Tournament Types at Winner Poker

If huge winnings, fast-rolling thrills and poker fame and glory are for you, why not consider trading-in the sit ‘n’ go convenience of traditional cash games, for the bright lights and excitement of poker tournaments? While it’s true that you’ll never experience the WSOP-style limelight or accompanying sky-high payouts from the ring table, there’s certainly no pain without gain in the survival of the fittest world of poker tournaments. Then again, that’s all part of the fun at Winner Poker.

There’s no better place to learn how to play poker tournaments or sharpen your existing tournament skills than at Winner Poker, where you’ll find sensational prizes offerings and the latest in round-the-clock tournament games, with card games and classics like Texas Holdem, to poker variants like Omaha, 5 and 7 card stud and more. With regular online poker freerolls, lucrative promotions, guaranteed cash prizes and buy-ins starting from just $10, it’s the perfect way to give your poker skills a run for your money.

Play in the comfort and safety of our state-of-the-art technology, offering 24 hour game monitoring and supervision, the latest anti-collusion software and live online game support both night and day.

Each tournament prize pool is distributed in full upon completion of the tournament. In the event of non-completion, the tournament will be rescheduled and buy-ins paid will be refunded to all participating players.

Winner Poker offers three types of tournaments:

• Multi-Table Tournaments
• Single Table Tournaments
• Satellite Tournaments

Game strategy is not the only thing that’s different about cash games and tournaments. While ring table games offer the freedom to sit ‘n’ go, a unique set of rules apply in tournaments.

Multi-Table Tournaments

Multi-table tournaments are designed to accommodate a larger number of players on several different tables, so that players may find themselves reassigned to different tables as the tournament proceeds and players are eliminated.

Disconnections
If a player is disconnected, the game will continue to be played and blinds and antes will still be posted automatically. In the event of disconnection, the player will automatically be marked as ‘away from the table’. If possible, the player should log back in immediately and uncheck the relevant box to rejoin the session. A window of approximately 30 seconds is allocated for reconnection, after which time the player will be blinded/anted out of the tournament, or have their hand folded in unless they are ‘all in’.

Players who elect to sit out will also be deemed as ‘away from the table’. Blinds will still be taken and they will continue to receive cards that will be folded in turn.

While the possibility is rare, players must accept the risk of spontaneous disconnection, for which Winner Poker will not assume any responsibility, regardless of the circumstance.
Interrupted Tournaments

In the event that the tournament is interrupted, Winner Poker will refund players in accordance with the tournament type and the stage of tournament play. Find out more about our refund policy for interrupted tournaments.

Tournament Play
Start by selecting the ‘Tournament Tab’ and choosing a tournament from the list of tournaments open for registration. The online tournament table will automatically open when your chosen tournament starts, and your seat will be assigned randomly along with others. If you are already seated at the maximum number of allowable tables, a pop-up window will appear prompting you to exit another table before the tournament launches. Until this occurs, you will be deemed as ‘away from the table’.

Blinds, otherwise known as ‘levels’, increase at regular intervals during the tournament. In tournaments (unlike cash games), blinds cannot be missed and will be posted automatically. Sometimes the use of a dead button may be necessary.

Tables are balanced by Winner Poker software to maintain numbers of players across each of the tournament tables. Players may be randomly reassigned to another table, which can occur on several occasions as more players are eliminated and tables are closed according to the highest number of vacant seats. This is likely to occur until the final table is reached.

Payout Structure
The winner of a tournament with less than 10 players will automatically be awarded the entire prize pool amount. Tournament payout structures are subject to variation in accordance with individual tournament terms and conditions. Please consult specific tournament terms and conditions before registering.

Single Table Tournaments
Single table tournaments offer a wide variety of stakes and prize pools and are played on one poker table only with a maximum of ten players. Players register to the tournament, which starts as soon as the maximum number of players is reached. Tournaments continue without breaks until completion, where three prizes are awarded, firstly to the winner (50%), then second (30%) and third (20%) places.
Satellite Tournaments

Winner Poker offers players a chance to attend a number of exciting high-profile live poker tournaments around the world with online qualifying tournaments, which are otherwise called ‘satellite tournaments’. Satellite tournaments offer a range of buy-ins, and can either be staged as single or multi-table tournaments.

