Bingo and the arena Cup

This week the largest sporting tournament on the earth kicks off and you’d have needed to be living the lifetime of a hermit to not know that the 2014 FIFA World Cup is going down in Brazil. Everyone and everything, it seems, has become a global Cup version of itself, and bingo’s no exception.

Many of different bingo sites are offering a decision of global Cup themed games you can enjoy through the build-up to the matches, or at the days that there aren’t any real World Cup games taking place.

Winner Bingo has a blog where you'll sustain thus far at the latest World Cup headlines while you’re playing bingo. Currently Winner has a super bingo bonus for brand new players to milk after they first join to the location. A BRAND NEW player only must deposit £10 in the course of the first week of registering at the site and they're going to automatically qualify for a £40 bonus. Of this, £30 can be utilized to play bingo, while the opposite £10 can be utilized at the other gaming categories at the site – which incorporates a wide selection of casino games.

And at Tidy Bingo, there’s an international Cup 2014 Sweepstake that any registered players who deposited a certain quantity during May and June could participate in. Each participating player was allocated a footballing nation and if their allocated team wins the sector Cup, the bingo players will receive a credit of £15 into their account the day after the sector Cup Final.

Bingomania, meanwhile, has its own World Cup tournament for its players to enjoy. Each participating bingo player was allocated a football player who may win the Golden Boot challenge. There are small prizes following any score by a team in a participating player’s allocated group, after which there'll be a complete of £1,000 in prizes for containing some of the top four teams in the

World Cup. If a Bingomania player has the arena Cup winning team they'll take a share of a £500 cash bonus, and there’s a smaller prize fund for the runners up, third place and fourth place teams. But when a participating player has not just the winning team, but in addition the striker who's named winner of the Golden Boot, they are going to an additional £50 in cash.

You will also devise your individual bingo games all over the world Cup, to play within the tournament while you’re watching the coverage . Give each family member a card with a diffusion of various players on it. When the players on their cards score a goal in the course of the tournament, they are often marked – until the cardboard holder has a whole house. What you could have because the prize, of course, is as much as you as a family, however the main fun is in playing the sport whilst you watch different matches.

Players you need to include for your World Cup bingo cards include Lionel Messi who plays for Argentina. Although Messi was a prominent player within the 2010 World Cup, he didn't score a goal during that tournament. But in 83 games for Argentina, Messi has scored 37 goals, so there’s every reason to expect him to attain one day in Brazil. Another Argentinian player who has a super World Cup goals’ record is Gonzalo Higuain. From 36 caps, he’s scored 21 goals, this means that he's averaging 0.6 goals per game for his country. Within the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Higuain scored a complete of 4 goals.

Neymar is Brazil’s hope for the Golden Boot. Within the Confederations Cup last year, he scored four goals and won the golden ball for being the most productive player within the tournament.

Cristiano Ronaldo is another name that everybody would wish to have on their World Cup bingo card. The Portuguese player has already scored eight goals within the qualifiers leading as much as the arena Cup, including four when playing Sweden within the play-offs. He has the record of best all-time scorer for Portugal, having scored 49 goals during 100 games for his country.

Luis Suarez, meanwhile is Uruguay’s all-time goal scorer. From 77 caps, he has scored 38 goals and through the South America qualifiers for this year’s World Cup, Suarez scored 11 goals, making him the highest scorer.

Just be sure to divide the highest players evenly when you’re drawing up the arena Cup bingo cards – in order that everyone playing has a fighting chance of saying that full house!

Photo credit: Thomás

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Forty-two survive France Poker Series Day 1A

More than 100 people started Day 1A of the France Poker Series, and on the end of the day, only 42 remained. Today, those persons are enjoying the skiing and atmosphere around Lake Geneva in Evian, France as Day 1B play gets underway.

The second day 1 flight of the €1,100 main event drew the famed Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Arnaud Mattern, and Eugene Katchalov to the felt today. They're joined by celebrities Marion Nedellec, Cathy Serrat, Nicolas Lambert, and Celine Bastian.

