World Series of Poker Winner - Greg Raymer
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press/Analyst contact
Nolan Dalla
Director of Communications, PokerStars.com
nolan@pokerstars.com
Back-to-Back World Championships for PokerStars.com Players
Online Poker Site's Players Dominate 2004 World Series of Poker
June 1, 2004 (Las Vegas) - PokerStars.com, the world's largest tournament poker destination, earned a new moniker on Friday night. Now, PokerStars is "the place where poker players become World Champions." Greg Raymer, the newest World Champion of Poker, qualified for the event on PokerStars.
In 2003, PokerStars player Chris Moneymaker became the first online qualifier to win the title of World Champion of Poker. Moneymaker turned a $39 tournament entry on PokerStars into a World Championship and $2.5 million. In 2004, Greg Raymer has kept the title in the family by turning a $160 tournament entry on PokerStars into a World Championship and $5 million, defeating over 2,500 other players along the way.
"There is absolutely no question that PokerStars players dominated the 2004 World Series of Poker," commented Lee Jones, PokerStars Poker Room Manager. "Each year we have provided qualifying tournaments, one of our players has become the World Champion of Poker. This year the runner-up, David Williams, was also a PokerStars qualifier."
Dan Goldman, VP of Marketing for PokerStars, feels the numbers tell the story. "While PokerStars qualifiers represented only 12% of the players in the World Series of Poker, they collectively took home over 40% of the total prize money awarded. We had 28 players finish in the money for a total of almost $11 million in prize money. Four of the top nine finishers in the event qualified on our site."
PokerStars (www.pokerstars.com), an official member of the World Poker Tour, has earned a reputation as an innovator in online poker. PokerStars was the first site to offer player notes, instant game statistics and double and triple shootout tournaments. To date, PokerStars has run over 1.5 million poker tournaments.
In July, PokerStars will host the largest online poker tournament in the world - the World Championship of Online Poker. The tournament will guarantee $4 million in payouts and is expected to draw over 20,000 players into its twelve events.
