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If you sat in on a Pokerstars ring game this week, you know there is something unusual going on, and that is 5 billionth hand madness! Pokerstars is currently running an exciting promotion linked to 33 "milestone hands" which will be dealt over the next few days. The grand prize is $50,000 to the winner of the 5 billionth hand, with everyone at the table pocketing $10K of their own! Eight* hands have already been dealt beginning with #4,930,000,000, which was dealt in a 3/6 limit game. So far, the others have been in penny games, which are seeing much more action than normal as players max out their tables in a mad grab to catch that magic hand. Here is a shot of the waitlist for penny tables as hand #4,945,000,000 approached:

It wasn't long before we were into the last 100 thousand hands and people were frantically trying to get a seat and yelling for everyone to auto-fold. It was a little bit nuts actually, but a lot of fun to watch. Then the dreaded red text comes up, telling you better luck next time, unless you were lucky enough to be seated at the right table at the right time.




I sent a few questions over to Lee Jones on the Promotion, and he got back to me very promptly, which I greatly appreciate.

Are you tracking spikes in player activity linked to the promo? Can you give me any rough numbers compared to an average weekday, and also when you get close, like within 2 million hands?

I can't give out specifics, but this is definitely one of our most successful promotions. We are seeing a huge increase in the number of real money players signing up, players on the site, etc.

I noticed the waitlists for the penny tables reached into the high 20s, and anytime a new table opened, it filled almost instantaneously. Has this put any pressure on your server in terms of bandwith, and have you had any problems?

Our programmers and systems people, bless their hearts, are putting in long hours (and some sleepless nights) to keep the software running like a Swiss watch as the traffic increases. If there's a system glitch, we all know about it instantly (a few thousand players alert us :-). I haven't heard anything, so I am sure that the user experience is smooth as ever.

We have an enviable record of system stability and robustness, and our people have, yet again, stepped up to the challenge of a huge increase in traffic.

We have had some pretty funny stories posted in the forum. Has anyone sent you any crazy stories in terms of player behavior, chat, or hands they've played/not played to try to hit the jackpot?

I haven't seen any, but I know they're out there. One of the things that we do around times like this (as we did for the one billionth hand) is make it harder for people to "steal" the jackpot hand. For instance, we will drastically reduce (or even eliminate) the micro-limit fixed limit Omaha high-only games. Since nobody really plays those games, players have in the past jumped on those heads-up and furiously traded blinds back and forth. We want legitimate players playing in legitimate games to hit the jackpot hands.

And from your point of view, how does it feel to hit this milestone? Any plans for what you will do when #10 billion comes around? Perhaps a trip to the moon?

It wasn't *that* long ago that we hit one billion. If you'd told me that five billion was all but around the corner, I would have laughed. So unless Andy Beal or somebody works a lot faster than I expect them to, a trip to the moon won't be an option for hand ten billion. I love it that the players are enjoying the promotion.

It also means that more people are getting a taste of PokerStars software and support and (we hope) becoming part of the PokerStars player community. I'm delighted to be part of the whole amazing experience.

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Hand number 4,950,000,000 will probably be dealt before I'm done with this article, but there are still many more left in this promotion, and the real excitement begins in the last ten million hands. From 4,990,000,000 on, a jackpot hand will be dealt every 500,000 hands, making the action that much faster and the frenzy at the penny tables that much more fun to be a part of. Each jackpot hand is worth $5,000 to the winner and $2,000 to everyone dealt in, and there is a bonus for the VIP program, making a "Supernova" player eligible for $11K for each hand! Here are some of the specifics from the Pokerstars website:

This promotion culminates in the magic #5,000,000,000 which has an unreal prize package for the lucky table:

"Then, when we reach the five billionth hand, we're pulling out all the stops. If you are dealt into the 5,000,000,000th hand in a cash ring game, we will give you $10,000 and a free entry into the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker main event. (Editor's Note: The WCOOP main event costs $2,700 to play, if you buy in directly.) If you win the five billionth hand, we'll give you $50,000 and a free entry into the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker main event!"

Also, Pokerstars is offering a small deposit bonus from May 11th to May 20th of 100% up to $25. The free money player is not completely locked out of the fun either:

"Play Money WSOP Seat 5 Billion Hand Freeroll -- Even if you're playing with play chips, you'll still have a chance to win a seat in the World Series of Poker. From May 14th to May 21st, when you play in play money ring games on PokerStars, you will have a chance to win a seat into a World Series of Poker freeroll. Every day, PokerStars will deal five special hands, selected at random. If you are dealt into one of the special hands, the game will stop, and a PokerStars Host will join the table to notify you of your good fortune. If you are dealt into one of these special hands, you will get a seat in the WSOP freeroll on Sunday, May 28th at 2:00pm ET."

To top it all off, Pokerstars is doubling their FPP rewards for the duration of the promotion from 5/12 to 5/21. So if you want to have some fun and take your shot at some very nice prizes be sure to reserve your seat at a Pokerstars ring game before it's too late.


* As of Wednesday, 5/17 at 10 ET hand #4.65 has been dealt and we are coming up on #4.7 billion very quickly! There are four left after that before we reach 4.9 and the rush to five billion, with a winner every 500,000 hands! Twenty jackpot hands dealt in a matter of hours. If you can't get a seat, be sure to watch, it should be fun!

Here are some posts from the forum about it:

Just folded AA and KK preflop back to back

Pokerstars 5 Billion Hand Crazyness

Can you win a 5 billion bonus hand heads up?

Stars 5billion hand promo