tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9083432286036358672024-03-19T05:22:57.286-07:00The Royal RaiserPoker Player & PokerStars World Champion Blogger 2012The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-32311912608044161252015-10-01T08:13:00.002-07:002015-10-01T08:15:40.234-07:00Playing Poker - A Beginners Guide<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Having played the game of Poker now for several years it's easy to forget just how daunting of a game it can be for an absolute beginner. Taking those tentative first steps without fully understanding the rules or the subtle nuances of the game can be quiet a challenging task. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are numerous poker-related websites and forums where new players can ask their questions and seek advice from their more experienced peers. Some however may be a little shy to seek help, maybe considering their question too 'dumb' to post it in a public forum. The only truly dumb questions though are the ones that are never asked and in my experience other players are only too eager to pass on their tips and help a new player get accustomed to the game. The poker world online, although quite a large one, is still a Community and for the most part players are happy to welcome those that are just beginning their poker journey.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One such place is a website called PokerSchoolOnline and it has a ever-growing Community of both new players and old-hands. It's the official PokerStars online school for poker and as a result it's packed full of strategy articles, videos from Pro players, courses and quizzes and also a great poker forum plus much more. <a href="https://www.pokerschoolonline.com/" target="_blank">Check it out for yourself</a> if you haven't heard of it before. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One of the neat little features that PokerSchoolOnline rolled out recently was this Poker Tutorial interactive game. It's a fun way to try out playing a couple of poker hands and it's ideal for a person who has never sat at a poker table before to get their feet wet so to speak. Try it out for yourself, you'll have a blast, I promise!</span><br />
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<iframe class="fix-size_mobile" frameborder="0" height="380" scrolling="no" src="//pokerstarsapps.com/tutorial/?language=en&source=12362489&utm_source=PSOschool& utm_medium=forum&utm_campaign=Tutorial" width="100%"></iframe></center>
The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-4886351086794028682015-05-15T04:40:00.000-07:002015-05-15T04:51:08.990-07:00MERCIER SEES DOUBLE<div class="ox-710eff3a03-MsoNormal" style="box-sizing: content-box; margin-bottom: 14px;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier has won two Spring Championship of Online Poker titles in the first three days of the festival on PokerStars.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGpmwGnzFY2CNoP0pD_ezoWbOM3yhry21KXmIiKHq6B7b8gDb2fwByg_hIzlGZKhXRNwSuQSW53_jJOje2ty6nm77d_75a7UuzWAQ-1s9uJeNDrP6IMyLjDxp4HSmCYQqvKB9hOkK7hwY/s1600/scoop_149x154.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGpmwGnzFY2CNoP0pD_ezoWbOM3yhry21KXmIiKHq6B7b8gDb2fwByg_hIzlGZKhXRNwSuQSW53_jJOje2ty6nm77d_75a7UuzWAQ-1s9uJeNDrP6IMyLjDxp4HSmCYQqvKB9hOkK7hwY/s1600/scoop_149x154.png" /></a></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">The American star, who is living in Canada throughout the championship, won the $2,100 Fixed Limit Badugi contest (SCOOP 05-H) on Monday night for $39,200, and followed it up yesterday with victory in the $2,100 No Limit Draw event (SCOOP 08-H) for $34,400. He has also secured another three cashes and leads the Overall and High Leader Boards at this early stage.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">After his latest victory Mercier tweeted: “One scoop two scoop badugi scoop 5card draw scoop…” and followed it up with “This was pretty awesome. As I won the scoop… I go back to supernova status pokerstars :).” It takes Mercier’s career SCOOP titles to three, which is joint fourth on the all-time stats Leader Board.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Here’s the PokerStars Blog report on Mercier’s two wins in two nights: <a href="http://psta.rs/1H3uIL6">http://psta.rs/1H3uIL6</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">TEAM PRO CASHES</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTu2utXetXmpo3332fiheeYsLiHFNL1GeEa4IripBlp_MmpMoGqf_Mk_bb6SmJ2SYGPAkqNY799vOBlRKi7bXvBxDoKCY1hn6Vq3mU5KHNnSKBc6fmqhxfFEfl0NHuQ71rB1BURVlK0Q/s1600/jason_mercier_luckyshirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgTu2utXetXmpo3332fiheeYsLiHFNL1GeEa4IripBlp_MmpMoGqf_Mk_bb6SmJ2SYGPAkqNY799vOBlRKi7bXvBxDoKCY1hn6Vq3mU5KHNnSKBc6fmqhxfFEfl0NHuQ71rB1BURVlK0Q/s320/jason_mercier_luckyshirt.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">A couple of other Team PokerStars Pros have done well in the opening days of SCOOP, with Chris ‘Money800’ Moneymaker finishing fourth in the $215 Fixed Limit Badugi and Mickey ‘mement_mori’ Petersen coming third in the $215 No Limit Draw for $7,521.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Other well-known players that have secured victories so far include Sorel ‘zangbezan24’ Mizzi, who won the $2,100 NL Hold’em (SCOOP 03-H) for $354,960 and now has two SCOOP titles, and Mohsin ‘sms9231’ Charania who won the $1,050 NL Hold’em [Turbo] (SCOOP 04-H) for $198,000. A blog interview with Charania after his win can be read here: <a href="http://psta.rs/1IAZwXN">http://psta.rs/1IAZwXN</a>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;">Meanwhile, the reigning World Championship of Online Poker Main Event winner, Fedor ‘CrownUpGuy’ Holz, who won $1.3m last September, is not above playing the Low stakes events in SCOOP, winning the $27 No Limit Draw last night for $7k. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 19.6000003814697px;"><i>Story via PokerStars Press</i></span></span><br />
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The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-84132870838368604112015-05-01T02:56:00.000-07:002015-05-01T03:02:20.353-07:00POKERSTARS LAUNCHES LIVE POKER ROOM IN SAINT-VINCENT, ITALY<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PokerStars have recently launched a new PokerStars LIVE poker room in Northern Italy, at “Casino de la Vallée”, which is part of a new leisure destination, the Saint-Vincent Resort & Casino. Saint-Vincent is an alpine town not far from the international airports of Turin and Milan Malpensa, and near the Italian border with France and Switzerland.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To celebrate the launch of the event, a Mini Italian Poker Tour event was held in the new </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMc9itwVmM3xL5x8NyxFoX5ZXltYdr7OUHmAx577lU86yef06szVQoLIdE5ihnwVDV7iosKYj0F3CIUKTDJ8sEY0XX1DBK79GkNgjyNTI9y6spdb5yS2ellYxAyCsYqpBCdymn8UslXuY/s1600/Mini+IPT+St+Vincent_440x274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMc9itwVmM3xL5x8NyxFoX5ZXltYdr7OUHmAx577lU86yef06szVQoLIdE5ihnwVDV7iosKYj0F3CIUKTDJ8sEY0XX1DBK79GkNgjyNTI9y6spdb5yS2ellYxAyCsYqpBCdymn8UslXuY/s1600/Mini+IPT+St+Vincent_440x274.jpg" height="199" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PokerStars LIVE room, with 775 entrants creating a €225,525 prizepool, more than doubling the €100,000 guaranteed in prizes. The event was won by Swiss player Jean Marc Bellini, who took home €42,000 as part of a deal.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PokerStars launched this new poker room to give European poker players an outstanding playing experience, with staff selected and trained by the Italian Poker Tour services company. This will guarantee poker players the same high standard of dealers as they have come to expect across both the European Poker Tour and the Italian Poker Tour in a permanent venue in Northern Italy.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The new PokerStars LIVE room in Saint-Vincent aims to become a must-go place for Italy’s poker lover. We’re excited to bring the best of PokerStars’ live poker experience to Northern Italy, and to give players the opportunity to play in a well-run, trusted and high quality new card room,” said Team PokerStars Pro, Luca Pagano.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“PokerStars LIVE in Saint-Vincent represents the most visible sign of a significant partnership between PokerStars and the Casino de la Vallée. Two Italian Poker Tour events are already scheduled in this season; regular tournaments are available on a weekly basis, and plenty of cash game action too,” said Marco Trucco, PokerStars Italian Country Manager.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The new PokerStars LIVE room in Saint Vincent is the fourth PokerStars LIVE room globally, joining London, Macau and Manila.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-4165651341438376682015-02-26T09:31:00.000-08:002015-02-26T09:35:31.432-08:00POKERSTARS PROS PREVAIL AT BRITISH POKER AWARDS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQLMX8Peb7ETQQEQyHt3r5G5CIRhiLh0a2NCwa3BPdPTVo0XBPryVQWaEiS_RG_c1wqgnYUkbsU52wqoAYCH0t-b78CVvpma_VRYlWpMEs1zdw-PTjzyVeYEF1Br5ZYCbpk0HYEP5KYc/s1600/PS_Spade_logo88-thumb-350x350-182591.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQLMX8Peb7ETQQEQyHt3r5G5CIRhiLh0a2NCwa3BPdPTVo0XBPryVQWaEiS_RG_c1wqgnYUkbsU52wqoAYCH0t-b78CVvpma_VRYlWpMEs1zdw-PTjzyVeYEF1Br5ZYCbpk0HYEP5KYc/s1600/PS_Spade_logo88-thumb-350x350-182591.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Team PokerStars Pro and staff were recognised for their achievements at the British Poker Awards recently, in an annual ceremony held at The Hippodrome Casino. Tournament director of the European Poker Tour (EPT) and UK & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT), Toby Stone, was awarded ‘Best Tournament Director’ for the third consecutive year. Team PokerStars Pro was also well represented as Jake Cody received the award for ‘Best Blogger’ and Daniel Negreanu was named ‘Best International Player’. <br /><br />On his ‘three-peat’ achievement, Toby Stone said: “I’m absolutely thrilled and humbled to win this again, but I must pay credit to my hard-working floor and dealer team who, without which, none of these events would be possible. They’re among the best in the world and make my job infinitely easier.”<br /><br />Jake Cody was equally elated after his win: “This was a big surprise and I’m really happy to have won. What makes it even better is that it was a reader’s choice award. To be recognised by the poker fans is amazing.”<br /><br />EPT London was also nominated for ‘Best UK Tournament’ and ‘PokerStars LIVE at the Hippodrome Casino’ for Best Live Card Room.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Story via PokerStars</i></span></span><br />