Nicolas Beker from Switzerland finished Day 1 A with the chip lead and 196,400 in his stack. Team PokerStars Pro Matthias de Meulder is close behind with 186,800. Paul Testud completes the highest three with 129,100 chips. Team Pro Julien Brécard has finished Day 1A with 85,000 and may be within the top 10.

Matthias de Meulder

Sponsored by PokerStars, the France Poker Series continues through this weekend. The primary event highlights a week-longseries of events, including rhe €3,000 High Roller on March 24.

To learn more about FPS Snowfest, visit the official website of France Poker Series.

Follow the development as though you were there, continue to exist PokerStars Live.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: France Poker Series]

VIP Club: A car for the Kiwi

How many of us have you ever met who list among their hobbies, "drinking with friends, being balla and traveling?" When you live within the poker world, your answer probably features a list of quite a lot of people. Now, however, see if you happen to can find any people among that list who're top table tennis players and own a Porsche they bought without money.

Now, what number of people are you aware who fit that list of criteria? In case you were in a position to pick one name, it's most certainly a man who goes by the name "plyboy binny" on PokerStars.

The Supernova Elite from New Zealand has represented his country in table tennis and spends as lots of his off hours as possible in training. "This year since I've gone for Supernova Elite, my training has decreased considerably," he said. "Nevertheless, I enjoy playing and its a good way to maintain fit and keep me physically and mentally sharp."

While his time with the paddle could have been cut short, he's making the poker training worth his while. How so? Well, just take a look at the image below.

That's "plyboy binny" in his new ride, a swish new Porsche he bought along with his Frequent Player Points. They were points he earned on his method to becoming the first-ever Supernova Elite from New Zealand.

"Most of my school friends still can't recover from how well I'm doing," he said.

"Plyboy binny" does his best not to flaunt his success, with the potential exception of shopping for a brand spanking new sports car.

"In the top I've found it is best if the vast majority of my friends have no idea how much I make," he said. "THEY SIMPLY know that I make enough not to must worry about buying drinks."

Now "plyboy binny" is already at work maintaining his Elite status for 2009. His only wish is that PokerStars would increase the 24-table limit.

"That would have helped me get the Porsche faster, and that i would have paid more rake, too!" he joked.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: PokerStars VIP Club]

Win the sector Cup of Poker

Qualifiers for the highly popular World Cup of Poker start this weekend so for those who just like the idea of playing on your country in a live two-day tournament within the Bahamas, on the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure no less, then clear your schedule. Players from Peru were glad that they did last year. They claimed the cup, $90,000 between them and the vacation of an entire life in addition. It is a hell of a narrative to inform the grand-kids.

Eight qualifying groups inclusive of 72 countries in total (including a 'rest of the world' team in order that no-one is omitted) will play four qualifying tournaments apiece at the 11, 12, 18 and 19 August with the top finisher from each country picking up points. The more entries out of your homeland the simpler the danger you should have of having your nation through so tap up all of your friends to enroll in within the $2.20 No Limit Hold'em Super Knockout tournaments.

Do the players get emotionally involved? What do you're thinking that...

The highest scoring team in each group will then bring four qualifiers through to the overall through four qualifying tournaments at the 26 August.

• Freeroll - open to all players from the qualifying nation
• TLB Freeroll - open only to the highest 10 TLB from each country for 2011
• $1.10
• $11

Each team can be designated a team captain who they'll join on the Atlantis resort and hotel, where flights and accommodation may be paid for by Pokerstars. Those eight teams will meet certainly one of Spain, Italy or France who will compete separately for a spot within the live final.

Find which group your country is in and who you'll all must beat to make it through by clicking at the PokerStars World Cup of Poker qualification page.

Flying the flag for Peru




Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: World Cup of Poker]

PokerNews Podcast Episode #244: Bad News Bureaucracy

^

The crew discusses the problem with political bureaucracy and online poker within the United States, and talks with MSPT founder Bryan Mileski concerning the growth of the Mid-States Poker Tour. 

