot will be. Good luck at the tables!

As the official sponsor of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), Everest Poker has chosen a fitting time to launch a new, redesigned website. Just as WSOP fever is heating up, with media coverage to be found everywhere, Everest has rolled out a new, “player-focused” website redesign, created to maximize its brand presence and make the Everest experience more satisfying to poker players.

The new site’s mission statement, “Passionate About Your Game”, emphasizes the fact that the company is run by, and for, poker enthusiasts, giving it an advantage in the competitive online poker marketplace.

The site’s navigation has also been reconfigured to make it easier for players to find their way around. The latest offers and promotions will be easier to find; and a more prominent community section has been added to offer more transparency on Everest’s exclusive events and live action.

“We want our players to be able to choose and find their favorite games with ease as well as highlight the differences we offer; namely exclusive live tournaments, a genuine poker community or simply the additional financial gains available,” commented Sandrine Mangia-Park, Everest Poker Director.

Click to check out Everest Poker’s new site.

How many times have you wished that you could take a member of your favorite poker room staff out of a tournament? Reefer Poker have created a fun tournament just for those of you that are itching to get your hands on their chippies!

The New Stoners vs Staff
Bigger Prizes - More Games

All New Tournaments

1. Weekly, Thursdays at 20:00 Reefer Time
2. Until further notice, $3 + .30 NL Holdem – no rebuys
3. $30 bounty on RPDave and RPForumMod
4. $30 bounty on previous week’s tourney winner
5. $10 bounty on any other RP staff that wish to play – they encourage this!
6. $50 bounty if they have a celebrity/pro poker player
7. 2,000 starting chips
8. 10 min blinds with antes
9. Last Thursday of month all RP staff are playing,
directly after the Reefer Forum Chat Meeting at 19:30

In addition they will allow every registered player on their site, now and in the future, one FREE entry into this tournament.

DoylesRoom is going one step further making your WSOP Main Event feeder satellites virtually free with any deposit! This is your last week to satellite to the biggest event of the year, use your bonus to your advantage.

Reload your DoylesRoom poker account between 12:01am ET Monday, June 15th and Wednesday, June 17th at 11:59pm ET and receive 25% in bonus cash up to $100.

Lock in your bonus by using promotion code: WSOPLEGEND when you deposit into your account using one of our fast and easy deposit methods. Bonus code is valid for 1 transaction.

Over €100,000 in packages to be won

Qualification has started!!

You’ve seen them on TV and read their blogs but not everyone has the opportunity to become a poker professional. However that may all change - if you play your cards right you could become the next big name in the world of poker courtesy of Paddy Power Poker.

In their new Poker Pro promotion, Paddy Power Poker are giving all players the chance to live the life of a Poker professional for a year with €100,000 in packages up for grabs - see www.paddypowerpokerpro.com for further details. Whether you are a ‘green behind the ears’ beginner or an advanced player, you could be jetting to cities such as London, Prague, Dublin & Monte Carlo and pitting your wits against some of the world’s leading professionals.

Your qualification for Paddy Power Poker Pro starts today - make sure to book your seat at the final table (which will be broadcast live!) and get in line to take down the €60,000 top prize by checking out www.paddypowerpokerpro.com

Over $64,000 in cash and prizes to be won over the summer months

paddypowerpoker.com today announces that its new Summer Cash Dash cash race will kick-off at midnight on Sunday, 7th June.

The poker room’s summer cash race promotion will award over $64,000 in cash and prizes over the course of twelve weeks, with over $5,000 cash on offer each week.

The promotion is open to every paddypowerpoker.com player and positions on the leader board will be determined by the amount of hands played, the table stakes and the time players spend on the tables.

“It’s summertime and the living is easy up in Paddy Towers!” said Paddy Power, Communications Manager for paddypowerpoker.com. “We’ve been busy getting ourselves in shape for the summer and we think our players will be impressed by what they see; our swimming shorts are fit to burst with all the cash we’ve stuffed in, ready to hand out to our lucky players!”