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The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-43573151984976988972015-02-03T09:05:00.000-08:002015-02-03T09:05:02.433-08:00POKERSTARS NAMED BEST ONLINE POKER OPERATOR FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR AT INTERNATIONAL GAMING AWARDS<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Rational Group also wins Socially Responsible Operator of the Year Online</span></h3>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">PokerStars and Rational Group were
both recipients of International Gaming Awards at the annual ceremony held last
night in London. For the third year running, PokerStars won the award for
‘Online Poker Operator of the Year’, and Rational Group was recognised for its
stringent and ethical responsible gaming policies by being awarded the
‘Socially Responsible Operator of the Year Online’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Lee Jones, PokerStars’ Director of
Poker Communications, was in attendance to accept the awards. After the
ceremony he said, “We are extremely proud and honoured that PokerStars won ‘Online
Poker Operator of the Year’ and that Rational Group won ‘Socially Responsible
Operator of the Year’, both in tough, competitive fields. Personally speaking,
I am perhaps most gratified by the responsible gaming award; it recognizes our
long-standing and ongoing commitment to providing a safe and responsible
environment for our players."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">YEAR TO REMEMBER<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKpn_zHggbILA5a51_DZg5Cr7C2WjyqsWv5DQC2OBCmZbRMB4_5cb-7u7QHQJhTOiR8Qpwyacf05l38vrroAy5-g_nWsgBe5QTf_nGeS4FKE4GdjoTYHZJg62CnlbxybRoTZLmtI1QP4/s1600/IGA+Trophies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKpn_zHggbILA5a51_DZg5Cr7C2WjyqsWv5DQC2OBCmZbRMB4_5cb-7u7QHQJhTOiR8Qpwyacf05l38vrroAy5-g_nWsgBe5QTf_nGeS4FKE4GdjoTYHZJg62CnlbxybRoTZLmtI1QP4/s1600/IGA+Trophies.jpg" height="320" width="246" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">PokerStars celebrated an historic 2014
that included facilitation of tournament one billion, the launch of the hugely
popular Spin & Go tournaments, new gaming licenses in the UK and Bulgaria,
and the implementation of casino games in selected markets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In addition to winning the ‘Online
Poker Operator of the Year’ award, PokerStars’ sister site Full Tilt was also a
finalist in the same category, as well as ‘Online Casino Operator of the Year’.
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It was also a big night for partners
of the world’s largest poker site, as the Hippodrome Casino in London won the
award for ‘Casino Operator Europe’, and City of Dreams Manila was recognised as
the ‘Casino/Integrated Resort of the Year’. Both properties play host to
PokerStars LIVE poker rooms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-43594594788013988202014-08-08T08:48:00.001-07:002014-08-08T08:48:07.159-07:00SKRILL RETURNS AS OFFICIAL PAYMENT PROVIDER FOR THE EUROPEAN POKER TOUR<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The European Poker Tour (EPT) announced recently that Skrill will once again act as the official payment provider for EPT Season 11.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Paul Barclay, VP of Gambling & FX at Skrill said: “Skrill is delighted to be working with the European Poker Tour as its official payment provider sponsor for a third year. The EPT is a well-respected and established brand, and this partnership will help to further strengthen our position as the leading digital wallet among poker players, and indeed for the broader spectrum of gamers. We will continue to play an active role as sponsors during season 11 of the EPT and as such, are looking forward to attending the tournaments and interacting directly with players throughout the season.”</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipMooOLJF9cLS5XLQxbsHbhRqjQX13pyEwtnXSzECjy3lEkEN4DGyBoqGbgr53bWD1JISP0G5en3Qtk-fEacssRkhKDo1_5hyeppRFdv12psoq9iNBko7P-0GOYyZSmb0Nez_7I-8o_tw/s1600/ept_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipMooOLJF9cLS5XLQxbsHbhRqjQX13pyEwtnXSzECjy3lEkEN4DGyBoqGbgr53bWD1JISP0G5en3Qtk-fEacssRkhKDo1_5hyeppRFdv12psoq9iNBko7P-0GOYyZSmb0Nez_7I-8o_tw/s1600/ept_logo.jpg" height="125" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">EPT President, Edgar Stuchly, said: “We are pleased to have Skrill back on board as official payment provider for the EPT for a third year. Skrill is one of the most popular online deposit and withdrawal methods, providing easy, safe and secure payment options for poker players and EPT players alike.” </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Barclay added: “We are also excited to be able to offer online freeroll promotions throughout the year that give players the chance to win a VIP EPT package.” Skrill will be running 10 online freeroll tournaments throughout the Season, awarding a VIP experience at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final. For further information got to: </span><a href="http://www.europeanpokertour.com/skrill"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">www.europeanpokertour.com/skrill</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">EPT Season 11 gets under way in Barcelona from August 16-27 and it will mark the tour’s 100th Main Event. For a third successive year the EPT and Estrellas Poker Tours will combine to feature 44 events, providing a fantastic live poker experience for players of all levels and abilities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong>About the European Poker Tour</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The European Poker Tour (EPT) is the world’s richest and most popular poker tour. Since 2004, the EPT has paid out over EUR617 million in tournament prize pools, and hosted successful festivals across Europe. The EPT also visits the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), which takes place every January in the Bahamas and is the largest poker festival outside of Las Vegas. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Season 11 of the EPT builds on the success of a decade of world-class live poker events, and major poker festivals are being held in Barcelona (which will celebrate the 100th EPT event) London, Prague, and Deauville, with the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final to be held in Monaco. Further stops for Season 11 will be announced in due course.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Further information on the EPT is available online at </span><a href="http://www.europeanpokertour.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">http://www.europeanpokertour.com/</span></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFokOc6fjtgWndb8Y58zAgfojaAGEp9gce1TXHBx2sgzJlr_h7RTHA6JoVQwox5FBIu0TILm-q8ohbtqw1BhfSGGHF4mbyXJ5Z3vRs7xkuzmrxOXZnSO-MXqCY4aVgXZczpfwovGTY6gQ/s1600/skrill-logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFokOc6fjtgWndb8Y58zAgfojaAGEp9gce1TXHBx2sgzJlr_h7RTHA6JoVQwox5FBIu0TILm-q8ohbtqw1BhfSGGHF4mbyXJ5Z3vRs7xkuzmrxOXZnSO-MXqCY4aVgXZczpfwovGTY6gQ/s1600/skrill-logo.png" height="115" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Skrill is one of Europe's leading online payments companies and among the world's largest independent digital wallet providers with 36 million account holders. Skrill enables any customer to make online payments conveniently and securely without revealing personal financial data, as well as send and receive money online cost-effectively. Skrill’s mission is to become the preferred choice for online payments.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Skrill’s worldwide payment network offers businesses access to direct payment processing via 100 payment options in 200 countries and territories and 40 currencies, through just one integration, allowing everyone to pay and get paid globally.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">For more information, visit </span><a href="http://www.skrill.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">www.skrill.com</span></a>The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-47854981609586554742014-08-01T05:47:00.000-07:002014-08-01T05:47:02.917-07:00DJ ROGER SANCHEZ SET TO PERFORM AT EPT BARCELONA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grammy award-winning DJ Roger Sanchez, one of the biggest names in electronic music, will be playing a three-hour set at the spectacular EPT100 celebration party in Barcelona.