PokerStars have slapped a $9m guarantee on the side of the Sunday Million ninth anniversary, and have flatly denied rumors of any forthcoming integration with bitcoin.
PokerStars have delighted their customers by guaranteeing a $9m prize pool for their ninth anniversary of the Sunday Million.
I know $215 is a lot of money. You know that $215 is a lot of money. But on Sunday, 8 March 2015 it’s important that you juggle those financial balls. Find a way to squeeze $215 into the ‘Entertainment’ column on the spreadsheet you just loathe to update.
The first time PokerStars offered their one million guarantee was Sunday, 6 March 2006. A star was born. 5,893 players entered and Daryl Jace won the $173,844 first prize. It’s now a staple part of a professional poker players diet. The one event of the week that you need to be a part of. To miss one is akin to missing an episode of Breaking Bad. It just doesn’t happen.
In 2011, The Sunday Million was five years old. To celebrate, PokerStars, guaranteed a $5m prize pool. One year later they upped it to $6m – then $7m, then $8m and now $9m.
If, one day, you find yourself ordering a book called “Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive,” with the intention of learning about poker, you will be sorely disappointed. The author, Harvey Mackay, knows nothing about poker. But he does know a thing or two about business.
Lesson 65 of that great book carries the title: “If You Want to be Santa Claus, Your Sled Better be able to Pull a Trailer.”
I quote: “When I started in business in 1960, I thought it would be a nice gesture if I gave my employees a little Christmas bonus. Money was out of the question, so I gave each one of them a Christmas turkey. The first year I gave away 12 turkeys; the second year it was 35; then 50, then 75, and now it’s over 550…and there is no way I’ll ever be able to quit without having a revolution on my hands.
“There’s nothing the matter with being generous, but beware of spontaneous gestures unless you remember they have a way of becoming permanent ‘traditions.’”
PokerStars Refute bitcoin Claims
An article from Coin fire says that “information from company insiders confirming that the process of integrating bitcoin has been underway.”
“The article is incorrect. PokerStars has no immediate plans to implement bitcoin, and it is not on our development roadmap. However, we are regularly reviewing our position and will continue to monitor the situation,” wrote Michael Josem, Public Relations for PokerStars, in an email to CalvinAyre.com.
They also flatly denied all rumors that were currently circulating on the Internet about their involvement with the cryptocurrency.
You can see why the rumors surfaced. You can see why they would want to shoot them down. Some would argue that bitcoin allows online operators to offer a legalized form of online poker that cuts a safe passage through the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA). Some would argue that now is not the time to try to be cute.
PokerStars are on the verge of U.S entry. They are about to reach their climax. No need to dribble to the side just when things are getting interesting.
Bitcoin will come.
Of that I have no doubt.
But let’s first concentrate on creating a sled that’s capable of pulling a trailer full of cold hard green cash.
