There will be unlimited rebuys in the first hour and cost $22 per entry with a $4000 starting stack plus $22 top-up at the break.
The tournament will pay for the top 8 and the turbo table for wild card to final table. First prize will be $1000 and a 20 minute blinds rolled back two levels at final table.
Les Arnold won the Thursday free game from 16 contestants with Shane placing second and Graeme Fridd third.
Twenty-three players were attracted to the cash game with Tony Place taking out first place, Lionel Dell second and Mark Sullivan third.
Greg Clark won the Sunday tournament from Michael Harvey and Simon Dickson while John Harvey won the cash game with Michael Harvey again in second spot and Les Arnold finishing third.
Royal Flush Jackpot now stands at $822 (free game) and $2314 (cash game). Come down on Saturday for a great Christmas party with friends.
This month marks the 10th anniversary of PokerStars and they will be celebrating in style by hosting a Sunday Million which features an unprecedented $10 million guaranteed prize pool.
The 10th Anniversary Sunday Million is set to take place on Dec. 18 at 1430 EST (1930 GMT) and the eventual winner will take home a $2 million guaranteed first place prize.
To help celebrate this monumental moment in PokerStars’ history, PokerNews is hosting a $2+$0.20 tournament which will award a total of 6 seats into the Sunday Million worth $215 each.
The PokerNews 10th Anniversary Special is scheduled for Dec. 16 at 1400 EST (1400 GM) and the top 5 finishers will each win a seat into the $10 million guaranteed Sunday Million.
The satellite tournament costs only $2+0.20 to enter and to take part in the event players simply need the password PN10SPECIAL. In addition to the 5 seats on offer to the winners, PokerNews can announce that an exciting opportunity will see one additional seat awarded.
Bounty on Team PokerStars
If you ever dreamed of sending a professional poker player to the rail then now is your chance as Team PokerStars Pro Pat Pezzin will be playing in the PokerNews 10th Anniversary Special.
The best part about Pezzin taking part in this event is that he will have a bounty on his head. The player who eliminates Pezzin will be awarded a $215 seat into the 10th Anniversary Sunday Million.
This bounty seat is in addition to the 5 seats which are on offer to the top 5 finishers and gives even more incentive for player to take part in this great initiative.
PokerNews 10th Anniversary Special
Date: Dec. 16
Time: 1400 EST (19:00 GMT)
Buy-in: $2+$0.20
Password: PN10SPECIAL
Guaranteed Prize Pool: 5 Sunday Million Seats
Bonus Prize: Additional Seat awarded for the elimination of Pat Pezzin
The super-sized Sunday Million capped off several weeks of celebration in honor of the site’s tenth anniversary. Thanks to a $10 million guarantee with a promise of a $2 million payday for first place, the tournament drew 62,116 players, 7,682 of which made the money.
Once play got down to the final six players, they agreed to a six-way chop that gave each of the players at least a half a million dollars. The winner of the event, Kyle “First-Eagle” Weir, took home a seven-figure payday of $1,146,574.65. Weir is a 24 year old Canadian who no longer has to worry about his unemployed status. Weir’s biggest score prior to Sunday was worth just around $04,000. Now he is a millionaire after just over 15 hours of work.
The Sunday Million was not the only event with a seven-figure prize pool running on PokerStars on Sunday. The site also hosted a 10th anniversary High Roller Event as well, which drew 187 players and generated a $1.87 million prize pool. The event paid the top 27 places and some of the players who made the money included William “Altrum Altus” Reynolds (27th), Mike “Timex” McDonald (23rd), Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel (15th), Russell Carson (13th), and Jamie “pokerjamers” Armstrong, who bubbled the final table in tenth place.
Joey “jcl87″ Lawrence played his way to an outright win worth $402,050 after defeating Grayson “gray31″ Ramage heads-up. Ramage earned $289,850 for second place, while WSOP bracelet winner Keven Stammen rounded out the top three with a $219,725 finish. Other notables at the final table included 2011 PCA runner-up Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver (5th) and Dan “djk123″ Kelly (8th).