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The party, which is being sponsored by PokerTracker, will kick-off at 10.30pm on August 20 at Teatre Principal, located in the heart of the city’s famous Las Ramblas boulevard. Teatre Principal is a stunning converted 19th century theatre that plays host to the best club nights in Barcelona. Estrellas and EPT players are invited to attend the party to enjoy an open bar for the first two hours as well as a special VIP area once the club is open to the public.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">EPT President Edgar Stuchly said: “We are absolutely thrilled that Roger Sanchez will be helping us celebrate the 100th EPT and also thank PokerTracker, the Official EPT Poker Tracking Partner, for sponsoring the event. EPT100 is one of the most important milestones in our history and we are getting ready to host a record number of online qualifiers. I suspect that Sanchez’s performance will prove an even bigger incentive for players trying to win their seat in the tournament.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sanchez is a pioneer of house music and has worked with a string of stars including Diana Ross, Kylie Minogue, Daft Punk and Madonna. Producer and promoter Sanchez, who founded successful house music label Stealth Records, is the biggest star ever to perform at a PokerStars party in Europe. His weekly Release Yourself radio show has a worldwide audience of more than 15 million listeners. For more info about Roger Sanchez, check out his official website </span><a href="http://www.rogersanchez.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.rogersanchez.com/</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">EPT100 is set to be one of the most spectacular poker events ever held, marking a milestone in the history of the European Poker Tour. Joining forces with the national Estrellas Poker Tour once again, the EPT Barcelona Poker Festival will run August 16-27, 2014 and is expected to top last year’s staggering 9,000 tournament entries. For more information, please visit </span><a href="http://psta.rs/EPTBCN"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://psta.rs/EPTBCN</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>About the European Poker Tour</strong></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3D6KJYFhemDpAd8TduXh8hoyxzlbNusmY3S81PCSi2ObpBOD2e9zEOUYMWBcUdoc0_SJa493m51u1fv9s3uc_59qvAADllJSAj9qvci0rSUZffsi4t_KbMwgnO3kMFJ9vvmRKZ-9aYRY/s1600/sanchez2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3D6KJYFhemDpAd8TduXh8hoyxzlbNusmY3S81PCSi2ObpBOD2e9zEOUYMWBcUdoc0_SJa493m51u1fv9s3uc_59qvAADllJSAj9qvci0rSUZffsi4t_KbMwgnO3kMFJ9vvmRKZ-9aYRY/s1600/sanchez2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The European Poker Tour (EPT) is the world’s richest and most popular poker tour. Since 2004, the EPT has paid out over EUR617 million in tournament prize pools, and hosted successful festivals across Europe. The EPT also visits the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), which takes place every January in the Bahamas and is the largest poker festival outside of Las Vegas. Further information on the EPT is available online at europeanpokertour.com</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>About Roger Sanchez</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grammy Award winning producer, remixer and DJ Roger Sanchez is one of the world’s foremost names in House music. Known as a "DJ’s DJ" and a "Producer’s producer," Sanchez’ unwavering status as a top-global master of the genre is a testament to his robust belief in the power of music to liberate people, physically and mentally. Follow the links below for more information and music:</span><br />
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<a href="http://facebook.com/rogersanchezfanpage"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">facebook.com/rogersanchezfanpage</span></a><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/djrogersanchez"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">twitter.com/djrogersanchez</span></a><br /><a href="http://youtube.com/rogersanchez"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">youtube.com/rogersanchez</span></a><br /><a href="http://soundcloud.com/rogersanchez"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">soundcloud.com/rogersanchez</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Story via PokerStars Press</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-18267788796766528562014-06-13T06:43:00.000-07:002014-06-13T06:43:15.755-07:00EUROPEAN POKER TOUR ANNOUNCES SKULLCANDY AS OFFICIAL AUDIO PARTNER OF SEASON 11<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) recently announced that Skullcandy will be the Official Audio Partner of EPT Season 11.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As part of the sponsorship, players will receive a pair of complimentary “Crusher” headphones at the first EPT Season 11 main event they qualify for. In addition, the headphones will be used as prizes for viewers of the EPT Live webcast. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This marks the first time that the EPT has had an audio partner, and continues the expansion of mainstream brands sponsoring the tour.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a review of the Crusher headphones, technology news website TechCrunch: "Rather than trying to fake a bunch of bass with digital signal processing, the Crushers use an individually powered second driver to trigger a proprietary (and rather hush-hush) vibration system. Even in the sub-optimal audio testing environment that is the parking lot outside of the Consumer Electronics Show, we all walked away pretty impressed." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's a YouTube video capturing the reaction of celebrities to their first experience of Skullcandy Crusher headphones.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thierry Peuchot, Skullcandy EMEA Marketing Director, said: “With this PokerStars Live partnership, Skullcandy provides players stylish and comfortable isolation at the table and an immersive way to relax before and during events. Skullcandy has sports in its DNA, and we’re excited to see a different breed of athletes wearing our newest products.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">EPT President Edgar Stuchly said: “These new headphones will be a great benefit to players on the EPT circuit. The Skullcandy Crusher headphones are highly regarded headphones, and we are very pleased to welcome Skullcandy as the latest mainstream sponsor for the upcoming season.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For more information about Skullcandy, visit <a href="http://www.skullcandy.com/">http://www.skullcandy.com/</a></span>The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-4633259518740663572014-06-05T06:52:00.002-07:002014-06-05T06:53:23.326-07:00$10 Million Guaranteed for 2014 WCOOP Main Event<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PokerStars announced today that satellites to the 2014 <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/wcoop/">World Championship of Online</a> Poker Main Event – which will feature a $10 million guaranteed prize pool – are now running, with buy-ins starting from just $1.65. The $5,200 Main Event is scheduled to take place September 28, 2014.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The $10 million guaranteed prize pool will ensure that the World Championship of Online Poker Main Event is the biggest online poker tournament of the year and will continue to build on its reputation as one of the most sought-after titles in the poker world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Past winners of the World Championship include J.C. ‘area23JC’ Tran, Carter ‘ckingusc’ King, Yevgeniy ‘Jovial Gent’ Timoshenko, and Tyson ‘POTTERPOKER’ Marks. The 2012 World Champion, Marat ‘maratik’ Sharafutdinov, even sparked an internet meme with his famous demand of “I WONT MILLION” during the final-table deal discussions. His story was illustrated in a <a href="http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/wcoop/2013/i-wont-million---the-story-of-million-do-139889.html">cartoon and blog story</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Players wishing to emulate ‘maratik’s success and qualify for the World Championship of Online Poker Main Event using Frequent Player Points (FPP), can do so via the Mega-Path with Round 1 satellites starting from just 1 FPP. Log on to the PokerStars client and click ‘Events’ > ‘WCOOP’ > ‘FPP Satellites’ for more details.</span><br />
