PokerStars prove why they are the world’s largest online poker room by revealing an $85m festive giveaway, and Dario Sammartino wins two High Roller Club titles on the same day.
Three or four years ago (I’m no Kevin Mathers), PokerStars died.
Dead.
As dead as a bird sitting on a telegraph wire with an extraordinarily long and wet tail feather.
The decision to create the $25,000 PokerStars’ Player’s No-Limit Hold’em Championship (PSPC) has seen them rise from the ashtray, and straight into the mouths of the masses, Cuban cigar style.
At the same time, the born-again Christians and Devils of our market stood on stages around the world pulling the name of ‘partypoker’ out of envelopes sealed with the spit of speakers.
And.
Then.
Came.
The.
$21m thing.
I wonder what happened in PokerStars HQ when it became apparent that their bitterest of rivals had managed to pull off the unpulloffable by hosting the richest online poker tournament in the world.
Did they stand up and applaud like the kings and queens of the English Premier League (EPL) when Leicester pulled off their masterstroke? Or did they scowl and hope that the next time the partypoker mob turned up at the Baha Mar that they all died of sunstroke?
There will be a reaction.
The growth of the MILLIONS brand dragged the PSPC out of someone’s head.
What monstrosity will emerge in the wake of the nuclear bomb that was the $21m Online MILLIONS?
While we wait with bated breath, how about a $85m Christmas present.
PokerStars Guarantees $85m Over Christmas
Before the PokerStars team get cracking on that 2019 idea, there is the small matter of closing off 2018 in style, and they aim to do so by offering $85m in guaranteed prize money while you and I watch our blood pressure rise figuring out what to buy people for Christmas.
Apples.
Nuts.
Not at PokerStars.
The online giant is offering $40m in guarantees for the Winter Series alone. The 16-day, 60 event schedule takes place Dec 23 – Jan 7 with buy-ins ranging from $0.55 to $5,200.
Here are the hairy highlights:
Four-Tier Main Event – 6 Jan
Micro: $2.20, $100k GTD
Low: $22, $750k GTD
Medium: $215, $1.5m GTD
High: $2,100, $1.5m GTD
The Best of the Rest
2 x $5,200, $500k GTD High Rollers Dec 26 and Jan 2.
Turbo events Christmas and New Years Eve.
$215, $1m GTD Sunday Millions on Dec 23 and 30.
If you live outside of the .com bubble don’t fret, the Winter Series is available in the Southern European, New Jersey and India networks.
Dario Sammartino Dominates High Roller Club Action
Another weekend of High Roller Club action is in the books and the man who would look good with rotten bananas for eyebrows pinched the headlines taking down two tournaments on the same day.
The delicious dish that is Dario Sammartino, playing as “Secret_M0d3”, won the 244-entrant field in the $530, $75k GTD Sunday 500, beating the fearsome Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden, heads-up, to pocket the $23,459 first prize, and then went on to win the $1,050 Sunday Supersonic 6-Max Hyper-Turbo beating roo_400, heads-up, to win the $35,208 first prize.
Sammartino is currently ranked #52 in the Global Poker Index (GPI) World Rankings, #2 in Italy, and #1 in my Poker Hall of Fame Heart Throb Calendar set for release in 2019.