Here are the results of the 10th Anniversary Sunday Million and the 10th Anniversary High Roller Event:
10th Anniversary Sunday Million
Prize Pool: $12,423,200
Entrants: 62,116
1st: Kyle “First-Eagle” Weir – $1,146,574.65*
2nd: Unstoffable – $580,724.34*
3rd: BLAABAR – $709,896.78*
4th: tunafish919 – $627,317.26*
5th: Dimedroll – $995,996.85*
6th: SkunDen – $758,986.42*
7th: fireballdio – $182,406.00
8th: kaalen – $119,866.80
9th: yokouno1980 – $86,512.56
PokerStars 10th Anniversary High Roller Event
Prize Pool: $1,870,000
Entrants: 187
1st: Joey “jcl87″ Lawrence – $402,050.00
2nd: Grayson “gray31″ Ramage – $289,850.00
3rd: Keven “Stammdogg” Stammen – $219,725.00
4th: Ashley “DYBYDX” Mason – $163,625.00
5th: Chaaai – $112,200.00
6th: Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver – $93,500.00
7th: montecarlo13 – $74,800.00
8th: Dan “djk123″ Kelly – $56,100.00
9th: Greenstone25 – $37,400.00
American poker enthusiasts just had to sit back and watch on the sidelines as PokerStars broke records on Sunday with a Sunday Million tournament that generated an astonishing $12,423,200 in prize money. That bests the previous record set by the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event in 2010, which had a prize pool of $12,215,000.
The super-sized Sunday Million capped off several weeks of celebration in honor of the site’s tenth anniversary. Thanks to a $10 million guarantee with a promise of a $2 million payday for first place, the tournament drew 62,116 players, 7,682 of which made the money.
Once play got down to the final six players, they agreed to a six-way chop that gave each of the players at least a half a million dollars. The winner of the event, Kyle “First-Eagle” Weir, took home a seven-figure payday of $1,146,574.65. Weir is a 24 year old Canadian who no longer has to worry about his unemployed status. Weir’s biggest score prior to Sunday was worth just around $04,000. Now he is a millionaire after just over 15 hours of work.
The Sunday Million was not the only event with a seven-figure prize pool running on PokerStars on Sunday. The site also hosted a 10th anniversary High Roller Event as well, which drew 187 players and generated a $1.87 million prize pool. The event paid the top 27 places and some of the players who made the money included William “Altrum Altus” Reynolds (27th), Mike “Timex” McDonald (23rd), Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel (15th), Russell Carson (13th), and Jamie “pokerjamers” Armstrong, who bubbled the final table in tenth place.
Joey “jcl87″ Lawrence played his way to an outright win worth $402,050 after defeating Grayson “gray31″ Ramage heads-up. Ramage earned $289,850 for second place, while WSOP bracelet winner Keven Stammen rounded out the top three with a $219,725 finish. Other notables at the final table included 2011 PCA runner-up Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver (5th) and Dan “djk123″ Kelly (8th).
Here are the results of the 10th Anniversary Sunday Million and the 10th Anniversary High Roller Event:
10th Anniversary Sunday Million
Prize Pool: $12,423,200
Entrants: 62,116
1st: Kyle “First-Eagle” Weir – $1,146,574.65*
2nd: Unstoffable – $580,724.34*
3rd: BLAABAR – $709,896.78*
4th: tunafish919 – $627,317.26*
5th: Dimedroll – $995,996.85*
6th: SkunDen – $758,986.42*
7th: fireballdio – $182,406.00
8th: kaalen – $119,866.80
9th: yokouno1980 – $86,512.56
PokerStars 10th Anniversary High Roller Event
Prize Pool: $1,870,000
Entrants: 187
1st: Joey “jcl87″ Lawrence – $402,050.00
2nd: Grayson “gray31″ Ramage – $289,850.00
3rd: Keven “Stammdogg” Stammen – $219,725.00
4th: Ashley “DYBYDX” Mason – $163,625.00
5th: Chaaai – $112,200.00
6th: Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver – $93,500.00
7th: montecarlo13 – $74,800.00
8th: Dan “djk123″ Kelly – $56,100.00
9th: Greenstone25 – $37,400.00
The changes made by the world’s largest online poker room revolved around two things: a switch from the “dealt” method to “weighted contributed” method of calculating VIP Player Points (VPPs) and a simplification in rake calculation, including lower percentages and new rake caps. It is the VPP calculation change that has people up arms.