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The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-82201639932703868432014-05-22T04:08:00.001-07:002014-05-22T04:12:56.578-07:00PokerStars Voted Best Place to Work<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Rational Group, operators of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, have been selected as one of the best workplaces in the United Kingdom, including their headquarters office in the Isle of Man, for the third consecutive year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently, the Great Place to Work® Institute’s announced its annual ‘Best Workplace’ rankings for large companies in the UK, ranking Rational Group at 14th place, based upon an employee survey conducted by the Institute. The Great Place to Work Institute is the world’s largest consultancy specialising in workplace assessment and enhancement.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the third consecutive year that the UK and Isle of Man offices have been named to the list. Earlier this year, Rational Group offices in Ireland and Costa Rica were also named as some of the Best Workplaces in those countries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Once again, we are the only company in our industry to receive this accolade, which speaks volumes for our desire to lead from the front,” said Michael Hazel, Chief Finance Officer of the Rational Group. “We are working hard to embrace the principles of what makes a great workplace and will never stop listening to our people and acting on their feedback.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Globally, 6,000 organisations around the world are surveyed, representing approximately 10 million employees. On this occasion, PokerStars offices in both London and the Isle of Man were part of the analysis by The Great Place to Work® Institute. This process included surveying both employees and management to get a holistic view of the organisation’s HR policies and practices and how these are perceived by employees.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“We are delighted to recognise a record 100 organisations which have achieved the coveted status of Best Workplace, one that has high trust and highly engaged employees,” said Tom O’Byrne, the Chief Executive of the Great Place to Work® Institute. “All Best Workplaces recognise the strategic importance of creating and maintaining high trust, highly engaged workplaces as this can improve business performance and, for many, the bottom line.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Story Courtesy of PokerStars Press</span></div>
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The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-20027825725561709212014-04-26T15:40:00.002-07:002014-04-26T15:48:06.955-07:00EUROPEAN POKER TOUR ANNOUNCES DATES FOR EPT SEASON 11<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <b>European Poker Tour </b>(EPT) has recently announced some dates for the forthcoming Season 11 – kicking off with Europe’s largest-ever poker festival in Barcelona in August to celebrate the 100th EPT.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Five European destinations have been confirmed at this stage and all will run in conjunction with <b>PokerStars</b>’ national and regional tours in Europe. The EPT Barcelona Poker Festival will join the <b>Estrellas Poker Tour</b> for a festival running August 16-27. The EPT London Poker Festival will again include the UKIPT and take place from October 8-18. The EPT Prague Poker Festival – which attracted a record-breaking 1,007-strong field for the Main Event this season – will again team up with the Eureka Poker Tour and run from December 7-17 while in Deauville, the EPT and France Poker Series (FPS) will join forces for a 11-day festival from January 28 to February 7, 2015. The Season 11 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final will incorporate the FPS and take place April 29 – May 8, 2015. Further stops will be confirmed at a later date.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiok0ptR99sivPkp55-MBJfcGyOpm4d1s7qp_q8bo_LQrRftUVS75lwgujbzy09SAp9OAAk0nInVK_RoBKG_BJSfVm07dawcBOOVIaEB5N5APZN0I9n5FuMCLau3kxc5E4Dgz5FPwJsLQc/s1600/EPT_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiok0ptR99sivPkp55-MBJfcGyOpm4d1s7qp_q8bo_LQrRftUVS75lwgujbzy09SAp9OAAk0nInVK_RoBKG_BJSfVm07dawcBOOVIaEB5N5APZN0I9n5FuMCLau3kxc5E4Dgz5FPwJsLQc/s1600/EPT_001.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">EPT Barcelona August 16 - 27, 2014; EPT Main Event August 21-27</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">EPT London October 8-18, 2014; EPT Main Event October 12-18</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">EPT Prague December 7-17, 2014; EPT Main Event December 11-17</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">EPT Deauville January 27 – February 7, 2015, EPT Main Event February 1-7</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">EPT Grand Final April 29 - May 8, 2015 EPT Main Event May 2-5</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With more than 9,000 entries, last season’s Barcelona Poker Festival was a staggering success, the debut event of a season that has broken numerous records and attracted more players than ever before. Season 10’s festivals around Europe have already pulled in more than 40,000 entries and the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final is set to add at least 4,000 or more. The EPT Barcelona festival in August is expected to set new European prize pool and attendance records when it returns to Casino Barcelona.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Several enhancements to tournament schedules are already in the pipeline for Season 11 designed to give as many players as possible the chance to participate. They include dedicated €200 Seniors Events (for ages 50+) at most stops, a reduction in buy-in (from €300 to €200) for all our Women’s Events plus the opportunity to qualify online for a wide range of events including new “Championship Events” being held at most stops featuring variants such as HORSE, Stud and Omaha events. The tour will also continue offering “fun” events - which have proved a big hit in Season 10 - such as Deuces Wild and Crazy Pineapple. There will be more satellites than ever before online on the various PokerStars platforms giving as many players as possible the chance to complete.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only change to Main Event buy-ins will be EPT London (October 12-18) which is being reduced to £4,000 + £250 (approximately €5,100) to bring it in line with Main Event buy-ins at the other EPT tour stops.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFdjrw9Oy3ONvEZbPW_1EEPXFYLkDOD0tAXtTFR562aoBwQAPpfqbrT2q3UxslTFS5gcdYhVG2XYDpj2N74najgdT1KLgkn-6dVZTDH8qVXVCKIReDZeoTPx9SGyAmpbxU-jcfGb4kQbk/s1600/vicky_coren_champ_wrap_pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFdjrw9Oy3ONvEZbPW_1EEPXFYLkDOD0tAXtTFR562aoBwQAPpfqbrT2q3UxslTFS5gcdYhVG2XYDpj2N74najgdT1KLgkn-6dVZTDH8qVXVCKIReDZeoTPx9SGyAmpbxU-jcfGb4kQbk/s1600/vicky_coren_champ_wrap_pic.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vicky Coren - The 1st ever two-time EPT main event champion!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">EPT President <b>Edgar Stuchly</b> said: “Season 10 has been a tremendous success and we’ve had some great feedback from players who welcome the even greater variety of events at the festivals and the wide range of buy-ins. Partnering the local tours means our events are more accessible than ever before and we pride ourselves on providing the most professional playing environment available anywhere in the world. We will be building on this formula in Season 11 and, as always, constantly striving to enhance the player experience.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>About the European Poker Tour</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The European Poker Tour (EPT) is Europe’s richest and most popular poker tour. Since 2004, the EPT has paid out over €535 million in tournament prize pools, and hosted successful festivals across Europe. The EPT also operates the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), which takes place every January in the Bahamas and is the largest poker festival outside of Las Vegas. Further information on the EPT is available online at <a href="http://www.europeanpokertour.com/">http://www.europeanpokertour.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Story via PokerStars Press</span>The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-87532707362861170732014-04-13T05:42:00.003-07:002014-04-13T05:43:06.581-07:00POKERSTARS’ CARNIVAL OF TOURNAMENTS RETURNS <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>PokerStars</b> is in a carnival atmosphere this month, as the world’s largest online poker site announced it will celebrate the latest milestone of Tournament Number 900 Million with a ‘Carnival of Tournaments’ from April 14-27. The two-week festival will feature more than $2 million in boosted guarantees, special tournaments, and $700,000 in giveaway prizes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first Carnival of Tournaments, held last October to celebrate Tournament Number 800 Million, was a week-long affair. This time, though, there will be a fortnight of promotions, featuring a week of increased guarantees in The Big daily tournaments and a Golden Sit & Go’s period. There’s also Tournament Number 900 Million itself, which will have a $109 buy-in, a $1 million guaranteed prize pool, and $100,000 in added prizes given out to random tables during the first 2 hours and 20 minutes of the tournament.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>THE SCHEDULE</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">April 14 – Milestone Golden Sit & Go’s: more than $500,000 to be given away at random across a wide variety of Sit & Go games. See <a href="http://psta.rs/PlT0wj">http://psta.rs/PlT0wj</a> for more details. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">April 21-27 – Big, Bigger, Biggest Tournaments: more than $2 million in increased guarantees in the Daily Bigs. Go to <a href="http://psta.rs/1mM9OdO">http://psta.rs/1mM9OdO</a> for more info.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">April 27, 13.00 ET – Tournament Number 900 Million: $1 million guaranteed, $100,000 added prizes, $109 buy-in. Qualifiers are now running for as little as $1. Check out <a href="http://psta.rs/1h6pVRp">http://psta.rs/1h6pVRp</a> for more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>TOURNAMENT NUMBER 900 MILLION</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The milestone tournament takes place on Sunday, April 27 at 13.00 ET, features a $109 buy-in and $1 million guaranteed prize pool. As a special reward to players, $100,000 in additional prizes (including cash, tournament tickets and a live event package) will be handed out to hundreds of players at random tables during the late registration period.</span><br />
