Returning this Thursday is the PocketFives Open, which, for the first time ever, makes its way to bwin. There are already 35 people registered for the event, which is open to any member of our community regardless of whether your bwin account is tracked to PocketFives. This is one of our favorite tournaments of the year and we’d like to thank bwin for hosting the Open for us. There’s well over $3,000 in added prizes to the $11 buy-in tournament.

Here are the vitals for the PocketFives Open on bwin:

Date: Thursday, February 23rd
Time: 19:30 GMT
Poker Site: bwin
Entry: $11
Password: p5sbwin
Tournament Reference Number: O-32668-1

The PocketFives Open is your chance to play with several of the game’s greats, including Steve Illini213Barshak (pictured), who plays on bwin as WizKhalifa. Barshak is one of five bounties that we have lined up for Thursday’s PocketFives Open. It’s appropriate because this week, Barshak reached his highest position ever in the PocketFives Poker Rankingsat #14 worldwide. He’s two weeks removed from a win in the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up and will be a targeted man in this week’s PocketFives Open.

Also gracing us with his presence in the Open as a bounty is Mike Gags30Gagliano. A PocketFives Training instructor, Gagliano is also a two-time Triple Crown winner who has nearly $2 million in tracked cashes. He final tabled the PokerStars Sunday 500 last weekend and will be logged into bwin under the user name Zingasaurus.

A total of five bounties will be up for grabs in the PocketFives Open:

Illini213 – WizKhalifaon bwin
wackyJaxon – PushkaMyAceson bwin
Gags30 – Zingasauruson bwin
ApesAreFun – ApesAreFunon bwin
RedIceRap – RedIceRapon bwin

Now, let’s break down the added prizes, and there are a lot of them. The prize pool will pay out the same way as in a normal tournament, but over $3,000 in prizes will be added. To start with, bwin is graciously giving away five $200 tickets to the Ongame Network’s ChampionChip, its weekly Sunday Major that starts at 18:00 GMT+1. This means that five players will walk away with ChampionChip entries in tow. To learn how to claim one, check out our PocketFives Open prize details.

Holdem Manager 2 was rolled out in recent months, so in celebration, we’ve giving away 10 Holdem Manager 2 Pro licenses worth $89.95 apiece to players in the PocketFives Open. Holdem Manager officials were kind enough to donate this prize, which is worth a total of $900, in commemoration of their brand new product. A vastly improved user interface, a rock solid Heads-Up Display, and state-of-the-art graphical capabilities are just a few of the reasons to try out Holdem Manager 2 even if you don’t snag one through PocketFives.

The folks at PocketFives Training are giving away 20 one-month licenses in Thursday’s PocketFives Open. We’ll even waive the sign-up fee, making these worth $65 each. PocketFives Training provides the top MTT instruction on the planet. As we already said, Gagliano is an instructor and one of the primary faces of the site. And if you don’t score one of the 20 one-month licenses we’re shelling out in the PocketFives Open, you can take advantage of a two-day free trial instead.

As usual, we’ll be giving away scads of PocketFives Gear on Thursday, including hoodies and t-shirts. Visit our official thread in Poker Communityfor more information on the Open itself. And be sure to view the official prize details to see how to win ChampionChip tickets, Holdem Manager 2 licenses, PocketFives Training, and PocketFives Gear.

If you don’t already have a bwin account, sign up through PocketFives to support our online poker community. You’ll also get a free $5.50 tournament ticket as well as one free month of PocketFives Training with the sign-up fee waived if you make a deposit.

We’ll see you on bwin on Thursday at 19:30 GMT for the PocketFives Open.