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PCA 2014: Brazil and Argentina out as Chile crush Americas Cup on Day 1

They came in with high hopes. They'll leave with a guaranteed $5,000. But it surely might have been such a lot more.

Brazil and Argentina are out of this year's Americas Cup of Poker, despite the most efficient efforts in their respective team captains, Andre Akkari and Nacho Barbero. The quick format and Sit & Go structure meant that labelling anyone as "favorites" going into today would has been a foolish gesture, but even so, with two LAPT final tablists in Ivan Raich and Javier Gordo, many had singled out Argentina as this year's team to overcome -- including Barbero.

But all isn't lost. They'll go into tomorrow's fifth place play-off with Team Brazil hoping to fasten up an additional $2,500 in prize money.

One team with loftier ambitions tomorrow could be that of Chile, who with slightly help from one of the most event's three female players, placed on the day's strongest showing to edge out Peru by a single point on the summit.

The win means Chile will go into tomorrow's decisive heads-up battles as top seed, where they'll play fourth placed Colombia. That leaves Mexico (third) to scrap it out with Peru (second) within the day's other match-up.

Each team will play five heads-up matches against the opposite. The primary to win three will advance to the semi-finals, after which final, where the juicy $32,500 first prize could be dished out. Until then, see below for the whole pay out structure and more photos from a loud day within the the Bahamas.

Americas Cup of PokerDate: January 11-12, 2014Entries: Six teamsPrize pool: $100,0001st: $32,5002nd: $25,0003rd: $17,5004th: $12,500 5th: $7,500 6th: $5,000

OUT: Brazil and Argentina

Humberto Brenes and Amos Ben hug it out

A lonely Arieb Ortega finds himself in a Colombian huddle

Celebrations a plenty for the blokes within the yellow and white of Colombia

Akkari and Team Brazil during happier times

Team Chile get some pre-match tactics at the go

The full 2014 Americas Cup of Poker cast

Team Peru and their adopted Costa Rican coach, Humberto Brenes

Team Mexico outside the Ballroom

Team Argentina before it hitting the rail no less than $5,000 richer

Team Chile, today's leaders

Stay tuned to the PokerStars Blog for more from the Americas Cup and do not forget to click through to live updates, features and interviews from the $10,000,000 guaranteed PCA Main Event.

The yellow, blue and red of Colombia show their colors

Keir Mackay is a copywriter for PokerStars.

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Sunday Storm: Uvelir888 tops six-figure field for six-figure score

The inaugural Sunday Storm field couldn't fit into London's Wembley Arena. It couldn't fit into the Rose Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, or the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Even the most important football arena within the western world, Ann Arbor's Michigan Stadium, would depart over 3,800 players within the automobile parking space. Nothing attracts a poker player quite like a major prize pool and as we learned earlier this month with the Sunday Million 5th Anniversary tournament, if you happen to build it, they are going to more than likely come. All 113,770 of them.

To celebrate the Sunday 1/4 Million's metamorphosis into the $11 buy-in Sunday Storm, PokerStars guaranteed a $1 million prize pool, and just a few minutes into late registration, it surpassed the guarantee, topping out at $1,137,700. Miraculously, it only took a bit of over ten hours to move from 12,641 tables to at least one. 14,634 players made the money, among them ten members of Team PokerStars Pro and Team Online: Mathew "chipstar1" Didlick (10,999th), Tyler "frosty012" Frost ( 9,010th), Shane "shaniac" Schleger (6,940th), Jude "j. thaddeus" Ainsworth (6,377th), Joep "Pappe Ruk" Van Den Bijgaart (6,017th), Barry Greenstein (4,722nd), Nuno Coelho (4,574th), Liv Boeree (4,171st), JP Kelly (2,382nd) and Dennis Phillips (1,165th). Also creating a deep run was PokerStars live circuit regular Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald, who ultimately bowed out in 27th place.

Tripleace112 bubbled the overall table after three-bet shoving for 8.93 million over YouDisgustMe's 2 million opening raise. Dj Andres moved all-in behind him for 24.23 million and YouDisgustMe folded, leaving them heads-up to the board. Dj Andres' A♠K♠ held up against Tripleace112's A♥J♥, and what was the scale of a small city was all the way down to nine players.