Prior to the change, PokerStars used the “dealt” method of VPP calculation, which meant that every player who was dealt cards in a ring game hand would receive an equal share of the VPPs that were awarded to the table. In the new, “weighted contributed” method, players are awarded VPPs relative to how much they contribute to the pot (overall VPP calculation for the table remains the same). Thus, players who fold pre-flop receive nothing, while those who battle it out for the pot receive the bulk of the rewards.
To most, the basic idea behind the change should make sense: reward the players who build pots. The uproar stems from the impact that people believe this will have on PokerStars regulars, the loyal, highest volume players. These players, the ones who make a living playing poker or are very serious amateurs, rely not just on their skill to make a profit, but also on the cash rewards earned through PokerStars’ loyalty program. These players also tend to be very tight players, a style of play which makes it easier to massively multi-table and even out some of the peaks and valleys that inevitably haunt daily grinders. Because they are tight, they do a lot of folding pre-flop and thus, with the new “weighted contributed” method, will not, on average, receive as many VPPs as they did before. On top of that, the higher a player climbs on the VIP status ladder, the more Frequent Player Points (FPPs) he receives per VPP; these FPPs are what can eventually be redeemed for cash (in addition to the Milestone Cash Credits for hitting certain VPP numbers). Thus, the highest level players are expected to take a healthy FPP hit.
The players who will benefit from the changes will tend to be looser, lower level, recreational players. They will not receive as many FPPs per VPP and therefore will not have the breadth and quality of rewards from which to choose compared to the high VIP status players.
As Two Plus Two poster “MSauce” wrote, “This means that almost all the high volume regulars will lose money, the recreational players will gain very little, and stars will gain all the rest.”
One player estimated that a player who would have earned 1 million VPPs in the old system and reached Supernova Elite status would receive $41,200 less in total rewards because of the combined loss of Milestone Cash Credits, FPPs which would be redeemed for cash, and free tournament entries. He went on to estimate that the rewards redistribution would result in a maximum of $7,200 going to lower level players, meaning that PokerStars keeps the remaining $34,000. Again, these are just estimates given by one player, but his point is that the regular, high volume players will be seriously hurt by the new policies, while PokerStars will profit.
Company rep “PokerStars Steve” readily admits that the VPP change will benefit the online poker room, saying, “It’s difficult to predict accurately how much savings will this change generate, but our preliminary assessment, if play remains the same, is in the range of 1.5% to 2% of gross rake for the ring games.” He added, “We planned to use this money to reduce the rake and invest in marketing and other initiatives that bring recreational players to the site.”
As he said, PokerStars did reduce the rake in an effort to make up for any potential lost rewards. Players were still upset about the rake caps at some tables, but those complaints were minor compared to the change to the “weighted contributed” method. The change was made, for all intents and purposes, to make the games more attractive recreational players, who, as stated earlier, tend to play looser than regular grinders. Casual players typically get bored playing against ultra-tight players and because casual players re-deposit more frequently than regulars, PokerStars wants to do what it takes to keep them having fun and on the site. Additionally, regulars make their profits off of the casual players, so the more “fish” on the site, the better it is for the “sharks.”
The outrage was so strong that a mass sit-out, an “Occupy Pokerstars” of sorts, was organized on the Two Plus Two forums, led by the aforementioned “MSauce.” The plan was to get as many people as possible to open as many tables as possible at noon EST on January 1st, take a seat and simply not play. The goal was to sufficiently disrupt the games so as to get the attention of PokerStars and work towards a resolution of the problem.
Of course, since this was organized on a public forum, PokerStars learned of it and began to take action. The online poker room suspended the changes to the rake structure (including rake caps) so that they could be evaluated further, though it still moved forward with the switch to the “weighted contributed” method of VPP calculation. Additionally, PokerStars offered to host a meeting with a handful of players at its offices in the Isle of Man to discuss the issues. These moves were well received, for the most part, by the poker community, but the weighted contributed controversy still remained, so the protest proceeded as planned.
