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PokerStars announces second $1 million freeroll

How does ten chances to win a seat in a million dollar giveaway sound?

PokerStars is pleased to announce the second of four $1 million online freeroll poker tournaments planned for 2016, set to take place on Sunday, July 17 at 12.04 ET.


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Here's how to take part.


Freeroll Qualifier

Players have ten chances to qualify into the PokerStars $1 million freeroll tournament through a series of simple daily challenges running from July 8-16. After each day has finished, All-In Shootout Qualifiers will run and give away 8,192 seats to the players who completed the previous day's challenge.

Not only that but players who complete the challenge on Friday, July 15 will have an extra reward - entry into a Skill Qualifier from which 15,000 players will advance to the $1 million freeroll.


Easy Challenges

The daily challenges are simple. Play just one real money hand of poker (cash game, multi-table tournament, Spin & Go, or Sit & Go tournament), make any wager in a casino game, or make any real money sports bet on BetStars (excluding free bets) on any sporting market, and you'll gain entry into the All-In Shootout.

Find these daily challenges by opening you Challenge Window in the PokerStars client. Opt-in and get started.


All of which leads to the $1 million freeroll where 75,000 players will finish in the money and first place will pay $10,000 - a perfect addition to any bankroll.

For more details on how to take part, and a few terms and conditions, head over to the $1 million freerollhomepage.

Time to get started.


Need a PokerStars account? Click here to get started in minutes.



WSOP 2016: Could Jason Mercier become the third Team Pro PoY?

The Main Event, which begins this Saturday at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, may mark the beginning of the end for this year's World Series of Poker, but even when it's completed there will still be one title left to contend, that of Player of the Year.

We bring it up because, despite intense competition, it has been the stomping ground of Team Pro in recent years.
Back in 2013 the familiar figure of Daniel Negreanu won the competition having scored ten WSOP cashes around the world, starting in Australia, passing through Las Vegas and then onto France.

A closer look reveals why.

Negreanu won the $10K WSOP APAC that year for a little more than $1 million, and then in the summer narrowly missed out on a bracelet, finishing second in the 2-7 Triple Draw. He then capped off the year by winning the High Roller event at the WSOP Europe in Enghien-les-Bains, outside Paris.


Daniel Negreanu_2016_wsop_7jul16.JPGDaniel Negreanu

A year later it was the turn of another Team Pro, George Danzer scoring ten cashes this time, with three particular highlights.

The first came in Las Vegas, where he ended his bracelet drought to win the $10K Seven Card Razz event. A little over a week later he did the same again in almost the same circumstances in the $10K Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo.


George Danzer_2016_wsop_7jul16.jpgGeorge Danzer

As if that wasn't remarkable enough he added a third bracelet, this time in Melbourne, winning the 8-Game Mixed title down under (Danzer added a fourth bracelet this summer).

Now, two years later another team Pro looks increasingly likely to match the records of Negreanu and Danzer.

Jason Mercier is a man in a hurry, cramming in a year's worth of success into the space of a few weeks - actually the space of one week.

Early in the Series Mercier won not one but two bracelets, and in between managed a runner-up finish. Such was his string of results that when he went three days without a cash finish we started to get worried.


Jason Mercier_2016_wsop_poy_7jul16.jpgFollowing in the footsteps of fellow Team Pros: Jason Mercier

The result of that effort makes Mercier the current leader in the 2016 WSOP Player of the Year stakes. What's more his lead is substantial, several hundred points ahead of second place. And let's not forget there technically is still plenty more to win before the Las Vegas summer comes to an end.

If he manages it Mercier will be continuing with what has become something of a Team Pro tradition.

Our coverage of the WSOP Main Event begins this Saturday on the PokerStars Blog. Click here to catch up on all the PokerStars stories from the summer so far.


Ready to sign up for PokerStars? Click here to get an account.

WSOP Photos by PokerPhotoArchive.com


Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.



Game On: Take a tour of the world's favorite games

While poker may be the world's most entertaining card game, it's not the only fish in the gaming sea. From traditional games like Pinball and Dominoes to more obscure pastimes like Tarneeb, games are played in every corner of the world, often in bars or cafés.

So if you are sick of playing the same old games, we've put together a map to help you spice things up in your local pub.

Class up the joint by adding a 2,500 year old Chinese strategic game to the mix, or bring in some history by playing a game that was once a favorite of Leo Tolstoy. Of course, there's always the classic bar game that was made infamous by Chandler and Joey on primetime TV.

No matter what your taste, this World Games Map has you covered.

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With over 30 games from the United States to the UK to the Middle East explained, this interactive map provides all the rules you need to get started, along with a little history you can use to impress your friends. We'll leave the strategy on how to beat them up to you...



dmmberry very, very good, wins 7/5/16 Super Tuesday, nearly $60K

Welcome to July, everyone, and the second half of another year's worth of Super Tuesdays, the $1,050 no-limit hold'em tournament on PokerStars. This week's installment drew a modest-sized field of 308 -- still enough to best the $300K guarantee -- and after almost 12-and-a-half hours of poker dmmberry of Canada emerged with all of the chips and the $59,598 first prize.


