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February 26, 2010 at 6:02 am | Poker News | | Written by: spenda
There have been a lot of big things going on at the world’s largest poker sites over the past few weeks. This past Sunday marked the completion of FTOPS XV. The 15th installment of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series went better than expected as millions of dollars were up for grabs every day including a Sunday that will not soon be forgotten. The two big events to finish Sunday was the $500+$35 $2.5M Guaranteed FTOPS Main Event and the $2M, $2500+$100 Two-Day Tournament. While the $2500 event fell short of its guarantee the Main Event was able to surpass the $2,500,000 mark with 5,645 entrants. Overall there was $4,822,500 on the line between the two events.
PokerStars had a few promotions of their own running this weekend including their 40 billionth hand and the 4-year anniversary of the Sunday Million. Through out the week PokerStars was paying out money to every table that hit exactly on the million-hand mark. Finally, on Friday the 40,000,000,000th hand was dealt on a $2/$4 Limit Hold’em table and the $24,000 first place prize went to “Senecady”. The 40 billionth hand promotion was over just in time for the 4-year anniversary of the Sunday Million. The tournament attracted a whopping 36,169 players who in turn created a $7,233,800 prize pool. Even the FTOPS main event could not come with in $4,000,000 of this tourney. In the end it was “RichieRichZH” who took home the title and $1,141,510.31.
While PokerStars and FullTilt have been running some great promotions in February it can be easy to overlook all of their existing bonuses, tournaments, and player rewards. PokerStars is giving away an extra $1,000 to its players this year who are able to accumulate 90,000 Frequent Player Points. The “VIP Stellar Rewards” System costs players nothing and pays them cash (not bonus money) when they hit certain FPP milestones. The first five bonuses are for $10 and come after a player earns 750, 1500, 2250, 3000, and 4000 FPPS. The next 9 bonuses are worth $50 and are paid out every time you earn another 5,000 FPPs. Finally, the last 5 bonuses are $100 apiece and paid out after every 10,000 FPPs. This is a great promotion for those who play small stakes as it can be a great boost to your bankroll. To view your FPPs and Stellar Rewards you can visit the “Cashier” tab on the bottom of the lobby and look up your VIP Status. You can also have your status displayed on the lobby if you go to Options->VIP Status Display Options->Show my VIP Stellar Rewards progress in the main lobby.
Late in 2009 PokerStars also decided to give their initial deposit bonus a face lift. For the longest time the bonus was only for $50 but PokerStars finally buckled and is now offering all new players a 100% up to $600 initial deposit bonus. Make sure to use the PokerStars marketing code FLOPTURNRIVER when signing up to guarantee your maximum bonus and entry into monthly money-added events and freerolls. The bonus is released into your account in $10 increments which take 170 VIP Player Points to clear. In order to clear the entire bonus (you have 181 to do so) you must earn 10,200 VPPs.
FullTilt has not changed much about their bonuses and promotions this year but they continue to improve and modify their software. Last year there were plenty of complaints about the lobby crashing, slow games, and even playing cards showing up improperly. FullTilt has worked hard on their software and has fixed all errors. They also included a new hand history replayer which is a great tool that allows a player to walkthrough a previous hand in a step-by-step manner. FullTilt also created what could go down as the greatest poker invention of all time. “Rush Poker” is a new way to play the game that can increase the hands you play in an hour 5 times. After sitting at a table you will play your hand just like any other. However, once you fold or the hand is over the similarities to online poker end. Instead of getting dealt a new hand at the same table with the same players you will be instantly shipped to another table with 5-8 new players. You can even speed this process up by using the quick-fold button which sends you to another table with out even waiting for your turn! To promote Rush Poker FullTilt is giving all of its players a free $50 which must be cleared by earning 833 FullTilt Points. The bonus will be delivered to your account in $5 increments after you earn 83 FullTilt Points. Finally, the bonus expires in 30 days so come ready to play!
Remember to check back here through out the year for more information on PokerStars, FullTilt, and many other online poker sites.
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