PokerStars World Record Tournament

PokerStars.com will attempt to hold the world’s largest poker tournament on December 4, by bringing more than 150,000 players together to play in an online poker game as part of the PokerStars 10th Anniversary Celebration, the company announced today.

The current world record of 149,196 players was set in 2009 in another PokerStars tournament, which featured a $1 buy-in. It was won by online player ‘oskar69’ from Garbsen in Germany, who scooped the $50,000 first prize.

The latest World Record attempt will start at 12:30 ET on December 4, 2011 and will be a $1 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tourney with a guaranteed prize pool of $250,000. The first prize is a guaranteed $50,000, which is an unusually high return for a $1 buy-in tournament. In addition, PokerStars is offering $10 bounty prizes for players who knock out the participating members of Team PokerStars Pro.

“It’s exciting and unique to be part of a World Record,” said Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, who already holds a personal Guinness World Record for Most Online Poker Tables Played in One Hour (62, with a profit of $23.60). “I’m looking forward to doing it again on December 4. It will be great to see so many players come together to make history once again at the world’s largest poker site.”

€7,000 Sit and Go Points Race at Ladbrokes Poker

Every two weeks Ldbrokes Poker is hosting a race especially for Ladbrokes Poker’s Sit n Go Players. Each week the poker room gives away €7,000 in prizes so make sure you don’t miss out.

Dates

Weekly Prizes

How do you earn points?

Sit n Go race points will be awarded for every poker point earned at any Sit n Go table.

Please note that players using poker points or tournament tickets to buy into Sit n Go tournaments will not accrue Leaderboard points.

Winner Poker Speed Races

Players can win their share from $5,000 this month at online poker room Winner Poker. Speed your way into victory by entering the Winner Speed Races, which zoom into fast-paced action once a week.

Each all points race takes place over 4 days (Friday – Monday) with a $1,250 prize pool set aside for those who make it to the podium.

If you are one of the top 30 players you will race into huge prizes.

The Winner Speed Races will be a thrilling test of your poker prowess, so make your way to the starting line and race to the tables to win the big prizes!

Players will need to register to a “no play” tournament: “Speed Races Registration” in order to opt-in to the Winner Speed Racer promotion. Players that do not register will not be eligible for prizes.

Race this month from:

Payout Structure:

WPT Prague with sponsor bwin

World Poker Tour® has a new sponsor for his stop in the Czech Republic capital of Prague. The €3,500 re-entry WPT Prague will be presented by bwin.com and take place at the stylish five-star Corinthia Hotel Prague from December 1 – 5, 2011.

WPT Prague presented by bwin.com will be the first ever WPT Main Event held in the Czech Republic and will be an integral part of the inaugural Prague Poker Festival. WPT Prague will be the seventh stop in Europe during the historic WPT Season X. With many more events lined up in Europe to follow in 2012, WPT Season X is set to shatter all records. This re-entry WPT Main Event will use the standard player-friendly structure recently introduced to WPT events in Europe by WPT Executive Tour Director Matt Savage. As a WPT Season X tour stop, the winner of WPT Prague presented by bwin.com will also be awarded a $25,500 seat in the 2012 WPT World Championship at Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Other upcoming WPT events in Europe include the €3,500 WPT Amneville presented by WPTPoker.fr at Casino D’Amneville from November 1 – 6, the €3,300 WPT Marrakech presented by Chilipoker.com at Casino de Marrakech November 24 – 27, and the €2,500 WPT Ireland presented by PKR.com at the legendary City West Hotel in Dublin from January 5 – 8, 2012.

Oktoberfest at PKR Poker

Sky Poker Unveils Inaugural UK Online Poker Series (UKOPS)

Online poker room Sky Poker has unveiled an all-new tournament series, the UK Online Poker Series.
UKOPS gets underway on Monday 31st October and consists of eight events over one week, culminating in the £40,000.