PokerStars was ready for the sit-out, too. Protesters who attempted to open up table after table (up to as ma
In breaking news announced today, Chipsplit (the affiliate program behind Carbon Poker + many other Merge Gaming brands) has released a statement announcing that Carbon Poker will be accepting new registrations (and allow existing accounts to once again play) from players residing in the United States from 12.01AM server time. Carbon Poker is part of the well established network, Merge Gaming, which has established a strong worldwide poker player base.
This begs the question: Which is now the safest online poker site for US players to play real money poker at? With this change, the team at NoLimitStrategy-net would have to go in favour of Carbon Poker due to its large player base, fast cashout times and strong brand history in the online poker market.
Here is the full statement that was released earlier today:
“ChipSplit is excited to announce that as of Wednesday, October 13th at 12:01AM Server Time CarbonPoker and PDC Poker will be accepting new players worldwide.
_________________
Oh so good!!
CarbonPoker is a leader in online poker. In addition to free poker, our real money ring games and poker tournaments are played on industry-leading software. Whether you're a novice poker player, or a seasoned shark, CarbonPoker has the game and stakes for you. On the Merge Gaming platform, Carbon stands out as THE place where poker happens. Our range of online poker games is extensive and our player base is growing rapidly. CarbonPoker support is responsive, fast and courteous - all to enhance your gaming experience and build a better site. With a variety of stakes, games and promotions, CarbonPoker has something to offer each and every online poker player. Get in on the action and play Texas Hold'em, Omaha Poker, Blackjack and many more games at CarbonPoker. Downloading our free poker software guarantees you the most secure, fast-paced action online.
_________________
Oh so good!!
Following the Black Friday incident of April this year when three of the biggest names in the poker industry got shut down by the US Department of Justice, the sites’ large population of players moved on to different online sites that were available, and these include Carbon Poker. Things however turned to a different direction as Carbon Poker wasn’t able to cope up with the sudden surge of population which led to customer service problems and some cash out issues as well. In turn, it has announced that it would leave the US market but they did promise to be back after a few months.
US poker players have started to lose hope in the world of online poker and some even moved to different parts of the world in order to continue on with their chosen profession. Now US poker players can rejoice as Carbon Poker announces its own reopening in the US market this month anywhere from August 15 to 31.
Back Then
Carbon Poker was one of the top 10 sites with the most traffic right after the Black Friday incident. Of course, this wasn’t at all great news for Carbon Poker as the poker site wasn’t at all capable of handling such a huge rush of players coming in. As the players were in desperate search for a viable destination for online poker, they have set their eyes on Carbon Poker and its soft competition. Players however were starting to experience problems in terms of the withdrawals and the customer support team wasn’t able to accommodate such a large number of complaints.
No More Issues
Carbon poker has announced its reopening. Throughout the past months of inactivity, it has slowly improved its customer service department which enables its staff to cope with a larger population than ever before. Another worthy improvement is its cash out options. Players will now have a wider range of withdrawal options to choose from, plus the waiting period for the withdrawal process to be completed is cut to a significant amount, so you won’t have to wait long before you get your cash. Carbon Poker also has an improved cash back system that allows its players to earn up to 47% in cash back bonuses. The VIP system has also been improved as players will be able to earn points as they make wagers, which they can exchange for cash rebates at any given time.
Carbon Poker
_________________
Oh so good!!
If they so believe that they have been the victim of a crime, the AGCC has advised these players to contact law enforcement officials to take further action.
While the statement from the AGCC did not mention anything regarding the buyout of Full Tilt Poker by French investment group Groupe Bernard Tapie, it is still believed that GBT will acquire the online poker brand and assets from the US Department of Justice in exchange for one $80 million payment. Upon transfer, the US DOJ will drop all charges and civil complaints against the Full Tilt name. It is still unknown whether or not players will ever be reimbursed for their confiscated accounts, though many are still hopeful that once the takeover is finalized, the new owners will make their best effort to pay back some or all that is owed to the disgruntled US players.
While some suggested that the effects of these protests would be minimal, they do appear to be having some impact on the world's largest poker site. PokerStars.com has seen a slight increase in cash game traffic week over week, but that increase was smaller than most other major poker sitse. While PokerStars enjoyed a 5% week-over-week increase, that paled in comparison to PartyPoker, which saw a 29% rise, and iPoker, which has a 12% increase.
