Poker Articles

By Adam | Published Mar 22 2006, 05:00 AM

If you're anything like me, you're looking for the easiest way to get to the World Series of Poker this year, or at the very least, the best value.  SunPoker is offering P5ers a free chance to get there, simply by playing on their site.  If I was allowed to take part in this promotion, I would be all over it--all it takes to have a shot is to play a couple hours a week for the next three months.

Basically, there's going to be a single-table freeroll for a WSOP seat, and everyone at that table will have signed up through a P5s link.  The participants in this freeroll will be determined after June 20th, as follows:

• The three players with the most MPPs (my poker points) between March 20th and June 20th will be directly entered.
  
• The players ranking 4th-13th in MPPs will play in a single table tournament, and the top 3 in that tournament will advance to the WSOP freeroll.
  
• All players earning at least 1,000 MPPs in that time period will be entered into an MTT.  The top 3 in that MTT will earn a spot in the WSOP freeroll.
  
• The PocketFives.com Staff will give away the final spot in the WSOP freeroll in a promotion that has not yet been determined.

The package they're giving away is better in some ways than the packages most other sites offer.  First of all, it's got a higher cash value than most major sites' packages--$13k.  The winner will have $2,000 for travel (which must be used for travel--it's not refundable) and will also get an additional $1,000 in spending money after the trip, contingent on them wearing SunPoker gear in the event(s) they play.  It's also better because it's more versatile.  The winner of this promotion will have the option to play in any number of events that add up to $10,000 in buy ins.  That means that if you already won a WSOP main event seat on another site, you can still take part in this promotion, and if you win, you can use the $10,000 buy in for whichever WSOP tournaments you wish to play.

MPPs are earned in a similar way to how "player points" are earned on most sites, based on raked hands.  If a hand is raked $1 or more, each player participating at the table receives 1 MPP, and if the pot is raked less than $1, each player get 1/4 of an MPP. 

Playing $3-6 limit, you would only need to play 1,200-1,800 hands to clear 1,000 MPPs.  That means that in 20-30 table hours, you'll have earned enough MPPs to take part in the MTT.  Even playing as low as 1-2 limit, you can earn a spot in the MTT by logging 30-50 table hours in a 3 month period.  Playing 3 tables of 1-2 limit for 1 hour and 15 minutes per week will get you there -- all you have to do to have a free shot at a WSOP seat is sign up through a P5s link for SunPoker and play a little over an hour a week on the site for 3 months.

About SunPoker....it's really a pretty good site.  I put some money in this week and have been playing their NL cash games.  Being a part of the Cryptologic Network, there is plenty of action at the cash tables most of the time.  The Cryptologic Network draws a lot of European players, so when it's night time in the US and many of the American players are asleep, there are still plenty of people from other parts of the world playing.  I wasn't going to get a sit-n-go started at 3 in the morning, but I could easily find a couple tables to play at a number of different levels of cash play.  The mid-sized fixed limit games do seem to slow down a bit at night.





The fixed limit games range from $.25/$.50 to $150/$300, and the NL/PL games range from $.15-$.25 blinds to $25-50.

Also, the stakes on this site are shown in terms of US Dollars at some tables, while at other tables, they are shown in terms of Pounds or Euros.  The site will automatically convert your money, free of charge, when you want to play at a table that does not use your default currency.  This is a useful feature, since at certain hours, there is more action to be found at the tables that use European currencies.  The site also shows you exactly how many Dollars, Euros, or Pounds it is converting to another currency, and how much of that other currency you are getting for your money, so it is very easy to switch back and forth effortlessly between the various tables.

The action on the site is great, or at least it has been during the times I've played.  The players are generally bad and willing to give away large amounts of money.  I haven't found any difficult competition at the small-medium NL tables, which are a great place to grind out MPPs.

And speaking of grinding, SunPoker offers a nice monthly bonus for players who accumulate at least 200 points.  In addition to the 100% sign up bonus (up to $50), they give you a $40 bonus for every month where you satisfy this small hand requirement (3-8 table hours, depending on the stakes). 

To clear a $50 bonus, you have to accumulate 250 points, which shouldn't take you more than about 10 hours at any level.

In addition to grinding it out in cash games, you can participate in a variety of tournaments on SunPoker.  They guarantee $3.5 million in prizes each month.  Check out their Tournament Schedule for more information about what is offered on a daily basis.

They will also be having a $600k guaranteed short-handed tournament on April 2nd, which is right around the corner.  There are 5 daily MTT satellites for the tournament, as well as STT satellites, all of which are 6-handed.  This will be one of the most lucrative short-handed tournaments ever to be played on the internet.

All in all, SunPoker offers a quality product, and they have reached out to our community with a great promotion.  Remember, to participate, you must sign up through one of the links on PocketFives.com.  I'm looking forward to meeting the winner in July in Vegas.  Good luck, everyone!