Online poker players are in for a treat this weekend, as in addition to the finale of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) on Sunday, PokerStars has introduced promotions as part of its 25 billionth hand celebration. The festivities will be capped off when the milestone hand is dealt. Its winner will take home $100,000 plus $50,000 in major tournament entries.
Beginning with the 24.85 billionth and continuing until the 25 billionth hand, PokerStars will be awarding cash prizes to the winners of every millionth hand. When a milestone hand kicks off, a pop-up window will appear and a PokerStars Host will head to the table to explain what’s at stake. The amount that can be won depends on a table’s stakes. If a millionth hand occurs at a micro-stakes game, its winner will take home $300 and the rest of the players will pocket $125. Low-stakes millionth hand winners will see their bankrolls boosted by $750 and the rest of the pack takes home $250. Medium stakes hand winners receive $1,250 and high-stakes champions will take home $2,500. The rest of the table at those stakes receives $500 and $1,000, respectively. A bonus multiplier based on a player’s VIP status ranges from 15% to 200%.
The winner of the 25 billionth hand will receive a colossal $150,000 in cash and prizes. First, the player’s bankroll will be boosted by $100,000. They will also receive four prize packages for some of the largest poker tournaments held: the European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final in Monaco, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in The Bahamas, World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, and PokerStars’ own World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event. There are no VIP bonuses for the 25 billionth hand. Back when the site logged its 10 billionth hand of poker, Justine “justine0003” Hall took home $100,000 while playing on a $0.01/$0.02 micro-stakes table when her 3-8 of clubs turned a flush. Amazingly, the pot size was nearly $13, as four players were all in to try to earn the $100,000 prize.
Saturday marks the start of the FTOPS Two-Day event, its marquee $5,200 buy-in tournament that will attract a bevy of players from PokerStars. On Sunday, Full Tilt Poker will hold the FTOPS XI Main Event, a $535 buy-in tournament with at least $2.5 million in the prize pool. PokerStars, however, is increasing the prize pool of its Sunday Million from $1.5 million to $2.5 million this week only. Coincidentally, it will boast the same guarantee as the FTOPS Main Event. However, the buy-in on Stars will be just $215. The Sunday Million takes place at 4:30pm ET.
Also on Sunday, PokerStars is upping the prize pool of its Sunday Warm-Up to $1.25 million. The tournament kicks off at 12:45pm ET and is one of the day’s first majors. Both the Warm-Up and Million can be found in the PokerStars lobby under “Tourney” and “Regular” or “Special.” Last week’s Sunday Warm-Up winner, Watte, took home $113,000. The champion of the Sunday Million, THE_ALPACA, earned $211,000. Full Tilt’s regular weekend event is the $750,000 Guaranteed, which comes with a $216 price tag. The tournament will not run this week due to the FTOPS Main Event.
Every day between February 15th and 22nd, PokerStars is offering $2,500 freerolls for new members. The recommended bonus code to use is “fdf2500” and players can compete in as many freerolls as they desire. The events take place three times daily at Noon ET, 4:00pm ET, and 8:00pm ET. First depositors will also be entitled to PokerStars’ regular sign-up bonus of 100% up to $50.
PokerStars ran similar promotions during World Record Week, highlighted by an $11 buy-in $500,000 guaranteed tournament that attracted 35,000 players, the largest online poker event ever held. During the December promotion, the prize pool of the Sunday Million became $2.5 million; the Warm-Up saw its guarantee boosted to $1 million. The Million attracted over 16,000 players, with nearly 2,500 finishing in the money. The Warm-Up was won by Hr_Herman, who defeated Australian poker aficionado Andy McLEOD.
PokerStars accepts players from the United States and is the world’s largest online poker site, according to PokerScout.com, which ranks cash game traffic.