Here's how the general table stacked up as action commenced:

Seat 2: dray313 (30,000,947 in chips)
Seat 3: Uvelir888 (61,849,821 in chips)
Seat 4: YouDisgustMe (121,891,867 in chips)
Seat 5: Lucksshadow7 (13,149,570 in chips)
Seat 6: Dj Andrés (36,670,534 in chips)
Seat 7: Dubble Ace (21,147,284 in chips)
Seat 8: Samole9915 (31,459,043 in chips)
Seat 9: Vedic.Knight (6,878,196 in chips)

With the blinds as much as 500,000/1,000,000, Lucksshadow7 wasted no time getting his chips within the middle, four-bet shoving for 12.44 million before the flop at the second hand of the overall table. Although initial raiser dray313 folded, three-bettor Uvelir888 made the call, his J♦6♦ up against A♣K♦. Lucksshadow7 flopped top two pair, the board running out A♠5♦K♣J♥5♥ to double his stack to 29.52 million. Four hands later, Lucksshadow7 did it again, this time through chip leader YouDisgustMe. Holding K♥J♦ on a Q♠T♦2♥ flop, YouDisgustMe led out for 4.8 million, Lucksshadow7 raised to 13.2 million with A♣Q♣ and YouDisgustMe called. Despite missing his straight draw at the turn when the 2♦ fell, YouDisgustMe fired out 10.8 million and Lucksshadow7 moved all-in for 13.2 million. YouDisgustMe called the extra 2.64 million, Lucksshadow7's queens and deuces holding up throughout the 7♠ at the river. After starting the overall table second from the ground in chips, Lucksshadow7 was now second from the highest with 60.9 million while YouDisgustMe fell to 88.9 million.

The final table had its first casualty when dray313 got his last 21 big blinds in preflop with A♦Q♣ against Uvelir888's A♥J♠, only to observe his opponent turn a Broadway straight at the T♣K♠3♠Q♦4♥ board. Uvelir888 moved as much as second position with nearly 81 million while dray313 departed in ninth place, collecting $8,418.98. Table short stack Vedic.Knight pulled the trigger a couple of minutes later, moving in for 9.44 million with J♣9♠, only to run into moreshipn1mb's J♦J♥. Although Vedic.Knight picked up a flush draw against moreshipn1mb's middle set when the flop came down A♠J♠4♠, Vedic.Knight couldn't find another spade and exited in eighth place for a $13,652.40 score.

Although moreshipn1mb received a pleasant chip infusion on that hand, it only buoyed him for an additional fifteen minutes. With the blinds as much as 900,000/1,800,000, Dj Andres opened for 4.5 million from middle position and moreshipn1mb moved all-in for 29 million from the massive blind. Holding A♣7♠, moreshipn1mb was probably hoping for a fold, but instead got a call, Dj Andres turning over a dominating A♥K♦. It hung on the K♥7♦2♣8♦4♣ board and moreshipn1mb hit the rail in seventh, earning $19,909.75.

Although YouDisgustMe quickly lost the chip lead at this final table, he built it back as much as 100 million before shedding all of it in four hands. Lucksshadow7 was the primary lucky recipient of a double-up, his A♠K♥ flopping a king against YouDisgustMe's pocket tens. 1/2 the 80 million he was left with went to Uvelir888, who successfully value bet his queens and tens to win a 75 million pot and move into the chip lead with 148 million. Dubble Ace doubled up when his A♥9♦ held against YouDisgustMe's K♠Q♠, and left with seven big blinds, YouDisgustMe shipped them in with pocket nines. Uvelir888 called with A♣5♥, but hit trips at the 5♠8♠5♦4♣7♣ board to KO YouDisgustMe in sixth place for a $26,735.95 payday.

