It’s hard to believe that PKR is already two years old. I remember when the site first launched after being formed in 2005. To celebrate its second birthday, the online poker room is holding a massive promotional day for its customers on Sunday, August 17th. The site has doubled its player base over the last year, growing from 900,000 members to 2 million. According to PokerScout.com, PKR is the fastest-growing site that does not accept U.S. customers, quite a feat considering the number of other online poker rooms out there today. In July, PKR surpassed Cryptologic, Ladbrokes, and Betfair to become the 15th largest poker network in operation.
In a press release distributed by PKR on Thursday, Marketing Director Simon Prodger remarked, “It has been another great year for PKR.com. Our continuing success has meant that we have surpassed our targets even though we set ourselves high standards. We’ve demonstrated our ability to compete with the best and, looking to the future as always, our aim is to build on our accomplishments and keep moving forwards.” The 3-D poker room was founded by Jez San, a UK entrepreneur, in 2005. He was partly responsible for creating the first 3D graphics accelerator chip, which helped make the Nintendo video game platform an instant success.
On Sunday, August 17th, players on PKR will notice added bounty tournaments in the tournament lobby. Instead of hour-long “Happy hours” on the site, players can earn twice the number of player points all day. The press release also states, “Three extra $500 freerolls will be added along with the exclusive ‘Trailblazer’s money added’ tournament which rewards the most loyal of players,” who are PKR members who served as the beta testers before the site even launched.
The site’s birthday comes on the heels of an announcement in late July that Club PKR members were able to take advantage of reload bonuses at the beginning of every month. The amount available to each player depends on his or her level in Club PKR. Players on PKR often rave about the site’s tournament offering, which includes a $20,000 Guaranteed Saturday Showdown, which sports a buy-in of $55 and starts at 19:00 GMT. Premium freeroll satellites are available every day, as are paid satellites that start at $6.05.
On Sunday, PKR offers a $25,000 Guaranteed tournament. The buy-in is slightly more than the $20,000 Guarantee, $65. Satellites for the $25,000 Guaranteed also run constantly. The real centerpiece of PKR’s tournament offering is the monthly $100,000 PKR Masters. It’s held on the final Saturday of each calendar month. Starting chip stacks are 5,000 and the buy-in is $250. The $100,000 prize pool is the same size as the largest guaranteed tournament on Bodog, but is only held once per month.
Online poker players around the world flock to PKR for its unique look. The 3-D software is unlike any other poker room on the internet. Different table backgrounds, including PKR’s television set and the Monte Carlo, are available. Players are able to control almost every facet of their likeness at the poker table, from body language to outfit to facial expressions. It’s a unique online poker room that is growing leaps and bounds in popularity.