More dramatic was the impact seen at PokerStars.fr, the version of the site accessible exclusively in the French poker market. That site actually saw a 10% decrease in cash game traffic, which was enough to knock the site out of the top position in terms of French poker sites. According to PokerScout, Winamax.fr is now the largest room in the French poker market.
The drop in French traffic might be especially harmful to PokerStars' bottom line. A PokerStars.fr protest was organized at ClubPoker.net, and reportedly includes over 100 high volume players on the site, including several Supernova Elite players -- the highest volume players in the PokerStars VIP program.
The controversy that led to these protests stems primarily from changes to the VIP Player Points (VPP) system used by PokerStars to reward players for their play on the site. Until 2012, PokerStars used a method of points that rewarded players each time they were dealt into a hand. If a hand was raked, it became eligible for VPPs, and all players dealt into the hand shared equally in the VPP rewards. Under the new system for 2012, players now recieve points based on their contribution to the rake -- a so-called "weighted contribution" system.
This change has been extremely controversial. High volume players tend to be winning players, but they're also tighter players than average. This means that they contribute less to pots on average. The change in the VPP system will means substantially lower rewards for these players. On the other side of this argument, more casual players are likely to see an increase in their VPP haul, as they tend to contribute more to the rake on each hand. However, since high volume players who have large numbers of player points get much better returns on their rewards, taking VPPs away from high-volume players and moving them to casual players will likely benefit PokerStars more than any group of players.
PokerStars has announced plans to speak to player representatives in an attempt to find a solution to this issue that works for all sides.
PokerStars traffic has also been low in comparison to other big online poker sites. For instance, while PokerStars has had a 5% increase in traffic over the past couple weeks, PartyPoker has had a 25% increase and iPoker a 12% rise in online poker traffic.
Other effects of the boycott can be seen in the PokerStars.fr traffic results. Whereas PokerStars was the top online poker site in France, and it saw a 10% rise in traffic, Winamax.fr is now getting more player traffic by French poker players. In addition, more than 100 high-stakes players, many of which were Supernova Elite players (the highest level of VIP), have organized a protest of PokerStars.fr via ClubPoker.net. This protest is based on the alterations of the VIP Player Points (VPP) system. The new terms reward players on a weighted contribution basis, where they receive rewards based on how much they contribute to rake. Before the changes, anyone dealt into the hand would receive equal parts rewards based on the size of the pot.
Tighter players, who don’t contribute as much to the pot as loose players, are now earning less rewards than players who contribute more money to the pot. Online poker analysts say that in the long run, this change will not be beneficial to PokerStars. Whether or not PokerStars will amend their decision to change things will be seen. After all, in any business model, if the customers (the players) aren’t happy, then the business will suffer.
CarbonPoker offers players the chance to double their VIP points through wagers made on Mondays and Tuesdays. The promo is called ‘2X VIP Points December’. The promo will be offered between the 1st of December and the 31st (2011). Players who have opted to take part in the promo will be awarded double the number of VIP points that they will earn while playing cash games, SitNGo’s and Multi-Table Tournaments during the promotional period.
_________________
Oh so good!!
Darn. I missed this one. I have played and won a lot from this. Wish me luck next time instead.
_________________
Oh so good!!
_________________
Oh so good!!
I wish you a very good time `next time` :dirol:dirol:dirol
So far so good new to carbon and 2 mtt final tbls already
_________________
Oh so good!!
CarbonPoker offers a range of poker games, with a rapidly expanding player base. CarbonPoker support is responsive, fast, and courteous. With a variety of stakes, games, and promotions, CarbonPoker has something to offer players of all experience levels and bankroll sizes. The site provides many disciplines of poker, as well as blackjack and a slew of other gambling games. The poker software has unique features, allowing players to run it twice, rabbit hunt, expose one card, and much more. Players can also earn VIP rewards for honing their skills at CarbonPoker
:dirol
_________________
Oh so good!!