Guaranteed Main Event on Sunday 6th November. The direct buy ins to the events range from £50 to £500, generating some of the biggest prize pools ever seen on Sky Poker.
The series includes a High Roller event on Thursday 3rd November as well as a £10,000 Guaranteed Bounty Hunter tournament, which will kick the series off on Monday 31st October. Team Sky Poker players will be playing throughout the series, and they will be joined by one of the UK’s top tournament players, Julian Thew as well as some of the Sky Poker TV presenters and analysts.

While the prize pools are mouth-watering, Sky Poker has ensured there will be plenty of opportunities for poker players of all bankrolls to qualify for UKOPS too, with satellites to the events currently running from as little as £1.20.

“The UKOPS is the natural follow-on from the Sky Poker Tour,” said Sky Poker’s Dave Bland. “With such a popular live event series it was only a matter of time before Sky put its name to a huge online series too, and we hope the first ever UKOPS will cater to high roller and recreational players from all around the UK.”

Sky Poker’s UK Online Poker Series – Schedule

UKOPS Event 1 – Monday 31st October, 8pm
£100+10
£20,000 Guaranteed Bounty Hunter
4,000 chips/12 min blinds

UKOPS Event 2 – Tuesday 1st November, 8pm
£50+5 Pot Limit Omaha
£10,000 Rebuy
1 Rebuy and add on
4,000 chips/12 min blinds

UKOPS Event 3 – Wednesday 2nd November, 8pm
£100+£10
£10,000 No Limit Hold’em Double Stack
8,000 chips/12 min blinds

UKOPS Event 4 – Thursday 3rd November, 8pm
£500+£30
£25,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller
10,000 chips/15 min blinds

UKOPS Event 5 – Friday 4th November, 8pm
£50+5
£15,000 No Limit Hold’em Rebuy
Unlimited rebuys/1 Add on
4,000 chips /12 min blinds

UKOPS Event 6 – Saturday 5th November, 8pm
£20+2
£10,000 No Limit Hold’em Turbo
Unlimited rebuys/1 Add on
3,000 chips/5 min blinds

UKOPS Event 7 – Saturday 5th November, 8pm
£100+£10
£10,000 No Limit Hold’em Freezeout
4,000 chips/12 min blinds

UKOPS Event 8 – Sunday 6th November, 7pm
Main Event
£200+£20
£40,000 Guaranteed
8000 chips/15 min blinds

Benny Spindler wins EPT London

PCA finalist Benny Spindler has won the PokerStars.com EPT London Main Event today for a £750,000 first prize, plus a stunning Shamballa Jewels bracelet worth over €10,000.

PokerStars player Spindler, 26, from Darmstadt in Germany, beat American Steve O’Dwyer, 29, after a brief heads-up battle. O’Dwyer, who had around a third of the chips in play, went all-in pre-flop with KJ – but was beaten by Spindler’s AK. Spindler cemented a massive chip lead early in the day after busting Martins Adeniya to claim half the chips in play with six players remaining.

His victory this evening came at the exact same moment as his friend Philipp Gruissem was winning the EPT London £20,000 High Roller event just two tables away. Gruissem beat fellow German Igor Kurganov to take the High Roller title and the £450,200 first prize. In fact, it was Germany’s day at EPT London as Khiem Nguyen from Wiesbaden won the £2,000 PLO just half an hour earlier and David Kolmberger took down the £1k Heads-Up event.

This was Spindler’s second deep run in the EPT London Main Event – he finished 12th here two years ago for £28,000. That result followed his biggest ever cash – and his first brush with fame – when he came third at the 2009 PCA for $1.1 million. Spindler’s other huge result was second place in last season’s EPT Grand Final High Roller for €316,000 (the event was won by Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier).

Despite all these great results, Spindler is planning to ease up on live events for a while and concentrate on playing online Pot Limit Omaha. Spindler has moved from his native country and has been living in London for the last year. He said: “I wouldn’t say I crushed this final but I was running really well the whole tournament. I was also very lucky in the hand against Martins Adeniya. As for the money, I’m not planning to spend it; I’m going to save it for my future.”

A total of 691 players competed in the EPT London Main Event, creating a £3,351,350 prize pool. The event was filmed for television. Skrill is the Official Payment Provider Sponsor for EPT Season 8 and ran a last longer contest at EPT London won by German Andre Klebanov who came third for £265,000. Shamballa Jewels is the Official Bracelet Sponsor of EPT8 Main Events. Every Season 8 Main Event winner will receive a Shamballa bracelet worth around €10,200; the EPT Grand Final bracelet is valued at €25,000.