With five players remaining, Uvelir888 was the runaway chip leader with 186.3 million while his four opponents all sported stacks between 16 and 65 million. Samole9915 was the primary of the shorties to roll the dice. With the action folded to him within the small blind, Samole9915 moved his last 7 1/2 big blinds into the center with A♠Q♥ and Uvelir888 looked him up with Q♣T♠. Samole9915 did not have his opponent dominated for long, because the flop came down 9♦K♥T♦ to pair Uvelir888's kicker. The Q♠ at the turn made Uvelir888 two pair and left Samole9915 drawing only to a jack to win the pot. The river, however, was the 2♦ and Samole9915's Sunday Storm ended with a fifth-place finish and a $35,268.70 score. As final table host Shane "shaniac" Schleger pointed out, that's 3,205 times his buy-in and a shocking ROI.

At this point, Uvelir888 was firmly within the driver's seat with 252 million of the 341 million chips in play while his three opponents were in a battle for second place. Dj Andres was the primary one to budge, moving all-in for 18.2 million (6BB) with pocket nines. Uvelir888 called with A♣Q♣, but couldn't outrun the pocket pair as Dj Andres moved as much as 40.7 million in chips.

In the overall table's most dramatic elimination, Lucksshadow7 hit the rail in fourth place on this three-way all-in. Although Lucksshadow7 turned a collection with pocket fives, DjAndres hit a two-outer at the river to make the next set:

Six hands later, Dj Andres met his own end. With the blinds as much as 1.75M/3.5M, Uvelir888 opened for a min-raise, Dj Andres three-bet to 17.5 million, and Uvelir888 called. The flop came down J♦9♠2♥ and Dj Andres led out for a 19.25 million continuation bet. Uvelir888 called and so they went to the turn, which fell the K♥. Dj Andres shoved for his remaining 38.3 million and Uvelir888 snap-called, turning up A♠A♣ to Dj Andres' A♥J♠. The river was the 5♥ and Dj Andres met his tournament end. For his third-place finish, he collected $68,262.

The initial heads-up chip count (318.1 million to 23.2 million) was lopsided to mention the least and eleven hands later, it was far and wide. Dubble Ace open-shoved for his last three big blinds with T♠2♦ and Uvelir888 called from the large blind with the lowly 2♠3♣. Uvelir888 will probably never take a look at that hand the similar way again, as he hit bottom pair at the K♥7♣3♦ flop to take the lead. The turn was the 7♥, the river was the 8♦, and after 113,769 eliminations, the Sunday Storm had its first champion. Uvelir888 took home $210,351.74 for the win while runner-up Dubble Ace earned $111,494.60.

How's that for an $11 investment?

Sunday Storm Results for 3/27/11
1. Uvelir888 ($210,531.74)
2. Dubble Ace ($111,494.60)
3. DJ Andres ($68,262.00)
4. Lucksshadow7 ($45,508.00)
5. Samole9915 ($35,268.70)
6. YouDisgustMe ($26,735.95)
7. moreshipn1mb ($19,909.75)
8. Vedic.Knight ($13,652.40)
9. dray313 ($8,418.98)

Ready to take your shot at an enormous payday? The Sunday Storm page has the entire information you wish to have.

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Arizona favored to win next year's college hoops title

The nets at AT&T Stadium in Dallas are only freshly reduce by national champions Connecticut, but that does not mean we cant start looking forward to futures for the winner of next year's Big Dance.The Arizona Wildcats and head coach Sean Miller, were oh so on the subject of this year's Final Four and Vegas thinks they're a good bet to take the next move. They're currently listed at 6/1 to win next year's national championship. While the defending champion Huskies are listed at 75/1.

