By
Dan |
Published
Dec 25 2008, 09:27 PM
With a Guinness Book of World Records attempt coming up on Sunday, PokerStars is upping the ante in another big way. In addition to the $11 buy-in $500,000 Guaranteed event to try to set the mark for the largest poker tournament ever held, PokerStars is raising the guarantee of its weekly Sunday Million to $2.5 million. In addition, the Sunday Warm-Up will feature a $1 million guarantee this week. It’s all part of the World Record Week on the online poker room. Let’s take a look at what you can expect to find on the world’s largest poker site.
The Sunday Million is the week’s richest tournament. Its regular guarantee is a healthy $1.5 million, which was recently raised from $1 million. This Sunday, December 28th, PokerStars will kick in an extra million dollars to the pot, giving players a shot at their share of at least $2.5 million. Last week, PocketFiver badonkadonk placed third in the tournament, taking home $89,768. He was the only member of the online poker community to reach the final table. The Sunday Million comes with a $215 price tag and kicks off at 4:30pm ET on PokerStars.
Not to be outdone, the Sunday Warm-Up, which begins at 12:45pm ET, will feature a $1 million guaranteed prize pool. The tournament’s regular pot is $750,000 and last week, six PocketFivers made the final nine. Coming in third place was dan82mur, who cashed for just over $46,000. He was joined by ael1979, People_Mover, cadillacsa, THE UTE, and liverdracon, who finished fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and ninth, respectively. The high-stakes tournament also has a $215 buy-in.
The Guinness World Record attempt is an effort by PokerStars to outdo its own mark set one year ago. The online poker room attracted 26,517 players to an $11 buy-in $100,000 Guaranteed tournament last year. This time around, the cost to enter remains $11. However, the guaranteed prize pool will be multiplied by five to $500,000. The tournament is capped at 35,000 players and begins promptly at 3:30pm ET. The Guinness Book of World Records is the print version of the esteemed organization and competitors in the tournament can both be a part of history as well as potentially take home a massive payday for an investment of just $11. The world record attempt is officially for “The Largest Online Poker Tournament.”
PokerStars is also aiming to set the mark for “The Most Players to Simultaneously Play Poker Online” on Sunday. The previous record, 213,000, was also set by PokerStars and occurred on Sunday, November 30th. Nearly one year ago, on Sunday, December 30th, 2007, a whopping 151,758 took to the virtual felts of the online poker room. In order to attract as many players as possible to PokerStars, the site is offering additional Frequent Player Point qualifiers to the Sunday Million as well as a flurry of additional promotions.
Recognizing that more action means more hands, PokerStars is awarding cash prizes for players involved in Milestone Hands. Players in every one-millionth hand dealt in ring games will receive a bonus based on the table’s limits. Additional prize money for the winners of Milestone Hands ranges from $250 to $2,000. Extra cash for others seated at the same table when the feat occurs will be between $100 and $800. In addition, the bonuses will be accelerated based on a player’s VIP status: SilverStar members will receive an extra 15% bonus, GoldStar will be awarded an extra 30% bonus, PlatinumStar members’ bonuses will be increased by 60%, Supernova players will receive an extra 120% bonus, and Supernova Elite players will see their bonuses jump by 200% in Milestone Hands.
Up to ten 10,000 player tournaments will also take place this weekend. The buy-in for each is $1 and an additional $10,000 in prize money will be kicked in by PokerStars. The tournaments will be listed in the software’s lobby beginning on Saturday, December 27th. Once 10,000 players have registered, it will kick off immediately and a new 10,000 player tournament will take its place. The tournaments are accessible by visiting the Sit and Go lobby.
Finally, a Team PokerStars Pro Championship Match will occur at 1:00pm ET on Sunday. It features an eight game format and every member of Team PokerStars Pro has been invited to play. The top three pros will receive prize money to donate to a charity of their choice. Next week, the tournament will be replayed with all hole cards exposed in order to give viewers an inside look at the minds of some of the world’s top poker pros. PocketFiver Barry barryg1 Greenstein (pictured) recently concluded a Masterclass on Stars in which he explained his every move during an eight game tournament. Just like in the Championship Match, a replay was held with hole cards exposed.
Visit PokerStars for full details on the $2.5 Million Sunday Million as well as all of the events from World Record Week.