While most of the Merge Network has remained available in the United States, one of the biggest poker rooms on the network – Carbon Poker – announced earlier this year that they would be temporarily leaving the United States market while they dealt with a variety of customer service and payout issues. Now, Carbon Poker is coming back to the USA market, and plans to open its doors to American players again by the end of August. The Merge Network was one of the larger poker networks that stuck with the US market after the events of Black Friday, when PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and the Cereus Network were targeted by the US Government and essentially forced out of the USA market.
The result was that several other poker rooms and networks began picking up a significant number of American players who were looking for new places to play online poker. Merge Poker Network was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the change, with the largest gains being made by popular rooms such as Carbon Poker and Lock Poker.
However, the influx of players came with some unanticipated difficulties. Carbon Poker in particular found it hard to service their suddenly expanded player base. As a reaction, Carbon Poker announced they would temporarily stop servicing USA players in order to better prepare to service those players. It would seem that these concerns have been met, as Carbon Poker is expected to reopen to Americans sometime in the next two weeks.
For American players, the number of options available has become somewhat limited, though this situation may change in the near future. Momentum appears to be building rapidly for a federal solution to online poker, leading many to believe that an online poker regulation bill could be a reality in the United States by the end of the year. Conversely, Bodog has announced that they will leave the USA market at the end of 2011, as they plan to focus more on their worldwide operations.
_________________
Oh so good!!
As of June 1st new players joining CarbonPoker, PDC Poker, and Aced Poker will not be able to get rakeback any longer.
Though new players are able to earn up to 35% in rebates by qualifying for the Ether level of CarbonPoker's VIP program, and will earn VIP points faster through their ring game and tournament play compared to players collecting rakeback. The ether level is the highest and most prestigous but you need to accumalate 25000 VIP points through a calendar month. Other players have the opportunity to reach earth, wind, fire or water level for other perks and rebates.
Players already tracked to rakeback will continue to collect rakeback going forward.
_________________
Oh so good!!
The new lobby, re-sized at an easy-on-the-eyes 1000x700 pixels, provides online poker players with an intuitively easy navigation menu, allowing them to quickly find the cash tables and tournaments that they would want to join. The menu includes easy access to a graphical listing of the player's favorite games, tables, and tournaments, as well as a "quick seat" function that makes it possible for a player to choose an appropriate table within seconds.
In the redesigned lobby, poker players are able to easily follow the progress statistics of their player point accumulation, hands played, and bonus redemption status.
Players nostalgic for the older version of Titan Poker's lobby design can switch back to that earlier viewing mode with the click of a button.
The redesign of the Titan Poker lobby is the latest step of the online poker room's ongoing efforts to improve the gaming experience it offers players. In the coming weeks, Titan Poker will introduce new and exciting types of tournaments, alongside an ever-changing schedule of innovative promotions and gaming activities that will interest novice and veteran poker players alike.
Online poker players alike are invited to try out the free poker software download at Titan Poker and experience the redesigned lobby and enhanced features of Europe's most exciting online poker room.
US attorney Bharara has stated that Full Tilt Poker was running an illegal online poker business in the US. He also stated that Full Tilt Poker’s directors and executive officers filled their own pockets with player funds and that they did not tell their players the entire truth regarding security issues.
The US federal government had filed three separate copies of the complaint against the three online poker rooms on Nov 20 and the companies were expected to file a response before Nov 30, but now the three have been granted an extension till Jan 2, 2012. The reason for the extension was certain legal papers filed by poker players Rafe Furst and Howard Lederer in the US court.
On Nov 28, Rafe Furst and Howard Lederer quoted the Supplemental Rules for Admiralty and Maritime Claims G(5), according to which they claimed funds confiscated by the DoJ. Shortly thereafter, Chris Ferguson and Ray Bitar also followed suit.
Ferguson has claimed funds in several frozen bank accounts and has mentioned that Vantage Ltd. and Kolyma Corporation AVV have rights to the funds seized by the DoJ. He has made a list of several bank accounts and has claimed a total of $98,276,540 from these accounts.
The Full Tilt Poker website has a copy of the Stipulation and Order of the New York district court, as per which the online poker room is conducting talks with the US federal government and requires an extension to file its response to the civil complaint filed by DoJ against it. Similar documents are also available at PokerStars and Absolute Poker.