Team PokerStars Pro Juan Manuel Pastor, who has now cashed eight times on the EPT, scored his first final table finish busting in fourth place for £200,000 when he ran pocket nines into the aces of Spindler. PokerStars qualifier Miroslav Benes from the Czech Republic came eighth for £64,000 to score a huge return on his online investment.

More than 40 members of Team PokerStars Pro took part with Salvatore Bonavena, Humberto Brenes, Ana Marquez and Sebastian Ruthenberg also finishing in the money.

The EPT London Ladies event attracted a field of 52 players. The event lasted more than 14 hours with seven players making the money. The £8,700 winner was PokerStars qualifier Jan Combes from the UK who won her seat in a $44 satellite on PokerStars.

Results:
1 Benny Spindler, Germany, PokerStars player, £750,000
2 Steve O’Dwyer, USA, £465,000
3 Andre Klebanov, Belarus, £265,000
4 Juan Manuel Pastor, Spain, Team PokerStars Pro, £200,000
5 Mattias Bergstrom, Sweden, £155,000
6 Kevin Iacofano , USA, £120,000
7 Martins Adeniya, UK, £86,350
8 Miroslav Benes, Czech Republic, PokerStars qualifier £64,000

Shamballa Jewels becomes official Bracelet Sponsor of EPT Season 8

Luxury jeweller Shamballa Jewels is now the Official Bracelet Sponsor of European Poker Tour Season 8 Main Events.

The new sponsorship deal will see Shamballa Jewels provide EPT Main Event bracelets, each one valued at an estimated €10,200 retail value, plus one EPT Grand Final bracelet valued at €25,000, for the winners of the events. The EPT8 bracelet is designed with black engraved ceramic balls, three 18k rhodanized white gold balls and one 10mm diamond pavé made on an 18k rose gold ball. The Shamballa bracelets, which have fast become luxury fashion statements by A-list celebrities, are now breaking into the poker scene, often worn by players at the tournaments.

EPT President Edgar Stuchly was excited about the new deal. He said: “The EPT is delighted to welcome on board Shamballa Jewels as the Official Bracelet Sponsor of the tour for a second time. The tour continues to go from strength to strength, attracting highly-renowned companies as sponsorship partners, highlighting the broad appeal of the European Poker Tour to companies outside the poker sphere.”

EPT London, which runs at the Hilton London Metropole, will be the first Shamballa bracelet to be awarded this season, but the first two event winners in Tallinn and Barcelona will also receive the exclusive customised jewellery at a later EPT venue.

PokerStars Caribean Adventure 2012

Only 99 days until the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure gets under way at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island. PokerStars’ flagship live event, which is consistently the largest poker festival outside of Las Vegas, is set to take place in the Bahamas from January 5-14.

The 2012 event – the ninth annual PCA – will once again feature a $10,300 Main Event, scheduled to take place from January 7-13, and is expected to attract a world-class field of players, including a host of Team PokerStars Pros and hundreds of PokerStars qualifiers. Several events, including the Main Event, will be filmed for broadcast later in 2012.

In 2011, Galen Hall won $2.3 million for his victory in the Main Event, with the total prize pool exceeding $15,000,000. Last year also saw the first Super High Roller event, which featured a $100,000 buy-in and was won by recent Team PokerStars Pro addition Eugene Katchalov for $1.5 million, after he defeated poker superstar Daniel Negreanu heads-up.

Festival schedule

As players have come to expect, the PCA will feature a huge amount of side events, with a total of 41 events scheduled to take place during the 10-day festival. In addition to the $10,300 Main Event, there will be a $100,000 Super High Roller, a $25,000 High Roller and a $1,100 Women’s Event (in which TV presenter Rikki Lake came third in 2011) among the dozens of tournaments on offer.

In addition, the World Cup of Poker also returns for an eighth year, with nine different teams competing to win the $290,000 prize, and there’s another chance for players to take part in the popular $2,100 Battleship event. Here’s the full schedule: