PokerStars weekly roundup 3rd August 2009
WCOOP seats the extreme way
If you didn't considered Poker to be among the extreme sports then think again. With the World Championship of Online Poker (http://www.pokerstars.com/wcoop) just a month away PokerStars (http://www.pokerstars.com) have created WCOOP Extreme Satellites http://www.pokerstars.com/wcoop/extreme-satellites ), the best way to win WCOOP seats that could be worth millions. Hundreds of seats worth more than $1 million are available, and you can take one for as little as $7.50, a small price to pay for a seat in what will be the biggest online poker series in history. All this extremeness begins on August 4 with two or three satellites running daily through to August 16. Then it's just a short wait until the first of the 45 WCOOP events begin on
September 5. Millions of dollars are waiting to be won. You can find more info on the WCOOP (http://www.pokerstars.com/wcoop) page.
Change of plan - EPT heads to Kiev
All eyes were on Moscow for the start of the sixth season of the European Poker Tour (http://www.ept.com), but then politics intervened and all looked gloomy. When the Russian government announced it would be closing most of its casinos the immediate future looked grim for the EPT. That was until the good people of PokerStars (http://www.pokerstars.com) snapped into action and switched the location of the season opener across the border to Kiev in the Ukraine. The EPT Kiev Sports Poker Championship will now host the opener in the same August week scheduled for Russia. It will have the same buy-in and will likely be the biggest poker tournament ever held on Ukrainian soil. PokerStars players who have already won a seat to Moscow can now flip it to Kiev or any other stop on the EPT schedule, or they can simply take the cash. The official statement is available on the EPT website (http://www.ept.com).
APPT ready for Season Three
While there are changes on the EPT it's all systems go on the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker
Tour (http://www.appt.com). The third season is weeks away starting in Macau (http://www.appt.com/tournaments/macau/index.html) at the Grand Lisboa Casino (http://www.macau.com/index.php?option=com_casinos&Itemid=182&task=show_details&id=18) and the 2009 Macau Summer Festival. A total of 20 events will take place with the US$5,200 main event being the showpiece which last year was won by Eddie Sabat, a feat worth $460,000. Stops in Seoul, Korea; Auckland, New Zealand; Cebu, Philippines will follow, each with increased capacity, before a grand final in Sydney, Australia.
There's a poker tournament too?
It combined stunning scenery with the biggest poker tournament on New Zealand soil and the PokerStars.net Australia-New Zealand Poker Tour (http://www.anzpt.com) Queenstown event brought together 134 of the region's best. While a specially extended structure allowed players opportunity to check out the snow capped Southern Alps or try out some adventure sports, the main business was at the downtown SKYCITY Casino and a NZD$300,000 prize pool. The lion share was won last week by 46-year-old Danny Chevalier who took honours and a first prize of NZD $87,435 (http://www.anzpt.com/news/index.html#0). The ANZPT now returns to Australia for the season finale in Brisbane.
Hit the tables for the Americas Cup of poker
The Americas Cup is no longer exclusive to the sea, there's now a poker version set to be played out in the online world and the live tournament arena. This special new event pits players from 13 countries into battle for a $250,000 prize pool. After preliminary events eight teams will venture to
a ski resort in Bariloche, Argentina, to play out a World Cup style final with the Andes as a backdrop. That final will follow a four group phase made up of the United States, Mexico, and Ecuador in Group A; Canada, Columbia, and Uruguay in Group B; Chile, Venezuela, Peru, and Costa Rica in Group C and finally Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay in Group D. Three wildcard countries will also take part, determined by freeroll winners. The final will take place in September with more information available on PokerStars.com (http://www.pokerstars.com).
Brit wins IPT Venice
21 year old British poker pro Matt Perrins has won the second stop of the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour (http://www.pokerstarsipt.com) in Venice, cashing a cool €200,000. Perrins from Manchester, UK, grabbed an early chip lead on day one and never looked back, starting the final table with 795,000. 439 players turned out for IPT Venice creating a €851,660 prize pool. Among the players were Team PokerStars Pros Vanessa Rousso, Johnny Lodden and Dario Minieri. Vanessa Rousso ended day 2 second in chips just behind Perrins, and finished in 14th for €8,000. The last hand was heads up between Swede Johannes Sodastrom and Matt Perrins. Perrins picked up K♠T♠ which outran Sodastrom's 4♠4♥ on a board of 8♣K♣K♥2♦3♥. Sodastrom took home €120,000 for his second place finish.
$5 into $100,000
Back in March 'Boku87' managed to impressively turn $100 into $10,000 in just 2 weeks. His poker triumphs include turning Supernova Elite in 2007 and finishing 14th in the 2008 EPT Grand Final. However his current challenge will be the biggest yet - his goal is to turn $5 into $100,000 in just 12 months playing exclusively on PokerStars.com. Please check (http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/promotions/boku87) for regular updates on how the challenge is going, Boku87 will be writing a blog for PokerStars charting his progress.