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The top 45 finishers split the tournament's $308,000 prize pool, and it would take about five-and-a-half hours for the money bubble to burst. By then brio08 had moved up into the top spot as the only player north of the 500,000-chip mark.

They were into the tournament's eighth hour by the time just 18 remained, with brio08 still above the average and dmmberry the new chip leader with more than 950,000.

unfrosya (18th), Fairy verde (17th), and after slipping in the counts brio08 (16th) were the next eliminated players, each earning $3,080. girafganger7 (15th), Andy "wiisssppppaa" Taylor (14th), and Sam "SamSquid" Grafton (13th) went out next, picking up $3,850 apiece. 

Then with dmmberry amassing an ever-increasing stack, Rafael "zugzwang16" Porzecanski (12th), neverfoldQ5 (11th), and tooturney (10th) each went out, and the final table was underway.


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Seat 1: Ben "barcs69" Barclay (Australia) -- 114,086 
Seat 2: ratajpoker (Poland) -- 424,102 
Seat 3: lehout (Netherlands) -- 925,472 
Seat 4: dmmberry (Canada) -- 3,001,679 
Seat 5: Andras "probirs" Nemeth (Hungary) -- 805,367 
Seat 6: iMeloody (China) -- 507,922 
Seat 7: gilleschro (Canada) -- 1,046,242 
Seat 8: I Visor I (Austria) -- 621,071 
Seat 9: OTwenty (Netherlands) -- 254,059

dmmberry had built a huge lead as the final table approached, eclipsing the 3 million-chip mark to hold nearly 40% of the total chips in play with nine players left.

The final table lasted nearly 20 minutes before the first knockout came, by which point the blinds had moved up to 8,000/16,000. It folded around to I Visor I who raised to 37,600 from the hijack seat, then Ben "barcs69" Barclay reraised all-in for just 39,286 from the button. lehout then called the reraise from the big blind, and I Visor I called as well.

The flop came [2h][8c][8s], and lehout check-called a bet of 30,000 from I Visor I. Both then checked down the [Jh] turn and [3s] river, and when lehout showed [Ad][2d] for eights and deuces, both I Visor I and Barclay mucked, with the latter heading to the rail in ninth.

Two hands later it was OTwenty open-pushing from the hijack for 176,059 (about 11 big blinds), ratajpoker three-bet shoving from the cutoff for 220,315 (not quite 14 BBs), and leader dmmberry calling from the small blind.

dmmberry: [Kc][Qd]
ratajpoker: [Ah][3c]
OTwenty: [3s][3h]

The [9s][Qs][4d] put dmmberry way out in front, and after the [2d] turn and [2s] river OTwenty was out in eighth and ratajpoker in seventh.

They continued onward, then a hand arose that saw dmmberry min-raise to 40,000 from middle position, iMeloody shove for 386,583 from the button, and dmmberry call, turning over [Ah][Js] while iMeloody had [Ac][Qs]. The at-risk player was okay through the [2h][8h][Th] flop, but the [4h] turn gave dmmberry a flush, leaving iMeloody drawing dead to finish sixth.

Almost an hour later there were still five left, and with the blinds up to 15,000/30,000 it was lehout raising to 60,900 from the cutoff and gilleschro calling from the big blind. Both checked the [4h][4s][Jc] flop, then gilleschro led for 85,900 at the [3d] turn and lehout called. The river then brought the [4d] and an all-in push from gilleschro, and lehout called with the 626,380 left behind.

lehout had [Qs][Jh] for fours full of jacks, but gilleschro had [Kc][4c] for quads and lehout was finished in fifth.

Some time later they were well into the tournament's 11th hour when Andras "probirs" Nemeth made a just-over-2x raise to 112,000 from under the gun, then I Visor I three-bet to 330,000 from the small blind. dmmberry called the reraise from the big blind, then Nemeth shoved over the top for 869,074 getting calls from both of his opponents.

The flop came [3d][Ac][5h], I Visor I bet 175,000 into the side pot, and dmmberry called. The turn then brought the [9d] and an all-in push for 872,104 from I Visor I, finally getting a fold from dmmberry.

I Visor I showed [As][Qd], having flopped top pair of aces, while Nemeth was drawing thin with [Qh][Qs]. The river was the [Ad] to improve I Visor I to trips, and Nemeth was eliminated in fourth -- quite a run, coming less than a month after Nemeth took down the Sunday Million on PokerStars.


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Andras "probirs" Nemeth

Three-handed poker continued, with I Visor I nudging ahead of dmmberry to grab the chip lead while gilleschro sat in a distant third. But gilleschoro soon picked up pocket aces to double through I Visor I's king-queen, even things up a bit while giving the lead back to dmmberry.