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<a href="http://media.intellipoker.com/images_content/all-in-one/slider/en/Carnival-of-tournaments-900_EN_440x274.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media.intellipoker.com/images_content/all-in-one/slider/en/Carnival-of-tournaments-900_EN_440x274.png" height="123" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>PokerSchoolOnline Ticket Giveaway</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As usual the very generous staff over at PokerSchoolOnline have put together another great poker promotion to celebrate this historic milestone in online tournaments. Check out <a href="http://www.pokerschoolonline.com/articles/Carnival-of-Tournaments-Win-Tickets">All The Details</a> of how you can satellite into these events for FREE!</span>The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-85300409841675386072014-04-13T05:34:00.002-07:002014-04-13T05:34:31.625-07:00CLOSE CALL FOR RAFA NADAL IN HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH SELBST<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The world’s number one tennis player and PokerStars ambassador, Rafa Nadal has lost out to the world’s best female poker player, Vanessa Selbst in a heads-up poker game. Nadal finished with slightly fewer chips than Selbst in a special charity poker game held at Casino de Monte Carlo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nadal was hoping to build on his poker tournament victory in Prague last December, when he beat the likes of Brazilian football legend Ronaldo and the world’s number one poker player Daniel Negreanu. Speaking about his first ever live heads-up poker experience, Nadal said: “It was a great honour to play against a strong competitor and although I lost, I had a lot of fun.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Selbst added: “Rafa played a great game, but the format and the cards were in my favour. I was able to win by using aggression in good spots and I also made a number of strong hands. I had an excellent time with Rafa and I’m looking forward to the re-match!”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alfonso Cardalda, Nadal’s poker coach said: “Playing against Vanessa was a very important part of Rafa’s poker journey. After winning in Prague, this was his next big step and he played very well against one of the best poker players in the world.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both Nadal and Selbst are well known for being extremely focused and determined competitors, who possess the strategic and technical abilities to succeed. Their coming together was a great battle of minds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nadal faces a different type of opponent next week when he’ll be competing in the first round of the ATP Monte Carlo Masters, in search of a record ninth title. Yale law graduate Selbst will next participate in the PokerStars European Poker Tour event in Sanremo, where she hopes to add to her impressive $9.6 million in poker tournament winnings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Five thousand Euros will be donated to Care International as part of this charity event.</span><br />
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The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-17739336057575927902014-04-04T11:23:00.003-07:002014-04-04T11:23:56.752-07:00Record Numbers Set For PokerStars Monaco EPT Event<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Courtesy of PokerStars Press</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <b><span style="color: red;">PokerStars</span></b> and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final is set to attract record numbers later this month as well as offer players the most varied tournament schedule ever. With three weeks still go before the festival kicks off at the glamorous Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel and Resort, more than 210 PokerStars players are already registered, including more than 140 who have won their seats online.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qUjs1MMNcTCZ-xOse6lZZEidFvdzY3CP1Se-rg5cgAGA8N79On6sUCbrH3jNw3XL-wfUBHRGRWSA1HBDa0lbHf9-24Py08HnvK37n38QDmIfk-O6LGaJkWYi_HAwuE0plVfCWhVJqiA/s1600/ept_live.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3qUjs1MMNcTCZ-xOse6lZZEidFvdzY3CP1Se-rg5cgAGA8N79On6sUCbrH3jNw3XL-wfUBHRGRWSA1HBDa0lbHf9-24Py08HnvK37n38QDmIfk-O6LGaJkWYi_HAwuE0plVfCWhVJqiA/s1600/ept_live.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Sunday’s €700 EPT Grand Final Mega Qualifier is set to swell the numbers still further, with 20 €14,000 EPT Grand Final packages guaranteed – double the number of the first Mega Qualifier that awarded 22 packages in February. PokerStars is also laying on numerous extra satellites in the lead-up to the prestigious €10,600 Main Event, as well as hosting regular €700 qualifiers on April 13 and 20. In all, more than 200 players are expected to win their seats for the Main Event by the time the festival starts on April 23, compared to 167 last year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A host of big names are among those who have already qualified, including Team PokerStars Pro Jose ‘Nacho’ Barbero, Team PokerStars Online’s Marc-Andre Ladouceur, Aussie Millions champ Ami Barer, EPT champions Kevin MacPhee and Mike McDonald, plus PCA champs Dimitar Danchev and newly-sponsored Dominik Panka. The first-ever EPT Grand Final “Early Bird Exclusives” were also snapped up super fast, giving 50 players a 50% discount on their hotel package.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The EPT is joining forces with the France Poker Series (FPS) for the first time in Monaco to provide an unparalleled variety of events at a wide range of buy-ins. The debut event is the €1,100 FPS Monaco Main Event, which will enjoy its first ever appearance on EPTLive with a cards-up, ‘as live’ broadcast of the final on April 27.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQf_0MDqHDr0dqEwE7S1AWbLqH2NomP9x9ZBLGLab6czw5h-59B5jZcEN6hL65V_11ueTUfxDVUJMIVazmsb50JLJfTMkZU2hFBH2-jNUiGPekyKff_g_0UHJokh_3pTgtbrCtBNaBOs/s1600/ept_live_002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQf_0MDqHDr0dqEwE7S1AWbLqH2NomP9x9ZBLGLab6czw5h-59B5jZcEN6hL65V_11ueTUfxDVUJMIVazmsb50JLJfTMkZU2hFBH2-jNUiGPekyKff_g_0UHJokh_3pTgtbrCtBNaBOs/s1600/ept_live_002.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another exciting activity taking place during the festival is filming of Heats 3 and 4 of Shark Cage, the new PokerStars TV show where PokerStars qualifiers, celebrities and poker legends from around the world compete for a shot at a $1 million winner-takes-all prize. The last heats – at the PCA in January – featured stars such as Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander and actress Jennifer Tilly, and big names are also lined up for the next round in Monaco.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A significant number of tournaments (21 in total) are priced at €500 and below at this season’s festival, giving a wide spectrum of players a chance to get in on the action. Some of the fun formats making their Grand Final debut include a €200 Deuces Wild tourney and €300 Run It Twice event. High rollers certainly have enough to keep them happy as well: in addition to the €2,000 FPS High Roller and €25,000 EPT High Roller, the €100,000 Super High Roller starts April 24. This will be filmed for television as well as broadcast live, with the final shown cards-up on April 26. Cash game players will yet again benefit from up to 40 tables running 18 hours a day and offering a wide range of games including No-Limit Hold’em, Pot-Limit Omaha, Stud, Draw, Open Face Chinese and Open Face Chinese Pineapple.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To view the full schedule, please visit <a href="http://psta.rs/EPT_GF">http://psta.rs/EPT_GF</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>About the European Poker Tour</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The European Poker Tour is the world’s richest and most popular poker tour. Since 2004, the EPT has paid out over €574million in tournament prize pools, and hosted successful festivals across Europe. The EPT also incorporates the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), which takes place every January in the Bahamas and is the largest poker festival outside of Las Vegas. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Season 10 of the EPT builds on the success of a decade of world-class live poker events, with major poker festivals in Barcelona, London, Prague, Deauville, Vienna and Sanremo as well as the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final in Monaco. Please see <a href="http://www.europeanpokertour.com/">http://www.europeanpokertour.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Story Courtesy of PokerStars Press</span>The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-26412236969122963892014-03-29T14:53:00.002-07:002014-03-29T14:56:19.784-07:00Full Tilt Poker Appoints New Managing Director<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Press Release</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Rational Group has appointed Dominic Mansour as Managing Director of Full Tilt Poker, responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Full Tilt brand and business.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFPkv4F7dXjtYnb6FqM_-uwdFrvxlo7g4x-7Y_-X-_D38JeZ89w-lv6ha_BHsQ3Ru0a6qVnxIj4thoKBPS8cpYw2dpkmzshI2QPbQBVbKW08CuiEoTrgbsGzHRQ1rKPLMeRE9d6IkC3ew/s1600/Full-Tilt-Poker1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFPkv4F7dXjtYnb6FqM_-uwdFrvxlo7g4x-7Y_-X-_D38JeZ89w-lv6ha_BHsQ3Ru0a6qVnxIj4thoKBPS8cpYw2dpkmzshI2QPbQBVbKW08CuiEoTrgbsGzHRQ1rKPLMeRE9d6IkC3ew/s1600/Full-Tilt-Poker1.