Duke, who's awaiting Jabari Parker's decision on even if to go back next season, has the following best odds at 7/1. Kansas, Kentucky and Wisconsin are coming in at 12/1. Here's a complete list of odds courtesy LVH Superbook:

ARIZONA 6/1DUKE 7/1KANSAS 12/1KENTUCKY 12/1WISCONSIN 12/1NORTH CAROLINA 15/1FLORIDA 15/1WICHITA ST 20/1VILLANOVA 25/1LOUISVILLE 30/1SMU 30/1VIRGINIA 30/1IOWA ST 30/1MICHIGAN 30/1MICHIGAN ST 40/1SYRACUSE 40/1VCU 40/1GONZAGA 50/1OHIO ST 50/1OKLAHOMA 50/1SAN DIEGO ST 50/1TEXAS 50/1UCLA 50/1IOWA  60/1NEBRASKA 60/1OREGON 60/1BAYLOR 75/1U CONN 75/1ARIZONA ST 100/1ARKANSAS 100/1CINCINNATI 100/1COLORADO 100/1DAYTON 100/1FLORIDA ST 100/1GEORGETOWN 100/1GEORGIA 100/1INDIANA 100/1KANSAS ST 100/1LSU 100/1MARQUETTE 100/1MARYLAND 100/1MEMPHIS 100/1MIAMI FL 100/1MINNESOTA 100/1MISSOURI 100/1OKLAHOMA ST 100/1OLE MISS 100/1PITTSBURGH 100/1PROVIDENCE 100/1SETON HALL 100/1ST LOUIS 100/1STANFORD 100/1TENNESSEE 100/1HARVARD 100/1UNLV 100/1UTAH 200/1UTEP 200/1ALABAMA 200/1NOTRE DAME 200/1ST JOHN'S 200/1U MASS 200/1ILLINOIS 300/1NEW MEXICO 300/1GEORGIA TECH 300/1SOUTH CAROLINA 300/1USC 300/1ST JOE'S 300/1VANDERBILT 300/1WEST VIRGINIA 300/1XAVIER 300/1BYU 300/1CALIFORNIA 300/1CLEMSON 300/1COLORADO ST 300/1CREIGHTON 300/1DEPAUL 300/1GEORGE WASHINGTON 300/1LASALLE 300/1LOUISIANA TECH 300/1NC STATE 300/1NEW MEXICO ST 300/1PENN ST 300/1PURDUE 300/1RICHMOND 500/1TEXAS A&M 500/1TEXAS TECH 500/1WASHINGTON 500/1AUBURN 500/1BOSTON COLLEGE 500/1BUTLER 500/1FRESNO ST 500/1ILLINOIS ST 500/1MURRAY ST 500/1NORTHERN IOWA 500/1NORTHWESTERN 500/1ST BONAVENTURE 500/1UCSB 1000/1VIRGINIA TECH 1000/1WAKE FOREST 1000/1FIELD 100/1

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Venezuela wins Americas Cup of Poker

Venezuelan voters will soon decide who they would like to guide their nation after one of the crucial hard-fought presidential elections in that country's recent history. Before that occurs however, all the country can cheer as one for its nation's poker championship.

Late last night, the Venezuelan poker team defeated Team Brazil within the finals of the PokerStars Americas Cup of Poker. Led by the well known captain Jesus Bertoli, Guillermo Alfonzo Arjona Torres, David Moncada, Orlando Álvarez, and Carlos Luis Pernia won a team prize of $32,500 for his or her efforts.

Americas Cup champions, Team Venezuela

This was the fourth year for the Americas Cup. After a chain of online competitions on PokerStars, six countries advanced to the live finals here in Panama to compete for the $100,000 in prize money. The 2 day battle pitted the countries against one another in a sequence of six-max and heads-up games. Within the end, Brazil publish a robust fight, but Venezuela emerged with the victory.

Here are the general results for the 2012 Americas Cup of Poker. Congratulations to Team Venezuela.

2012 Americas Cup of Poker final results

1st place: Venezuela ($32,500 -- $6,500 per player)2nd place: Brasil ($25,000 -- $5,000 per player)3rd place: Chile ($17,500 -- $3,500 per player)4th place Peru ($12,500 -- $2,500 per player)5th place: Mexico ($7,500 -- $1,500 per player)6th place: Colombia ($5,000 -- $1,000 per player)

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging

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Rumors Grow Louder: PokerStars May well be Sold To Amaya

Card Player – Bloomberg reported on Thursday that PokerStars, the world’s largest poker website on the subject of traffic, is near a deal to be acquired by Amaya Gaming Group Inc. Amaya is a maker of gambling equipment and systems.

