Thursday marked a major milestone in PokerStars’ illustrious history, with the dealing of the online poker giant’s 100 billionth hand. The winner of the record-breaking hand was a Greek player with the screen handle of microulis69, who earned a whopping $31.55 payday at a microstakes $0.02/$0.05 table. Oh yeah, he/she also received $103,800 from Stars for playing a part in making history, disappointing the other 400k players who’d been grinding away in the hopes of scooping the bounty and sending the cash-strapped Greek government on a quest to find and tax the record-breaker. The other five players at microulis69’s table each collected around $13k for their best supporting roles. Stars reached the 90b mark on November 29, while 40b was dealt way back in February 2010.
PokerStars is not only a great place to play (assuming you’re not American), it’s also a damn fine place to work, according to The Great Place To Work Institute. The Institute’s consultants recently published their annual survey of employee-friendly work environments gleaned from a study of 6k companies around the globe, and Stars ranked #14 on the top-25 UK ‘Large Company’ list of firms that employees said made showing up for work a joy, or at least, less of a drudgery than some other places they’d punched in.
Stars director of human resources Lynn Hunter called the favorable ranking “a testament to the people-focus of our entire organization.” Conveniently, Stars’ careers site currently lists some 20-odd positions the company is looking to fill, including Social Gaming Business Analyst, Events Coordinator, Live Rooms Manager, Head of Product and – wait for it – Head of Poker. Yes, poker fans, the job of online poker’s leader of the free world is up for grabs, so get out a brand new crayon and start updating your résumé.
In other poker hiring news, Caesars Interactive Entertainment (CIE) has tapped Scarlet Robinson (pictured) as its director of new markets. The Las Vegas-based Robinson, who has consulted for several online gambling operators and state lotteries, including the District of Columbia’s pioneering (but never realized) online gambling plans, will report to CIE senior VP and online poker GM Geoff Stewart. Among her new duties, Robinson will be responsible for liaising with regulatory bodies in jurisdictions in which CIE hopes to plant its real-money online gambling flag.
