• Play PokerStars Freeroll

Play PokerStars freeroll to win four tickets to the NHL Awards in Las Vegas and various Dallas Star hockey team prizes —available February 1 – April 2, 2010.

The online PokerStars NHL freeroll tournament takes place every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (at 8 pm ET), and is comprised of the following:

• The top 90 players from each of these qualifiers seeds into a biweekly weekend Semi Finals, held on February 28, March 14, and March 28 (at 9 pm ET), respectively.
• Also seeding into the Semi Finals are $1.10 buy-in qualifiers held on Tuesdays and Thursdays (at 7 pm ET) til that date, with a single winner form each advancing to the Semi Finals. From here, the top 50 players will seed into a Sunday, April 4^th Grand Final (at 9 pm ET).

The winner of this PokerStars NHL Grand Final on April 4th will win four tickets to the NHL Awards Ceremony, and a Dallas Stars prize package that includes a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada – including hotel accommodations and spending money for the winner and three of his/her friends!

Additional Dallas Stars and NHL merchandise will be awarded to all those who make it to the Grand Final, with the top 5 finishers receiving special bonus prizes as well.

Be advised, the PokerStars NHL Awards With The Dallas Stars promotion is open to U.S. residents only. Check out our PokerStars Review for bonus codes, game strategies, and more!

• Play PokerStars SCOOP

From May 3 – 16, 2010, the Spring Championship of Online Poker, PokerStars SCOOP, is comprised of 33 different events – each with 3 different stakes levels that people can choose from!

Here’s what makes the PokerStars SCOOP schedule so unique:

• A tiered poker tournament structure with a low stakes, mid stakes, and high stakes variant of each series.
• 33 vast and varied online poker events – including Hold’em, Stud, Omaha, Badugi, H.O.R.S.E., Razz, heads-up match play and more.
• Events in the 2010 SCOOP are There’s Limit, Pot Limit and No Limit.  There are also events with rebuys and addons, knockouts and six-max options.
• The prizes, of course, are also tiered accordingly – meaning you can get in on the 2010 PokerStars SCOOP action no matter what your bank roll.

The PokerStars SCOOP buy-ins range from as small as $5.50 to the top tier main event buy-in of $10,300. That event, a $5 million guaranteed tournament, takes place on May 16, along with the other two tiers of main events – the middle tier with a $1,050 buy-in and $3 million awards, and the low tier with a $109 buy-in and $1 million prizes. All totalling a guaranteed cash pool of $36 million!

Players can also skirt the direct buy-ins by playing (and winning) in any of PokerStars ongoing satellite tournaments and qualifiers for free seats in many of the 2010 SCOOP events, including of course the main event.

Check out our PokerStars Review for bonus codes, game strategies, and more!

• Play PokerStars Freeroll

In the England Rugby Challenge, PokerStars freeroll players from Ireland and UK can win trips to watch various RBS 6 Nations Championship rugby matches:

• There are 5 PokerStars England Rugby Challenge prize packages overall, each including four executive box seat tickets at Twickenham stadium, hotel accommodations, $200 in spending cash, and entry to an exclusive live poker tournament the night before the game.
• Joining with RFU (Rugby Football Union), there are two rugby matches included in the PokerStars promotion: England v. Wales (on Feb. 6) , England v. Ireland (Feb. 27)- both at Twickenham stadium in London, England.
• Winners have the chance to win a share of $1,500 in the exclusive tournament (the night before). Plus, one lucky freeroll winner will receive a rugby ball signed by the entire England Elite Squad!

Do you live in Ireland or the UK? To qualify, click on the image above to play PokerStars freeroll throughout the rest of this month, February ‘10:

See PokerStars for the full qualifier schedule. Just keep in mind that the competition is open only to PokerStar players from Ireland and the UK . The final for the game against Wales is on Jan. 31 and the final for the game against Ireland is on Feb 21.

Check out our PokerStars Review for bonus codes, game strategies, and more!

• EPT Main Sponsor – PokerStars

Today, it seems that the younger poker generation is now comfortably sweeping up the tables along with the old-school set. The most recent example of this phenomenon is Jake Cody, a 21-year-old (just like Joe Cada) who won the EPT 2010 Deauville Title in France. Never playing in the EPT (European Poker Tournament) before, Jake Cody qualified after netting $198,000 in an online win, and then finishing in the money at the UKIPT (UK and Ireland Poker Tour) 2010 kickoff event in Galway.