The Canada-based Amaya owns the Ongame Network, which it acquired from bwin.party in 2012. It also has partnered with the Golden Nugget for online gaming in Nevada and New Jersey. In addition, Amaya Gaming has a handle Ultimate Gaming for online gambling in New Jersey.

According to the report, PokerStars being under new ownership might give the firm a greater chance at re-entry into the U.S.. In April 2011, PokerStars, together with gambling sites Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, fell into hot water with the government for allegedly violating federal statutes involving bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling. PokerStars eventually settled without admitting to any wrongdoing with its former U.S.-facing business.

PokerStars needed to pay $731 million within the settlement. The firm’s founder, Isai Scheinberg, remains under indictment. PokerStars has tried to get a foothold within the regulated markets of Nevada and New Jersey, however it hasn’t been capable of accomplish that. PokerStars has a partnership with a California tribe in anticipation of online poker eventually being legalized within the Golden State.

More than a dozen tribes in California have come to a consensus on language that may be unfavorable to PokerStars’ possibilities of offering online poker to Californians.

It’s unclear what price PokerStars would fetch if sold to Amaya Gaming.

SOURCE

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EPT10 Grand Final: Introducing Vladimir "shabalinvlad" Shabalin and his incredible 10 million VPP haul

In a room stuffed with poker players it's often easy to pick the celebs of the sport. You look to the table that's surrounded by video cameras; you take a look at the webcast feature table, that's always got a few big names on; you search for the players that experience patches on their arms and are self-assured with chips in front of them; you listen for the loud voices coming from grinders playing high stakes games of 'Lodden thinks'. In case you were to make use of any of these usual techniques then you definitely would have overlooked 26-year-old Vladimir "shabalinvlad" Shabalin on the EPT Grand Final, and also you would have missed an enormous player in doing so.

Vladimir "shabalinvlad" Shabalin

Shabalin has done what only two other players have managed before him, he's broken the 10,000,000 VPP barrier at PokerStars. Team PokerStars Online's George Lind was the primary to take action and was given a vacation of an entire life in doing so. Check out your individual Lifetime VPP total. Now then, do not feel emasculated; Shabalin's total is something quite extraordinary.

Last year, Shabalin clocked up 4.5m VPP's playing high stakes sit & go's, which equates to 22.5m Frequent Player Points (FPP's) or, in the event you were to cash them in on the VIP store, good enough to get seven Porsche Cayman S sports cars. This year he's already burned through greater than 2m VPP, that's enough to get three more luxury cars. It's mind-blowing stuff, but you would not realize it to fulfill him.

We arranged to fulfill Shabalin on the end of Day 2 of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final. He started the day with chips but ended the day with none, but he didn't appear to mind an excessive amount of.

Just your average car in Monte Carlo

Vladimir Shabalin, not Vlad, "It was a mistake once I made my nickname," was thrilled to satisfy and be interviewed by Russian EPT presenter and makeshift translator Ilya Gorodetskiy, an uncle figure for lots of within the Eastern European poker playing community.

After being presented with a luxury SLYDE watch (who're the Official Watch Sponsor for EPT Season 10, no less) by PokerStars Head of Poker Communications Lee Jones and participating in a blinding interview with PokerStars.tv's Sarah Grant, PokerStars Blog got a possibility to interview Shabalin within the amazing Salle des Etoiles of the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort, at one of the crucial outer TV tables no less. And that watch? That was for passing just 5m VPPs. That's how hard and fast this guys is grinding.

Although Shabalin's English was pretty good - and got better the more that he relaxed - Gorodetskiy helped out with translating into Russian and back again. Shabalin, who's from Berezniki in Russia, was playing full time for 5 and a half years, but has only just decided to dip his toe into the live game.

"It's my first time in Monte Carlo, but my second time playing the EPT. I played one month ago in Vienna," said Shabalin. "Monte Carlo is an excessively strong experience for me, very powerful, because it is a luxury city. Everything is like in a fairy tale. Everything is so beautiful and likewise the ambience is like something really important and lovely is occurring right now, here". Well, that's what the events team works tirelessly to create, so kudos to them.

