Poker Mom

PokerStars claims to be the largest poker site on the ‘net.  As I logged on right now, there were over 107,000 people playing and almost 5,000 tournaments in progress.  That is a lot of poker players!  One of the hallmarks of poker sites is their non-stop promotions.  Right now PokerStars has some fabulous promotions – if you aren’t a member of PokerStars, now’s the time to join.

World Championship of Online Poker
As I’ve mentioned previously here on PokerMom, the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is coming up and right now satellite tournaments are running night and day.  For as little as $2.20 you can get your chance at one of the tournaments which will have a total payout of $30 million!

$1 Million PokerStars Turbo Takedown
An ongoing promotion at PokerStars is the $1 Million PokerStars Turbo Takedown.  The event is played on the last Sunday of every month and players can buy-in directly or get a seat through a FPP or cash satellite.

Battle of the Planets
Sit and Go tournament players will love the Battle of the Planets promotion.  The Sit and Go Tourneys have been broken down into eight planets that are based on the buy-in for the tourney.  This allows sit & go fans to make a tourney leader board whether they play $1 games or a $300 sit and go.  In addition to the separation based on buy-in, there is also a leader board for those that play less frequently than the hardcore sit and go tourney players.

The World Series of Poker is over which means it is time for PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) to begin.  The 2008 WCOOP will have a $30 million guaranteed prize pool.  Yes, you saw that right - $30 MILLION.  This is one of the internet’s largest online tournaments and was started in 2002.  In 2007, player ka$ino won almost $1.4 million in the WCOOP.  All this can be had from the comfort of your own home and in your pajamas if you’d like.

The 2008 WCOOP officially starts on September 5 at 14:30 Eastern with a $215 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em six-person max event with a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million.  The WCOOP continues through September 21 where the $5,200 buy-in No-Limit Hold’Em Main Event starts with a guaranteed prize pool of $10 million.  The WCOOP Main Event is a two-day event.

If you don’t have $5,200 for the Main Event or even $215 for one of the other WCOOP events, don’t despair – satellite and step tournaments are there to help you get your entry for pennies on the dollar.  Cash qualifiers start at $2.20 and FPP Satellites start at 100 Frequent Player Points.  In addition, step satellites are available with the winner of each step gaining entry to a 9-person sit and go of the next step.

I’ve already started my satellite journey – hope to see you on the virtual felt!

PokerStars has been running their 2008 WSOP promotion with freerolls nightly.  The first round is capped at 5,000 entrants and the top 50 places receive a ‘ticket’ to the weekly tournament.  I’ve been playing in them and have done moderately well, tonight was my best performance – I went out in 103rd place out of the 3,114 that were registered.

I mixed up my play a bit and wasn’t afraid to be when I wasn’t 100% sure I had the best hand (middle pair, good kicker, etc).  That strategy paid off several times.  As it got down to about 300 players left – the larger stacks got more aggressive and the smaller stacks tightened their play.  I was smack dab in the middle – floating just above the average stack.  I had to kind of roll with the punches and did pretty well all though my cards were just miserable.

Last hand, because there is always a last hand, I was dealt A9 of spades.  Due to all of the all-ins that had been happening I didn’t raise.  The person to my left called along with the small blind and the big blind checked.  The flop came Ad, 5d, 10h.  I bet double the big blind, the player to my left min-raised and the two blinds folded.  Due to the min raise, I decided to go all in (as calling would have left me with only ¼ of my original stack) and the player to my left called.  I figured I was up against a diamond flush draw or perhaps an A5 which left me with outs.  Oh no, I was up against A10…yeah, now the odds were really stacked against me.  I didn’t suck out and was out of the tourney.

I’ve mentioned previously that I am focusing solely on tourney play.  The Arizona State Ladies Poker Championship is scheduled for 9/13 and I want to be playing my best tournament game by the time September rolls around.  I don’t have the luxury of heading over to the casino on a whim (I am a PokerMOM, remember? Hehe) so online tourneys is where I’ll be.