Other young players proving their poker game (both online and off):

• Peter Eastgate (in 2009) and now Joe Cada (in 2010) have both have successively broken Phil Hellmuth’s long-standing record for the youngest player ever to win the World Series of Poker Main Event title.
• Along with the oldest of old-schoolers, the Godfather of Poker himself Doyle Brunson, four young guns are playing in the Brunson 10 team of hand-picked online poker players.

What’s most important, however, for all you readers to take note of (whether you’re young or old) is that all of these players won live tournament seats through online poker satellites. Just like them,  you could win a major title as well!

Satellites are taking place right now at PokerStars for all the upcoming EPT (European Poker Tour) events, as well as satellites for upcoming events in the UKIPT, Asian Pacific Poker Tour (LAPT), Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), and the newest addition to the live poker series’ sponsored by PokerStars, the North American Poker Tour (NAPT).

Check out our Online Poker Room Reviews to qualify for tournaments like Jake Cody did for the EPT 2010!

Throughout the month and up to the big 40 billionth hand, Poker Stars.com will be hosting a bunch of cash ring games with special bonus prizes, all based around number 40. Every player that is dealt into one of the one millionth hands on the way to the 40 billionth had will receive a bonus $40 for every VIP player point (VPP) that the players at the table have collectively earned over the prior 40 hands at that table.  What’s more, whoever wins each benchmark millionth hand will have their prize money from the pot doubled.

During this cash table portion of the Poker Stars 40 billionth hand promotion the count starts at hand #39,601,000,000.

On the 40 billionth hand, every player dealt in will receive a bonus of $400 for each VPP point earned collectively over the past 40 hands played at that same table. Additionally, the winner of that hand, again, will have their cash prize from the pot doubled. And if a split pot occurs, then all the players involved in the chopped pot will have their shares doubled.

But the highlight of PokerStars’ 40 billionth hand celebration will no doubt be the largest ever PokerStars Sunday Million tournament, taking place on Sunday, February 21 and featuring a guaranteed prize pool of $4 million.

• Click for –> PokerStars Freeroll

The PokerStars TV show, Royal Street Poker, is offering members a chance to vie for a spot at the EPT (European Poker Tournament) in Barcelona. PokerStars has long sponsored/hosted the EPT, as well as several other land-based poker tournaments around the world, in which online players can qualify.

For a chance to win the EPT Barcelona Poker prizes:

• Enter the Royal Street Poker Freeroll tournament, happening each day this month, February 2010, at 19:00 Moscow time (that’s 11 am ET).
• The top 10 players from each day’s freeroll (Monday – Saturday) will advace to the Sunday Royal Street Poker Weekly Finals.
• The Royal Street Poker Weekly Finals, which has no direct buy in, takes place on Sundays (February 7, 14, 21, and 28) at 18:30 Moscow time (or 10:30 am ET).
• The 14 top players in the PokerStars Royal Street Poker Weekly Final can then apply to play poker on TV for the grand prize package of the EPT Barcelona trip.

Royal Street Poker will appear on Rustavi 2, a Georgian television channel. Included in the broadcast will be the qualifiers competing in online poker tournaments against celebrity players on their laptops. In all, there will be 7 broadcasts, but only one European Poker Tour Barcelona prize package to be won.

EPT Freeroll Poker Prizes: The grand prize winner will receive buy-in for the EPT Barcelona main event, as well as travel accommodations and $1,000 in spending money. The runner-up receives T$10,000 ($10,000 in tournament dollars), and the 3^rd place finisher receives T$5,000. Tournament dollars are credits you can use towards buy-ins of other online poker tournaments at PokerStars.

Check out our PokerStars Review to learn more about PokerStars freeroll!

• Play PokerStars Freeroll

PokerStar players in the UK and Ireland also got to participate in the PokerStars UK & Ireland Poker Tour KIPT (UKIPT) Feb. 11 – Valentine’s Day on the 14th. Now, they have even more ways to win, with the Bonus PokerStars Freeroll promotion:

• Open daily to only British and Irish players.
• Lasts six weeks long, featuring £2,000 PokerStars Freerolls every night at 21:30 GMT.
• An hour later each day, there’s also a £250 Freeroll (that’s at 22:30 GMT) for players too late to register for the £2K Freeroll, or who get knocked out too early.