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mansour is an experienced gaming industry executive who most recently served as CEO of the UK based Health Lottery. He previously held senior positions at GTECH G2, NetPlay TV and Globalcom/WMC UK.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since launching PokerStars in 2001, the Rational Group has become the industry leader with a focus on operational excellence and customer satisfaction. Rational Group acquired Full Tilt Poker in 2012 and has since expanded the site’s offerings to include Blackjack and Roulette, with additional casino games launching in the coming months. The Group has also said it is planning to launch sports betting in the future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Dominic’s experience aligns very well with our plans for Full Tilt,” said Rational Group Chief Operating Officer Rafi Ashkenazi. “He has strong commercial experience, a great marketing background, and first-class product knowledge across poker, casino and sportsbook. We’re very happy to have him on-board.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Rational Group has big plans for Full Tilt and I’m excited to lead the charge,” said Mansour. “In addition to continuing to innovate on the popular poker platform, we’ll be introducing exciting new games to our players, all supported by the exceptional customer support, security and integrity of the Rational Group.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mansour will report to Ashkenazi and assumes his role on April 22.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Story couresty of Full Tilt Press</i></span>The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-77348172688578220442014-03-08T06:25:00.000-08:002014-03-08T06:33:44.609-08:00Battle of the Minds<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Competitive chess and world-ranked players will return to the Isle of Man in October when the PokerStars Isle of Man International Chess Tournament takes place in the Villa Marina in Douglas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The top Grandmaster in the UK – Michael Adams – is scheduled to play, guaranteeing that the chess world’s attention will be fixed on the event. Adams, once a World Championship runner-up, is currently among the world’s top 20 players.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“It’s good to see the Isle of Man returning to the international chess circuit and I’m looking forward to playing there for the first time,” Adams said. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The PokerStars Isle of Man International Chess Tournament will take place from 4 – 12 October, 2014. PokerStars has supported Isle of Man chess for many years and has a history of sponsoring chess globally, noting similarities in the strategic thinking and skills demonstrated by poker players and chess players.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“It’s great to see PokerStars sponsoring this tournament, helping to bring international chess back to the Isle of Man,” said Alan Ormsby, Chairman of the IOM International Chess Committee. “We expect to attract a number of grandmasters from around the world, putting the Isle of Man back in the chess spot-light after an absence of 7 years. With the backing of PokerStars, we aim to make the tournament an annual event on the international chess calendar.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to the Masters event, there will be two subsidiary chess tournaments (the Major and the Minor) encouraging participation from amateur players.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PokerStars has a long history of sponsoring chess, reflecting the shared mindset of poker and chess champions. Both games are considered mind sports, which reward thoughtful strategy and highly skilled players. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The synergies between chess and poker will be on display in October as the PokerStars Isle of Man International Chess Tournament will overlap with the return of the PokerStars UK & Ireland Poker Tour to Isle of Man, which is scheduled to run from 2 – 6 October, 2014 at the Villa Marina. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“We’re very excited to be sponsoring chess and poker simultaneously and demonstrating the skills and strategies that make these games so competitive and exciting,” said Eric Hollreiser, Head of Corporate Communications at PokerStars. “And we’re thrilled to bring hundreds of players of both games to the Isle of Man in October.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PokerStars Isle of Man Chess Tournament organizers Alan Ormsby and Brian Woodard anticipate the IOM International to be one of the biggest open chess tournaments to be held in the British Isles this year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Find more details on the chess tournament at <a href="http://www.iominternationalchess.com/">www.iominternationalchess.com</a> and the poker festival at <a href="http://www.ukipt.com/">www.ukipt.com</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Story courtesy for PokerStars Press</span>The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-85672151122935848792014-02-21T16:21:00.000-08:002014-02-21T16:42:34.514-08:00Quality Time<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Quality Time at the Tables</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The month of February has been one of the quietest at the poker tables that I’ve spent in a while but it’s also been one of the most productive. Note that I didn't say profitable and I’m down some dollars playing 10NL 6-max albeit $140 which is a drop in the ocean when I read that Viktor "Isildur1" Blom is down $362,608 this week alone playing nosebleeds, how crazy is that! Victor is a beast however and still leads 2014 with $1.8 million in profit, a truly amazing and inspirational guy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This month I’ve tried to focus on <a href="http://www.pokerschoolonline.com/forum/showthread.php?58853-Raiser-s-Poker-Goals-2014">Quality over Quantity</a> and have tried diligently to apply the advice of my poker coach to the decisions I’m making at the tables. It’s even the little things that are making a big difference, like taking more time to make decisions and think a little longer about why my opponent made that play, simple and basic stuff that we tend to easily forget while happily clicking buttons. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Donk Betting With Dale</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A few days ago my good friend Cannon Lee (no relation to Bruce) and I recorded the latest episode of the <a href="http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2014/donk-betting-with-dale-146192.shtml">PokerSchoolOnline Podcast Show</a>. The topic was ‘Donk Betting in Poker’ and we were joined by special guest Dale Philip of PokerStars Team Online. Dale was a great guest and we chatted about his recent travelling exploits, his hopes for the next MicroMillions Series and also his plans to travel to Ireland for the UK & Ireland Poker Tour event happening next week in Dublin. I won’t be playing this event myself but I hope to travel up on Saturday with a friend to sample the atmosphere and bump into a few mates for a pint of the black stuff, only one? We'll see!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What’s Coming Up?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The promotions keep flowing at PokerStars like pints at an Irish boozer, it’s just never-ending. This Sunday (Feb 23rd) the World Record Tournament takes place. It’s a mere $1 dollar buy-in so you’ve no excuse not to be part of Poker history. If I tell you a secret promise not to tell anyone? You can get a free ticket <a href="http://www.pokerschoolonline.com/articles/World-Record-Breakers">HERE</a> but hurry, offer ends soon!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Sunday also sees the introduction of the <a href="http://www.pokerschoolonline.com/forum/showthread.php?61115-The-Sunday-Billion-Discussion-Page">Sunday Billion</a>, yes with a ‘B’. Ok so it may be a play money event but don’t knock that. Those of you that are regular PokerSchoolOnline members will be familiar with our weekly PowerPlay tournament which is also a play money event. The PowerPlay was introduced so that our friends in the USA could participate in a weekly tournament with fellow poker school members. The standard from the get-go was very high and this quickly became one of the toughest play money games around. The introduction of this new Sunday Billion makes perfect PokerStars sense and the game will be available on both .Com and .Net clients so American players can participate. I’m not sure if the game is available on the PokerStars Facebook App but that would be likely, anyone know?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, the biggest weekly online poker tournament of them all, the Sunday Million, is celebrating its birthday soon. On March 2nd the <a href="http://www.pokerschoolonline.com/forum/showthread.php?61131-Sunday-Million-8th-Anniversary">8th Anniversary</a> of this mega-event will take place and PokerStars are guaranteeing an incredible $8,000,000 in cash prizes. The direct buy-in of $215 might be outside of many players bankroll management rules, me included, but that won’t stop me trying my luck at the many satellite tournaments scheduled for this event.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Raiser</b></span><br />
