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B. Paul, Editor, Bonusgambler.com
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Online Poker Rooms
One of the features that the virtual poker rooms on the internet can offer that bricks-and-mortar card rooms can't, is the chance to parlay loose change into a life-changing win.
The sheer volume of players on the net and the speed of the games " more than double the pace of 'real life' action " means that multi- tiered qualifying satellites can be staged.
This week's European Championships, being held on www.ladbrokes poker.com, are a typical example. Daily satellites are available with the first stage buy-in at just $3 (pounds 1.50).
The prize for winning through to the final level is a seat in the $2,500 buy-in championship event this coming Saturday. This is a no limit hold'em freezeout with a guaranteed prize pool of $750,000, the winner's purse being enough to buy a house " as long as it is not in London".
The Ladbroke poker site is unique in that it is one of the few that does not accept players from USA, so the field will not include any tough- to-beat Americans.
The series kicked off last Sunday and runs through to this Sunday. All the winners will collect various bonuses in addition to the cash " gold bracelets, a free trip on the company's poker cruise and a $10,000 seat into a Champion of Champions freeroll". Not bad if you started out with $3.
If such a concept sounds far-fetched, it is worth bearing in mind that the last two winners of the world championship " the $10,000 main events at the World Series of Poker " both won their seats in online satellites for less than $50. Chris Moneymaker (2003) and Greg Raymer (2004) both walked away with prize money of $2.5m and $5m respectively.
Their successes have not gone unnoticed by the thousands of poker wannabes who think to themselves: 'I can do that, too'.
Nor has it gone unnoticed by the online poker rooms, the majority of which are running online satellites for this year's WSOP. Last year, there was a field of 2,576 " almost double that of the year before".
The smart money suggests that when the cards go in the air in Las Vegas this June, between 5,000 and 6,000 hopefuls will be in the line-up.
If this is right, the 2005 champion could collect $10m " a sum that dwarfs the prize money awarded for any other game".
And with a massive influx of online qualifiers in the field, it would be no surprise, to this player at least, if another poker rags- to-riches fairy story unfolded under the desert sun.
Source: BonusGambler.com Editors' Choice
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