PokerStars.com Announces the Second Annual
World Blogger Championship of Online Poker
All Internet Bloggers are Invited to Participate in a
Free Online Poker Tournament to be held on June 18th
DOUGLAS, Isle of Man, June 7, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- PokerStars.com, the world's largest poker tournament website, is hosting the second annual World Blogger Championship of Online Poker (WBCOOP). The free poker tournament will be held at PokerStars.com on June 18, 2006. Starting time is 4 pm EST (1 pm PST). The competition will be a no-limit Texas hold 'em tournament.
All Internet bloggers are invited to register online and compete in the tournament. No poker experience is required. Entry is completely free. Prizes include nine (9) seats into the 2006 World Series of Poker. The first-place winner will receive a $10,000 entry into the championship event, plus fully-paid hotel accommodations and $1,000 in spending money. Places 2nd through 9th will receive entries into a $1,500 buy-in event of their choice at this year's WSOP. Additional prizes valued at over $13,000 will also be awarded to finishers 10th through 54th. Overall, PokerStars.com is giving away thousands of dollars in free prizes to the Internet blogging community -- the largest promotion ever of its kind.
PokerStars.com was the first poker site to recognize the tremendous contribution bloggers make to the free exchange of ideas over the Internet. In fact, PokerStars.com was the first poker site to launch a full-time blog for its players. See: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/
Last year's inaugural WBCOOP attracted nearly 1,500 entries. The winner was a 29-year-old consultant with a major IT services company. Bloggers representing a wide variety of fields participated -- including science, technology, politics, gaming, media, business, and many others.
To be eligible to play, the participant must have a regularly updated blog that is a minimum of two months old. To find out more about the WBCOOP and to register, please visit: http://www.pokerstars.com/blog_tournament/index.html
For more information about PokerStars.com, please visit: www.pokerstars.com
About PokerStars
PokerStars (www.pokerstars.com) is the world's most innovative online poker site. PokerStars was the first site to introduce features that became industry standard such as sophisticated multi-table tournaments, integrated game statistics, players' notes, personalized images, time bank for tournaments and big bet ring games, satellite tournaments, multi-table sit and go tournaments, and much more.
To date, PokerStars has dealt out over five-billion hands and run more than 25 million poker tournaments, awarding well over $5 billion in prize money. PokerStars is the world's largest poker tournament room, with over 5 million registered player accounts. PokerStars' support team is truly unique, as help and assistance is available around the clock from people who know and understand the game of poker and the importance of impeccable customer service.
The PokerStars.com site is also one of the most secure. PokerStars uses industry-leading security software to ensure the integrity of the system, including encryption, card shuffle randomness and preventative measures against cheating and collusion. Money covering player's balances is held in segregated accounts managed by the Royal Bank of Scotland, ensuring that PokerStars can fulfill its obligations to players at all times.
In February 2006, PokerStars.com became the first poker website ever to reach the 100,000 simultaneous player mark. That watershed achievement marked the largest poker event in history. Every week, the PokerStars.com "Sunday Million" is played, which is the largest weekly tournament on the planet with a $1 million guaranteed tournament prize pool.
PokerStars is an official member of the World Poker Tour, and the title sponsor of the European Poker Tour (EPT) and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. In the fall, PokerStars hosts the world's largest online tournament, the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). PokerStars also sponsors major events around the globe, such as the World Cup of Poker and other exciting tournaments.
During the last three years, PokerStars.com sent more players to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) than any other source or website. A whopping 1,116 entrants (19 percent of the field) qualified to play in the 2005 WSOP via PokerStars satellites. PokerStars is the site where the 2003 and 2004 World Series of Poker champions won their entries into the WSOP. The reigning world poker champion, Joe Hachem, has also been an active player at PokerStars since 2001. He joined Moneymaker and Raymer as official representatives of PokerStars.com, thus fortifying the company trademark, "Where Poker Players Become World Champions."