Soon after that hand, dmmberry min-raised to 120,000 from UTG, then I Visor I pushed all-in for 1,030,796 from the big blind and dmmberry called. I Visor I had [Ac][Td] but was facing aces again as dmmberry had [Ad][Ah], and after a [4h][6s][3d][3h][9h] runout I Visor I was sent railward in third and heads-up began.

dmmberry enjoyed a big lead to start their duel with 6,456.232 versus gilleschro's 1,243,768. As a hand was being dealt, the latter wondered if a deal might be in the cards.

gilleschro: chip 50-50?
dmmberry: not at this stage
gilleschro: ok
gilleschro: when?
dmmberry: if we are 50 50 f0r sure

Eight minutes later they'd made it to the tournament's 11-hour mark, with dmmberry still well ahead with about 5.38 million to gilleschro's 2.31 million. About 40 minutes into the next hour the pair had pulled roughly even, although no deal talk surfaced, and by the 12-hour mark they were still close to even with gilleschro having edged in front.

dmmberry quickly moved back ahead, soon widening the lead once again, although gilleschro scraped back to enjoy the lead again briefly before dmmberry pushed in front once more.

Then as they neared the 12-and-a-half-hour mark, the blinds were 50,000/100,000 when gilleschro opened for 223,000 from the button and dmmberry called. 

The flop came [5s][4s][2c]. dmmberry checked, gilleschro bet 358,820, dmmberry check-raised to 1 million even, gilleschro shoved for 3,362,692 total, and dmmberry called.

gilleschro turned over [5h][2h] having flopped two pair, but dmmberry had [Ac][3d] for a wheel. The [6s] turn changed nothing, nor did the [7h] river, and it was over -- dmmberry had won.

Congratulations to dmmberry for topping this week's 300-plus entry Super Tuesday field to grab the title and nearly $60K.

7/5/16 Super Tuesday ($1,050 No-Limit Hold'em) results
Entrants: 308
Prize pool: $308,000
Places paid: 45

1. dmmberry (Canada) $59,598.00
2. gilleschro (Canada) $44,660.00
3. I Visor I (Austria) $33,880.00
4. Andras "probirs" Nemeth (Hungary) $25,410.00
5. lehout (Netherlands) $17,556.00
6. iMeloody (China) $13,552.00
7. ratajpoker (Poland) $10,472.00
8. OTwenty (Netherlands) $7,392.00
9. Ben "barcs69" Barclay (Australia) $5,390.00


Ready to jump in the game yourself? Click here to get a PokerStars account.
Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.



WSOP 2016: Negreanu and Moreira de Melo enjoying the Las Vegas climate

In other competitive pursuits the predictability of the outcome can lessen the enjoyment of watching it transpire. Think of the soccer team unrivalled in its division (to the neutral fan at least), or the tennis player unbeatable year on year. It remains a remarkable achievement, but as a spectacle it's not as great as the shock win, or the unlikely success story. 

Weirdly poker doesn't have that. Consistent winners delight rather than disappoint. 

So when Daniel Negreanu goes on yet another deep run, as he did in the early hours of this morning, it's tantalising, not tedious. 

Kid Poker is among the last 13 of the $50,000 Poker Players Championship at the World Series in Las Vegas. 


Daniel Negreanu_2016_wsop_5july16.JPGDaniel Negreanu enjoying yet another deep run at the WSOP

If you're unfamiliar with this event, it's one of the most prestigious of the Series. It features round after round of different poker variants, a skill level which, along with that price tag, ensures only the supremely gifted (or the supremely deluded) ever consider a tilt at its title. 

It typically results in an all-star line-up, and this year was no exception.

Leading right now is Justin Bonomo, hotly pursued by the likes of Michael Mizrachi, Brian Rast, and Paul Volpe. For his part Negreanu has work to do from his spot in 12th place. But when has that ever been much of a problem before? After all, Negreanu seemed to be enjoying himself. 

End day 3 with 13 players left I doubled to 995k last hand of the night death 23566 in 2-7 Triple Draw and won a good pot. Having a blast.

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) July 5, 2016

Play restarts at 2pm (PST) Tuesday, with a final table of six in place around this time tomorrow. 

With a week to go until the Main Event begins, more and more players are arriving in Las Vegas in preparation. What better way to acclimatise to the often harsh Rio conditions than with a deep run in a WSOP event? That seems to have been the plan all along for Team Pro Fatima Moreira de Melo


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In the typical style that earned her the reputation of a bulldog an international, Olympic-gold-medal-winning hockey player, she took Event #58 by the neck, and currently sits in ninth position from a field once 1,397 strong and now reduced to a mere 28 players. 


Fatima Moreira de Melo_2016_wsop_5july16.jpgNewly arrived in town and already causing trouble: Fatima Moreira de Melo

Moreira de Melo has history at the WSOP. She has seven cashes to her name, spread out over the past six years, but never has she gone as far as last night. There's a first prize of $221,000 to the winner, not to mention a winner's bracelet. There may well be a different kind of gold glinting in the Moreira de Melo trophy cabinet by the end of this week.


WSOP Photos by PokerPhotoArchive.com


Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.