The EPT Grand Final in Monaco

"I'm really grateful for PokerStars," said Shabalin. "THAT IS the one site that I play through my whole career. I TRULY appreciate the software and client service. Everything is organised to be comfortable for the players and that is really important for me."

That statement was made unprompted, I'd love to add. Sure, Shabalin may need one eye on joining Team PokerStars Online and is sensible enough to understand that flattery never hurts, but, let's accept it, PokerStars does do a superb job in any respect of that.

Shabalin and his 5m VPP watch by SLYDE

"Poker gave me numerous opportunities, numerous chances to satisfy different people," said Shabalin. "It was crucial because poker forced me to organise my life and to organise myself. The principle quality of poker as a qualified is that everything depends upon you."

And thus far he's doing an excellent job of organising himself. Having completed his psychology studies at university Shabalin's been hitting the high stakes sit & go tables hard. Although he dabbled with cash games to start out with, he soon found his calling, ""I FEEL that the precise approach is to select one discipline, one form of game," said Shabalin. "For me, this type of game is sit-&-go's."

Just a mild session for "shabalinvlad"

"I'm a large fan of travelling but there's two totally different periods in my life. When I'm playing I'm only playing. I'm concentrating fully at the game so I'm playing all day long, but if that period is done I enjoy travelling so much and spending time with my girlfriend. I'm a large soccer fan but travelling's my main hobby."

Well, that may be very convenient because when your VPP counter ticks over the 10,000,000 mark a bell goes off at PokerStars HQ to muster the PokerStars VIP Club team. They have got a vacation of a life-time to organise. That's right. On top of everything else, the entire bonuses, freerolls, $5k WCOOP tickets and (did we mention this already?) sports cars, 10m VPP Hall of Famers get an all-expenses paid once-in-a-lifetime trip to enjoy. Figuring out whether you need to four-bet pocket eights at the bubble is one thing, but seeking to decide where on the earth to head for without equal vacation? That's really difficult. So, where is Shabalin's favourite holiday destination?

"Right now, Monte Carlo is actually my choice as it was actually it was just about my first poker journey," said Shabalin. "I'm playing poker in a very beautiful place and that i met a large number of nice people and many players I HAVE NOT met before. It is a great combination. I'VE almost zero experience in live poker, but at some point I FEEL that I'll play more live."

I've got bad news for the VIP team. It seems like you guys have really got your work cut out for you. Shabalin's ultimate journey is the overall frontier, "My dream is to become an area tourist so I'm dreaming about sitting down in a shuttle and watching our Earth from there," he said. "I now have a possibility to fulfill poker stars, but real stars are my goal."

A big PokerStars Blog way to Ilya Gorodetskiy for his time and help.

Are you profiting from the PokerStars VIP Club?The PokerStars VIP Club offers a large number of benefits and bonuses. Listed here are only a few which can be arising soon. Discover more in regards to the VIP Club here.

1. Free money for the high rollersThere's one million Dollar Quarterly Freeroll for Supernova VIP's going down on May 24.

2. Scooping up SCOOP tciketsThere are three fantastic SCOOP satellites for SilverStars and up. There are three VIP Bash tournaments,one for every level of SCOOP going down on Saturday, May 17 at 2:30 ET.

SCOOP-L: 500 FPP satellite (250 entries guaranteed)SCOOP-M: 5,000 FPP satellite (75 entries guaranteed)SCOOP-H: 25,000 FPP satellite (2 entries guaranteed)

3. Living it up in LisbonThe next VIP Club Live is on June 7 in Lisbon, Portugal. You should purchase a ticket for you and a guest from the VIP Store, the ticket will give you entry, food, drink and entertainment. It's free for Supernova Elite VIP's, but you'll come along whatever your level. Test it out under 'VIP Club Live' within the store.

Click through to live updates, features and interviews from the EPT Grand Final Main Event and the EPT Grand Final Super High Roller.

Rick Dacey is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: PokerStars VIP Club]