PokerStars Press Releases
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Nolan Dalla
Director of Communications, PokerStars.com
nolan@pokerstars.com
PokerStars.com Sets New Record Mark for 'Largest-Ever' Weekly Poker Tournament - Over a Half Million Dollars Awarded in Sunday Event
Winner turns $215 buy-in into $102,240 on PokerStars.com
February 22, 2005 - PokerStars.com, the world's most popular and successful tournament poker venue, has shattered the all-time record for the largest weekly tournament in history. A whopping 2,556 players signed up to play in the regular Sunday No-Limit Hold'em poker tournament held on February 20, 2005. The event was a landmark for several reasons, most notably because it was the first weekly tournament in history - either land-based on online - ever to exceed a half million dollars in prize money. A grand total of $511,200 was paid out to 270 winners in the tournament in amounts ranging from a few hundred dollars all the way up to $102,240 for first place. Sunday's winner was a player with the screen name of "Dsavo" from Århus, Denmark.
"When poker players want to play in a tournament, they know to come to PokerStars.com," said Lee Jones, Cardroom Manager. "We have something for everyone -- from low-limit buy-in tournaments costing only a few dollars, which are great to learn the game, up to events such as this one, which set a new record. A player sitting at home bought in for a couple of hundred dollars, and several hours later, ended up with six figures in prize money."
Indeed, PokerStars.com offers several daily and weekly tournaments which are affordable to every budget and cater to every level of experience. Two of the most recent success stories from PokerStars are Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer, the last two World Series of Poker champions, who practiced their games at PokerStars and later qualified for the WSOP at the popular online poker site. Moneymaker's $2.5 million win cost him just a $39 buy-in; Raymer's $5 million WSOP bonanza started with a $160 satellite tournament.
While major tournaments such as the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour routinely offer events with half-a-million dollars or more in prize money, no weekly tournament has ever approached the level of those offered at PokerStars.com. The buy-in for each Sunday tournament is $215 and is open to anyone of legal age who wants to play and put up the entry fee. Every month, PokerStars also offers a $530 buy-in tournament. Last month's $530 buy-in tournament had a prize pool which exceeded $700,000 - one of the largest online tournaments in history.
By far, the biggest online poker tournament in the world is the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), which runs during the late summer and is hosted annually by PokerStars.com. Last year, the WCOOP awarded over $6 million in prize money in 12 different events.
With thousands of tournaments daily, the largest weekly tournaments in the world and the largest annual online poker tournament, PokerStars.com has emerged as the clear industry leader in tournament poker.
About PokerStars
PokerStars (www.pokerstars.com), an official member of the World Poker Tour, is the world's most innovative online poker site. PokerStars was the first site to introduce advanced multi-table tournaments, integrated game statistics, players' notes, personalized images, time bank for tournaments and ring big bet games, satellite tournaments, multi-table sit and go tournaments, and much more. PokerStars' support team is truly unique, as help and support is available around the clock from people who know and understand both the game of poker, and the importance of impeccable customer service.
To date, PokerStars has dealt more than one billion hands and run more than five million poker tournaments. PokerStars developed industry-leading security software to ensure the integrity of the system, including encryption, card shuffle randomness and preventative measures against cheating and collusion. Money covering player's balances is held in segregated accounts managed by the Royal Bank of Scotland, ensuring PokerStars can fulfill its obligations towards players at all times.
PokerStars is the site where the 2003 and 2004 World Champions of Poker won their entries into the World Series of Poker, thus earning the trademark -- "Where poker players become World Champions."
