Following other companies’ examples PokerStars announced on Wednesday that has stop serving the Russian market. No reason was given – the entire of the tweet was “Important update: we are suspending all our services in Russia.” – but it does not take a doctorate-level understanding of world politics to know that it has to do… Read more »
PokerStars is awarding live tournament entries Two of the heaviest hitters in the poker world – PokerStars and the World Poker Tour – announced their celebrations of International Women’s Day. Though International Women’s Day is Tuesday, March 8, both organizations are holding special tournaments this coming Sunday, March 13, as it is traditionally the most… Read more »
There are now seven players in the state-by-state online poker industry in the States of America. Connecticut became the seventh state to open the doors for online poker inside its borders earlier this month. However, there has also been molasses-slow response to this new development as there have been no operators stepping up to offer… Read more »
The Bounty Builder Series returns to PokerStars next week, scheduled for February 27 through March 13. There will be 196 tournaments across the two weeks, with over $25.5 million in guaranteed prize pools. The two Main Events have buy-ins of $55 and $530 and guarantees of $1 million and $2 million, respectively. As is apparent… Read more »
The latest effort from PokerGO to create a tournament poker schedule is its “Stairway to Millions,” honestly not an original idea (more on this in a moment). The “Stairway to Millions” kicked off on Wednesday with its first tournament at ARIA Resort & Casino and, to PokerGO’s credit, it actually turned out to be a… Read more »
Six high stakes tables Well, it looks like this is PokerStars week here at PND. It’s unintentional, but hey, poker news tends to be slow around the holidays, so we’ll take what we can get. In today’s edition, we’re not going to talk about Stars tournaments, but rather the site’s cash games. Specifically, high stakes… Read more »
Omicron variant spreading quickly As the world rushes headlong into yet another COVID-19 wave, this time thanks to the omicron variant, we are all experiencing the challenges of simultaneously trying to be safe and live our lives. After live tournaments were cancelled for the vast majority of 2020, they have come back with a vengeance… Read more »
Familiar structure The PokerStars Winter Series is back this month, offering $50 million in guaranteed prize pools across 291 tournaments. Cue the “unwrapping presents” cutesy phrase, as the festivities get going on Christmas Day, December 25, and run through January 12. As is the case for many PokerStars tournament series, the Winter Series has a… Read more »
Very limited for now PokerStars is testing the use of webcams at its virtual poker tables. First reported by Poker Industry PRO, “video chat” is currently only available on a limited basis in some “dot com” and “dot eu” markets and solely in Stars’ Home Games offering. It is also only integrated into the online… Read more »
Turkey Day poker in the US PokerStars is the king of tournament series, so now is as good a time as ever for the site to introduce a new tournament series. On Wednesday, Stars revealed Fall Fest in the United States, with separate tournaments in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan running November 20-29. It’s all… Read more »
Over $10 million in guarantees To celebrate its 20th anniversary, PokerStars has announced a special tournament series, The Big 20 Rewind. Running November 14 through December 4, the Big 20 Rewind features – you guessed it – 20 tournaments. Each event represents an “iconic moment” in the online poker room’s history. PokerStars is guaranteeing $5.5… Read more »
One of the realities of the online poker world is that some countries have legislated that their citizens can only play on sites that cater to their country. This is called “ring fencing,” or the government ensuring that they will be receiving the appropriate revenues from the site in question. The latest country to be… Read more »
Everyone has been excited by the 2021 World Series of Poker. The schedule has run without incident, even being able to shift on the fly with the announcement of two new Day Ones for the Championship Event due to international restrictions for COVID being eased. But poker players always have to be looking for that… Read more »
The nominees for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame for 2021 were announced last week and as is usual for the nominees, it was an incredibly special list. Any and all of the men nominated would be viable inductees, with obvious qualities that would set them apart. As my friend and colleague Dan Katz… Read more »
I cannot begin to tell you how jealous I am of those of you living in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan (and Nevada and Delaware, but those aren’t totally relevant for our purposes right now). I used to play online poker every day. I wasn’t that good – probably break even at micro-low stakes before… Read more »
As the calendar page turned to October, PokerStars launched its new (“and improved”!) PokerStars Rewards loyalty program. Available on most Stars sites around the world, the update comes after three months of testing with about a fifth of the company’s player base. “Listening to community feedback, we know our players want more rewards, more ways… Read more »
If the 2021 World Series of Poker is going on, that also means that the nominations are open for the 2021 Poker Hall of Fame. The Poker Hall of Fame, which has recognized poker greatness since 1979, has cracked the seal on their online nomination portal. Every person with a qualifying e-mail address can nominate… Read more »
Need a license to get in the game The Netherlands is cleaning its online gambling house, ready to start fresh in October. After Dutch lawmakers passed the Remote Gambling Act in April, internet gambling became legal, but operators must be licensed to offer their games. As such, Dutch regulator De Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has set a… Read more »
Stars had already paid $100 million Flutter Entertainment, parent company of online poker giant PokerStars, has settled its legal battle with the state of Kentucky, agreeing to pay $300 million in fines. It is a healthy chunk of change, but a far cry from the $1.3 billion Flutter was starting at in case that dates… Read more »
Flutter Entertainment announced on Monday that it is putting a deposit limit on young players in the UK and Ireland. Effective immediately, customers under the age of 25 on Betfair, Paddy Power, and Sky Betting & Gaming will have a net deposit limit of £500 per month. Flutter is willing to make exceptions for some… Read more »
The PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is currently underway, but that does little good for players in the United States, who cannot play on the dot com version of the poker room. Good news, though, as Stars just announced that its sites in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New Jersey will all have “COOPs” of… Read more »
20th anniversary for online poker’s highlight series PokerStars has announced the complete schedule for the 2021 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), the 20th running of the granddaddy of all online poker tournament series. Running August 22 to September 15, the 2021 WCOOP will have 102 events and $100 million in guaranteed prize pools. Through… Read more »
Tournament had a gigantic overlay PokerStars ran into what it called “technical issues” Sunday night, forcing it to cancel a big guaranteed tournament. The event was the special Sunday Storm 10th Anniversary tournament, featuring a massive $1 million guaranteed prize pool for just an $11 ($9.80 + $1.20) buy-in. The tournament began at 2:00pm and… Read more »
Building on 2020 The complete schedule is still to come, but poker players around the world can start moving things around on their work and social calendars, as PokerStars has announced the dates for the 2021 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). Running August 22 through September 15, this year’s WCOOP comes with $100 million… Read more »
Pennsylvania online poker market heating up We knew it was coming, but now we know when. WSOP.com has announced that it will launch in Pennsylvania next Monday, July 12. It will become the third online poker room to go live in the Keystone state, after PokerStars and BetMGM (BetMGM also launched along with sister site… Read more »
