On Sunday, April 5th at 4:00pm ET, PokerWorld will host a $1,000 freeroll celebrating its move from the Gold Chip Network to the Cake Poker Network. Players on PokerWorld will also be able to take advantage of Gold Chip and Gold Card promotions, which are staples of the Cake Poker family of sites.
The $1,000 freeroll is open to any PokerWorld member and registration will be available the day before the tournament. Aside from the freeroll, PokerWorld members will now be able to take advantage of the monthly $250,000 Guaranteed, which boasts a buy-in of $268. Weekly, the Cake Poker Network hosts a $162 buy-in $100,000 guaranteed event. Both tournaments, which are held on Sundays, kick off at 5:00pm ET during the peak hours in North America, which where many players on the USA-friendly Cake Poker Network are located. A $50,000 guaranteed event with a $109 price tag serves as the warm-up for both of the six-figure prize pool tournaments. It kicks off at 3:00pm ET.
Gold Chips can be exchanged for tournament buy-ins or items from the PokerWorld Mall. In the latter, you’ll find gifts like the 8 GB iPod Touch, an Xbox 360, a Canon PowerShot camera, and a Samsung 46 inch LCD television. There’s even a genuine American Alligator billfold that will set players back 2,580 gold chips. Players can earn Gold Cards by playing at real money ring game tables. They are awarded randomly and can be exchanged for cash and prizes. Gold Cards will be used in conjunction with a promotion to send PokerWorld members to the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) to play in Event #54, a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em contest.
On Sundays at 4:30pm ET, a time when many high-stakes players are on the site to battle it out in the $100,000 Guaranteed or $250,000 Guaranteed, PokerWorld offers a $455 satellite into the 2009 WSOP Main Event. One prize package (which includes the $10,000 Main Event buy-in plus $3,000 in cash) will be awarded for every $13,000 in the prize pool. Cash satellites beginning at $5.50 are available and run daily. Three step sit and go tournaments as well as Gold Chip qualifiers are also available.
The move of PokerWorld to the Cake Poker Network may spell the end of the Gold Chip Network. Other sites that made their home on it included RaiseAndFold, which recently sent its players to Intertops. The U.S. version of SportsInteraction has followed PokerWorld’s lead and jumped from the Gold Chip Network to Cake Poker. Landmark Poker also redirects players to download a skin of the Cake Poker Network. Three sites that previously existed on the Gold Chip Network – 2bet, Miami Poker, and The Greek – no longer exist. Finally, Full Bet now redirects to Everest Poker, which is the official sponsor of the WSOP and does not accept players from the United States.
The Cake Poker Network recently welcomed Doyle’s Room and PokerHost to its ranks. Besides its flagship site, the Network also includes PlayersOnly, City Poker, RedStarPoker, and Sportsbook.com, among others. According to traffic ranking site PokerScout.com, the Cake Poker Network is the 10th largest worldwide with a seven day running average of 1,740 cash game players. Its 24 hour peak is 2,442.
The Gold Chip Network uses Dobrosoft as its software provider and is based in San Jose, Costa Rica. At the time of writing, one of the only Gold Chip sites to open up to the Network’s software is Century Poker. PokerScout, which has not yet updated its site list for the Gold Chip Network, reveals that it has a seven day running average of just 36 ring game players with a 24 hour peak of 50. The Gold Chip Network also accepts players from the United States.