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The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-41792678425092042772014-02-07T08:43:00.000-08:002014-02-07T13:10:17.158-08:00Get Your Skates On!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBUGH1-__CB28POmqLrJXd-0Ecfgc5JNWXmjmMEbOWjj4ZsO2njNaFoZlcAxAZsOTP-mQXKHIDOfqVHluzX3snkWeXylKza76Wm3avC0ePgUJAubJ6yjBv-Ls0eOdmnq0RmdZ7NSO0DEM/s1600/world-record-header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBUGH1-__CB28POmqLrJXd-0Ecfgc5JNWXmjmMEbOWjj4ZsO2njNaFoZlcAxAZsOTP-mQXKHIDOfqVHluzX3snkWeXylKza76Wm3avC0ePgUJAubJ6yjBv-Ls0eOdmnq0RmdZ7NSO0DEM/s1600/world-record-header.jpg" height="117" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the sporting eye of the world is firmly fixed on the Winter Olympic Games opening in Sochi, Russia today <b>PokerStars</b> are also calling on players from all over the globe to gather for a world record-breaking event.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PokerStars today announced that it will attempt to break its own world record for the Largest Online Poker Tournament on February 23 at 13.00 ET. The tournament will be a $1 No Limit Hold’em contest with a guaranteed prize pool of $300,000, and a maximum field of 230,000 players. If the cap is reached it will break the record set last June when 225,000 registered for a $1 tournament on PokerStars.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last year’s winner was ‘<i>M.SlavaPro', </i>coincidently also from Russia, who won $25,000, and the same prize will be on offer to the winner this time around, with another $275,000 to be shared out among the top 60,000 players. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>PLAY THE WORLD RECORD TOURNAMENT FOR FREE</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Players will be able to buy-in direct for $1 or win their seat for even less with a range of satellites available. Players who make a deposit of $10 (£7, €8) or more using bonus code ‘RECORD2014’ will get a free ticket to the tournament. New players can also get a free ticket for the tournament. Get your skates on and register today!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">– for more information, go to <a href="http://psta.rs/1icFggn">http://psta.rs/1icFggn</a>.</span><br />
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The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-37817623543285455632014-02-06T08:37:00.001-08:002014-02-06T08:37:37.214-08:00Smooth Operations at PokerStars<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everything seems to be running quite smoothly at the <b>PokerStars</b> offices lately, so much so that they can’t just help winning awards all-round for their excellent software, service and customer support. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This fact was highlighted even further when PokerStars received the ‘Online Poker Operator of the Year’ award at the International Gaming Awards held in London recently.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Without doubt PokerStars are the leading poker brand on the market today and are constantly striving to improve their products and introduce clever and innovative new features for their Customers to experience and enjoy. It also has to be said that their Support service is second to none. Let’s take a look back at some of the more recent PokerStars achievements:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hosted a Guinness World Record tournament attracting 225,000 players, the largest ever online poker tournament.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reached a milestone of 100 billion hands played on its software in June 2013</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leading sports personality’s such as Rafa Nadal and Ronaldo signed as brand ambassadors.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Awarded players with a total of more than $137 million in prize-money between their WCOOP and SCOOP tournament series.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Launched a fun and free Facebook APP for the recreational player to enjoy.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So is this award important to PokerStars and their staff?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“We're proud to take down this award for the second straight time" said Eric Hollreiser, Head of Corporate Communications for the Rational Group. "And we'll be doing everything we can in the next 12 months to make a strong run at a three-peat."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to winning the ‘Online Poker Operator of the Year’ award, PokerStars was also a finalist for the ‘Mobile Gaming Operator of the Year’ and ‘Gaming Industry Fair Play’ awards.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>About PokerStars</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PokerStars operates the world’s most popular online poker sites, serving a global poker community of more than 62 million registered members. Since it launched in 2001, PokerStars has become the first choice of the world’s top players, with more daily tournaments than anywhere else and with the best security online. More than110 billion hands have been dealt on PokerStars.com, which is more than any other site.</span><br />
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The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-21011525774380698282014-02-05T04:27:00.002-08:002014-02-05T04:27:59.960-08:00Genes In Space - Play To Cure<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>PokerStars Press Release</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cancer Research UK recently launched a new mobile app called Play to Cure: Genes in Space, a ground-breaking mobile game that analyses genetic data while you play, enabling anyone to help accelerate cancer research. The Rational Group, through its corporate giving programme ‘Helping Hands’ is proud to be supporting the game, which will help scientists discover cancer-causing genes and develop new life-saving treatments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today is World Cancer Day, and as part of the Play to Cure: Genes in Space launch, Rational Group staff in London and the Isle of Man were joined by TV presenter Jeff Brazier, BBC Radio One’s Dave Vitty, and a host of Team PokerStars Pros to raise awareness for Cancer Research UK and try out the game.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov said: “I really enjoyed playing the game and think it’s amazing that by playing a video game people can contribute towards cancer research. I’m proud to be associated with PokerStars and involved in the launch of this fantastic project with Cancer Research UK.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>MOBILE GAME CONCEPT</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The concept started back in March 2013: two PokerStars employees were invited to join Cancer Research UK scientists and teams from Amazon, Facebook and Google to help design and develop a mobile game that would aid cancer research. It’s difficult to spot gene patterns using computer programmes, but the human eye is very good at doing, so the idea for a mobile game that analyses genetic data in a fun and engaging way was born.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rational Group Head of Corporate Giving Sue Hammett said: “As a technology company, we are very proud to see that our highly skilled workforce can have a real positive social impact through this exciting project. We are all so excited about the game – it’s a unique way to help Cancer Research UK with their amazing work and great fun at the same time.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>HOW IT WORKS</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the game, players have to navigate a spaceship along an intergalactic assault course to collect a fictional substance called Element Alpha. This Element Alpha represents genetic cancer data that Cancer Research UK scientists need to analyse on a daily basis. By navigating the spaceship throughout the game, data is collected that helps scientists to discover cancer-causing genes and develop new life-saving treatments. Further information and a short video that previews the gameplay can be viewed here:<a href="http://psta.rs/1gJn8xN">http://psta.rs/1gJn8xN</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Play to Cure: Genes in Space is available from the Apple App Store and Google Play for Android. For further information, please visit: <a href="http://www.genes-in-space.org.uk/">www.genes-in-space.org.uk</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Story courtesy of PokerStars</span>The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-42049229389377902772014-02-01T06:12:00.003-08:002014-02-01T06:12:30.523-08:00Rational Thinking for UKIPT Dublin<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was more than great to see a recent announcement by Lee Jones
on PokerStars Blog that employees of the world’s number one poker site would be
allowed to contest the soon to be upon us UKIPT Dublin event and that common
sense is prevailing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The idea that PokerStars employees would
sit at the same tables as their customers was trialled at the Isle of Man event
last year and was tremendously well received by all. I beg to ask the question
as to why did it take so long? I'm sure PokerStars had their reasons and the
integrity of their games are extremely important to them but what better way to
get to know your customers than to actually sit down and play some live poker
with them? Customers would have a unique opportunity to share their ideas with
an employee on a one to one basis at the poker table and that employee would
then bring those ideas back to the office and share them at the boardroom
table. It's a win win right? Personally I applaud this decision and I hope it