But before you throw in the towel on the PokerStars £2,000 Freeroll, and opt for the daily £250 Freeroll, check this out. PokerStars is also featuring a “rebuy event,” which means that for only 50¢ you can buy back into the £2,000 tournament if you get knocked out before you’re ready.

Poker Stars recently created the UKIPT for its players in Ireland and England, and they’ve also just introduced the inaugural NAPT (North American Poker Tour) for its U.S. players.

Both PokerStars Freeroll Series, as well as PokerStars’ long-standing European Poker Tour (EPT), the APPT (Asian Pacific Poker Tour), and the LAPT (Latin American Poker Tour) have satellites running all during the year awarding prize packages that include free entry into the various stops on these major land-based poker tournament events.

Check out our PokerStars Review to learn more about PokerStars freeroll!

This makes the first WBCOOP in two years, with the last World Blogger Championship of Online Poker happening back in 2008.The 2010 WBCOOP runs from January 25 through 31 and is comprised of 7 events: 6 prelim events in mostly No Limit Holdem except with one Pot Limit Omaha event (on January 26) and one 8-Game Mix event (on January 29), and of course the main event, capping off the series this year on January 31.

At each of the 6 prelim events, over $6,000 in 2010 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) tickets tickets to the SCOOP satellite Steps program will be awarded. At the main event, some approx. $25,000 in 2010 SCOOP tickets will be awarded. PokerStars will also be awarding Spot prizes during the series for the best live event blogging and Tweeting.

There are no direct buy-ins or event Frequent Player Points buy-ins for WBCOOP events. And the only players who are eligible to participate are other online poker bloggers like yours truly. Just remember, you can’t create an online poker blog on the spot just to be able to play in the 2010 WBCOOP because you won’t be eligible. Your blog must be online for at least 2 months and be updated on a regular basis in order for you to be eligible. Of course you need to download pokerstars and have an account as well.

The player pool started out at a record-breaking 1,529. And by the time the pool was drained down to just the final table, it was brimming with poker talent. One of the biggest names in poker at the 2010 PCA final table was Barry Shulman. His son Jeff Shulman made it to the final table of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, but got knocked out early, while Barry Shulman himself was the first place winner of the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe just months before. He didn’t fare as well in the 2010 PCA, but didn’t do so shabby either, with this owner of Card Player Magazine pulling in a million dollar third place finish, for $1,350,000.

The winner, however, was a 19-year-old from the online poker world that goes by gibler321 and is known to his parents, at least, as Harrison Gimbel. Claiming the $2,200,000 grand prize from 25-year-old runner-up Ty Reiman, Gimbel has become the youngest player in PCA history to win the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Reiman’s payday, meanwhile, was $1,750,000.

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is always one of the most watched live poker tournaments of the year for several reasons, not least of which is that it marks the start of the new season of the PokerStars European Poker Tour. And the 2010 PCA also marks the start of the inaugural PokerStars North American Poker Tour.

Poker Stars is the host, creator, and sponsor of many of the world’s most popular and profitable poker tournaments – in both online poker and live poker alike.

In terms of online poker tournaments, PokerStars runs the:

• (SCOOP) Spring Championship of Online Poker
• (WCOOP) World Championship of Online Poker

And in terms of real world, live poker, Poker Stars hosts the:

• EPT (European Poker Tour)
• APPT (Asia Pacific Poker Tour)
• (LAPT) Latin American Poker Tour

Season 1 of the North American Poker Tour (NAPT 1) started officially with the just-run 2010 PCA (PokerStars Caribbean Adventure).

The next event on the NAPT 1 is the NAPT Mohegan Sun to be held from February 20 – 24 in Uncasville, Connecticut. Buy-in for the main event at this stop is $5,000.

Following that will be the NAPT Venetian to be held from April 7 to 11 at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada as a part of the regular Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza Tournament. The main event for this stop on the tour also has a buy-in of $5,000.

As with the other PokerStars tour’s, the site will be running satellite qualifiers at PokerStars.com for prize packages awarding free seats in all the various North American Poker Tour events, starting with the aforementioned upcoming two: the NAPT Mohegan Sun in CT in February and the NAPT Venetian in Vegas in April.

Players in the United States and Canada should be thrilled that there’s a live poker tour, one of scant few, catering to them.