becomes the norm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">PokerStars Staff Member Chris Jonas at the Tables</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read the full story of the announcement at
<a href="http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/2014/more-main-events-more-rational-players-145721.html">PokerStarsBlog</a> and also try to get along to the <a href="http://www.ukipt.com/tournaments/dublin/">UKIPT Dublin</a> event, it should
be great fun!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Raiser. </span><a class="twitter-follow-button" data-show-count="false" href="https://twitter.com/TheRoyalRaiser">Follow @TheRoyalRaiser</a></div>
The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-30539246806761041672014-01-31T10:23:00.000-08:002014-01-31T10:28:02.298-08:00I Love It When a Plan Comes Together<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadly I'm old enough to remember watching TV when the original 'A-Team' first aired and the magic of hearing John 'Hannibal' Smith say those legendary lines after a successful mission. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfsiZEko7kJ0gnNVUlXHkV0AojJ3e866_NOaGAxibZYXKNDNxszBLrR7UOPBeLAVTf1MkXkG6BKU4FOpoyxAsWbN4l4_Th9dbWmIIjzN-p4uPlt16QvopAnF8z-qkHPVUD2EJDJqDp6c/s1600/hannibal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfsiZEko7kJ0gnNVUlXHkV0AojJ3e866_NOaGAxibZYXKNDNxszBLrR7UOPBeLAVTf1MkXkG6BKU4FOpoyxAsWbN4l4_Th9dbWmIIjzN-p4uPlt16QvopAnF8z-qkHPVUD2EJDJqDp6c/s1600/hannibal.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the beginning of January I sat down to put a plan together for improving my poker game with some interesting results including realising that I'm currently at the stage of 'Conscious Incompetence'. Now before you say 'What you talking about fool' let me explain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Halfheartedness was not an option and I wanted to do the best job I could at setting these goals but I wasn't sure where to begin. Taking to the poker forums at PokerSchoolOnline I asked the question of what makes solid and objective goals for improving your poker game. Plenty of great suggestions were offered and I took all the advice on board before laying out my goals and objectives for the year ahead. You can see my poker goals thread at PokerSchoolOnline here:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.pokerschoolonline.com/forum/showthread.php?58853-Raiser-s-Poker-Goals-2014">Raiser's Poker Goals</a></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the end it turned out to be a 5 Year plan instead of just for the year ahead and I'm looking forward to seeing my progress as each month and year goes by. I really hope you follow my story and would really welcome and tips and suggestions you may have. Please don't hesitate to leave a comment below or Tweet me @TheRoyalRaiser on Twitter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I played a little over 16,000 hands at limits between 10nl and 25nl but mostly at 25nl. It was pretty dismal and finished down $329 which on the face of it is only 13 buy-ins at 25nl so not the end of the world. Having reached my stop-go for the month I used any FPPs earned to play satellites for the $5,000 Gtd Big Bang tournament, secured my ticket, and I'm looking forward to that tournament on February 8th.</span></div>
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<a href="http://i1257.photobucket.com/albums/ii520/theroyalraiser/January_Results_zps36881241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://i1257.photobucket.com/albums/ii520/theroyalraiser/January_Results_zps36881241.jpg" height="272" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The highlight for the month came in a Sunday Storm tournament with a finish of 1448th out of 48,235 runners making it a top 3% finish and taking home $72.35 in the process. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coaching Session</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just how much these personal coaching sessions mean to me is hard to describe, they just help me look at the game in a whole new light. After reviewing some hands and looking at some HM2 stats my coach suggested sticking to the 10nl tables for the month ahead, not because he was afraid I'd lose too much money, but instead because he wanted to set me a challenge of improving my 3-bet and 4-betting ranges. At the 6-max tables it's not profitable to be a really tight and nitty player which I am guilty of and while it can be profitable at microstakes it won't cut-it as we move up in stakes. You'll find that there are many players at 25nl and above that can easily spot nitty players and they know how to exploit them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Early January we recorded the latest edition of the PokerSchoolOnline Podcast Show. If you haven't heard it already you can check it out here:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.pokerschoolonline.com/articles/PokerSchoolOnline-Podcast">PokerSchoolOnline Podcast Show</a></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8Csorx6D6tBZ6C_XGG9aTPJp7m2_6qoy8MN6lPgPcRykRx35puDAsbAOmQsv1Wtsu2AZTQ4J-paGGlJ3e8e_yXPcjvfOUcnGOE81rIVrCYW33fpv0u5eYTbmmnHwZJ8tfqQI-tGcJ8g/s1600/podcast_280x175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8Csorx6D6tBZ6C_XGG9aTPJp7m2_6qoy8MN6lPgPcRykRx35puDAsbAOmQsv1Wtsu2AZTQ4J-paGGlJ3e8e_yXPcjvfOUcnGOE81rIVrCYW33fpv0u5eYTbmmnHwZJ8tfqQI-tGcJ8g/s1600/podcast_280x175.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Til' next time!</span></div>
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The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-2437112085469055852013-12-14T16:13:00.002-08:002013-12-14T16:14:19.737-08:00The PokerSchoolOnline Podcast<span style="color: white;">The PokerSchoolOnline Team have recently started producing monthly podcast shows keeping you up to date with all the latest news and promotions at PokerSchoolOnline. During each show we will also be joined by some very special guests to discuss the latest Poker news and strategy.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUzuD3-emncfdUyD7-QH5HuDJi29Mt7B8-NHKfLHdbfXQQwvyRT5MKfz1phYbd6d2igQXeCT2nJ-CdgvxvGLOnGXp5aCWgbZkBKpdRYvirvfWPYPq9fq1QjXbpTvN6uhh1TOX8zhTM8Ac/s1600/podcast_600x200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUzuD3-emncfdUyD7-QH5HuDJi29Mt7B8-NHKfLHdbfXQQwvyRT5MKfz1phYbd6d2igQXeCT2nJ-CdgvxvGLOnGXp5aCWgbZkBKpdRYvirvfWPYPq9fq1QjXbpTvN6uhh1TOX8zhTM8Ac/s320/podcast_600x200.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: white;">The show can be found on our webpage <a href="http://www.pokerschoolonline.com/articles/PokerSchoolOnline-Podcast">http://www.pokerschoolonline.com/articles/PokerSchoolOnline-Podcast</a> or you can subcribe, download and listen to the show by searching for 'PokerSchoolOnline' in the I-Tunes Store or if you have an android device we recommend Stitcher.com</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">If you have a question for our Podcast Crew simply tweet us @PokerStarsPSO and we'll read out your question during the next show.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;">Enjoy,</span></div>
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<span style="color: white;"><b><i>Raiser</i></b>. </span></div>
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The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-36138838417400920672013-11-19T18:16:00.002-08:002013-11-19T18:16:39.028-08:00Learn Poker - The Check Raise<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNNAHDFL_b0-NDLMGfpzXTQncjz9qf7NyMV-U_xjkB0ga4RKcdQyasHYvZ_daqs5PJBr5YmUtEMJXLGXH_K0FBTW3lkxsVVj19UPqwwn7focKogwANR4B7bI_TFYx9l7Xvlr60wQ_aGcA/s1600/poker_bites_v1_600x200.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNNAHDFL_b0-NDLMGfpzXTQncjz9qf7NyMV-U_xjkB0ga4RKcdQyasHYvZ_daqs5PJBr5YmUtEMJXLGXH_K0FBTW3lkxsVVj19UPqwwn7focKogwANR4B7bI_TFYx9l7Xvlr60wQ_aGcA/s320/poker_bites_v1_600x200.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.pokerschoolonline.com/articles/Poker-Bites">Check out all the Poker Bite videos at PokerSchoolOnline</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Leave a comment and let me know what you thought of this video, I'd be happy to hear from you.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Raiser</span></div>
The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-908343228603635867.post-56757720043232965902013-05-27T02:42:00.003-07:002014-01-31T07:47:11.525-08:00PokerStars Celebrates 100th Billionth HandHey guys,<br />
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The SCOOP events came to an end yesterday and I must say well done to the hard working team at <a href="http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/?utm_source=blogger&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=royalraise85"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">PokerStarsBlog</span></a> who keep us all updated during this fantastic festival. PokerStars don't keep us waiting long however and we can look forward to another great promotion in the shape of the <a href="http://www.pokerstars.tv/poker-video-21138-100-billion-hands-2.html?utm_source=blogger&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=royalraise85"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Road To 100 Billion</span></a> which will be a delight to the cash game players.<br />
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It's hard to guess exactly when the mega-milestone hand will be dealt but there's going to be over $2,000,000 dealt out in prizes over the next two weeks so hit those cash tables hard for a chance to win your share.<br />
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Enjoy,<br />
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Raiser.The Royal Raiserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09671134482166508450noreply@blogger.com0