Online Gambling News and Promotions

The progressive jackpot for PKR’s Caribbean Stud Poker mini-game has today reached $149,000 and is expected to grow to a record size within the next few days.

The game is available directly through PKR’s pioneering 3D poker room client, and invites poker fans to beat the dealer’s five card Texas Hold’em hand. Players can be eligible for the rapidly rising jackpot by placing a side bet of just $1, with jackpot payouts activated by hitting the highest ranked poker hands.

On 27 November, poker player GVincredible won 10% of the jackpot after hitting a straight flush, turning his $4 stake into $15,838. The Belgian, a regular at PKR’s online poker tables since July 2007 with a $1,833 tournament victory to his name, commented “I just couldn’t believe I’d won. I’d already planned to play more poker on PKR in 2012 and to buy a new car, but this makes it much easier!”

PKR’s Caribbean Stud Poker mini-game forms part of the award winning operator’s suite of gaming products which includes a revolutionary 3D poker room, innovative 3D casino and sportsbook.

Next-gen online poker room PKR has unveiled its Christmas promotional offering, which includes a festive tournament schedule, loyalty points Happy Hours and an exclusive Forum Invitational event.

Xmas Cracker festival

The Xmas Cracker tournament series, which begins on Thursday, 22 December with a $11 buy-in ‘Turkey Triple Chance’ event, features 12 unique daily poker tournaments across a variety of stakes from $4 to $25. PKR players who participate in any Xmas Cracker event will also be invited to a second-chance lottery freeroll the following day. Gifts on offer in the lottery freerolls in include iPads, TVs, Ray-Ban sunglasses and a variety of games consoles.

Xmas Happy Hour

During Xmas Happy Hours, between 17:00 – 18:00 GMT each day from Thursday, 22 December to Monday, 02 January, Sit & Go and ring game fans will receive double PKR Points. PKR Points can be spent in the PKR Shop, on tournament entries or to improve the design of their personalised avatar.

Forum Invitational Xmas Freeroll

Since its launch in 2006, PKR has earned a reputation for its community centred around a multilingual forum. On Tuesday, 27 December, forum participants will be rewarded with a $1,000 Forum Invitational Xmas Freeroll involving a number of Team PKR Pro and PKR staff bounties. Players fortunate enough to eliminate a bounty will win a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne. In addition to the $1,000 prize pool and bounty prizes, the winner of the Forum Invitational will receive a Flip camcorder, with the runner-up winning an iPod Nano. Any PKR player to have posted on the PKR Forum before Thursday, 22 December will be invited to the exclusive event.

Half Price promotion in January

In addition to the Xmas promotions, PKR players can also take advantage of the January sales with the return of the Half Price weekend promotion. During Sunday, 1 January and Monday, 2 January, buy-ins across eight tournaments will be reduced by 50%, enabling a wider audience to participate in some of PKR’s most popular events.

More than 100 poker players will enjoy the explosive atmosphere at the BAMMA 8 mixed martial arts event in Nottingham on 10 December through a free prize draw at PKR.com. In the fourth event of its kind this year, PKR is again offering players the opportunity to meet staff and other players, against the backdrop of one of sport’s fastest growing events. The prize draw is open to all PKR members and concludes on Friday 02 December.

PKR became the headline sponsor of BAMMA, Europe’s premier mixed martial arts organisation, in January 2011. The online poker site has since welcomed hundreds of its members to BAMMA events in Manchester, London and Birmingham, having offered tickets in free prize draws through the site’s busy forum and website.

PKR players who attend the upcoming BAMMA 8 event, which takes place in Nottingham’s Capital FM Arena on Saturday 10 December, will enjoy 13 bouts featuring some of the world’s top martial artists including light heavyweight champion Jimi ‘Poster Boy’ Manuwa, who makes his eagerly anticipated BAMMA debut. UFC legend Randy Couture is also rumoured to be making a promotional appearance.

Community Manager Dan Grant commented, “BAMMA events are a fantastic opportunity for their players to meet PKR and each other in a fun and social real-world setting. They’ll get to put faces to names they’ve met at their online tables and meet new poker mates while enjoying the great atmosphere of a thrilling sporting event.”

Poker site PKR.com continues its winning streak as it picked up the 2011 International Gaming Awards Online Poker Operator of the Year nod for the second year running.

PKR.com now holds the IGA Poker Operator of the Year titles for 2010 and 2011 as well as the eGaming Review Poker Operator of the Year 2010. IGA Award judges praised PKR for providing the most engaging and immersive poker experience.

Malcolm Graham, CEO of PKR.com said, “We are thrilled to be named as Poker Operator of the Year for the second consecutive year. 2010 was a difficult time for the industry as a whole, and this award is a great reward for all our hard work. We look forward to a prosperous 2011.”

The annual International Gaming Awards recognise success and achievement in individuals, companies and the industries they serve across. The IGA hosted at an impressive gala event at London’s Jumeirah Carlton Tower to celebrate the winners.

Founded in 2004 by serial entrepreneur Jez San, PKR.com is headquartered in Camden, London and now employs over 100 staff. It has over 4 million registered users and has won numerous awards including the designation as the UK’s fastest growing technology company in the 2010 Sunday Times Tech Track 100.

Next generation poker site PKR Poker has asked their vast community of loyal users to cast their vote for the 2010 PKR Players of the Year. After a flurry of nominations, the votes have been calculated and the winners announced in the following categories; Tournament Player of the Year, Cash Game Player of the Year, and Forumite of the Year.

Tournament Player of the Year

And the winner is… Ovnis!
Community favourite Ovnis, one of Norway’s top players, has accumulated $80,000 in tournament winnings including 12 major titles and 23 cashes of $1k or more. Having joined PKR’s Hall of Fame earlier in the year, Ovnis managed to fight off tough competition including Spain’s japete, Patatosalatas from Greece and Swede Rocken1900.

Cash Game player of the Year

And the winner is… Beyne!
PKR’s very own PKR Team Pro Beyne took the crown of Cash Game Player of the Year with his inimitable style, relentless aggression and enthusiasm to match. Beyne is the undisputed king of high stakes HU cash games on PKR which helped him along the way to become the first player to cash-out $1,000,000 this year.

Forumite of the Year

And the winner is… Pkr1princess!
Pkr1princess from Ireland took the Forum members crown for her positive presence in the forums and instrumental involvement in the highly regarded Leeds Community Meet-ups. PKR’s number one princess was up against three other pillars of the PKR community who include the entertaining BobbyConkers, Scotland’s MrKeema and forum stalwart royals.

Marketing manager, Erika Schwartz Poole commented “Congrats to all our winners this year. These awards are a great way for our players to recognise the achievements of their peers and provide inspiration to others. We look forward to seeing you on the felt in 2011 for another prosperous year!”

The nights are drawing in and that means one thing for PKR players… Christmas is on the horizon and The Christmas Cracker is back with a bang.

Exploding onto the tournament schedule on December 23, The Christmas Cracker will feature thirteen events with a total of $238,000 in expected prize pools up for grabs. To help add extra sparkle to the festive season, players will have the opportunity to bag state of the art technology prizes in the Santa’s Grotto Freeroll. Players will receive 500 chips to for the Freeroll from each Christmas Cracker event which is played.

Cardroom Manager Neil Wright said, “We look forward to welcoming The Christmas Cracker back to the tournament schedule this year. With nearly two weeks of fantastic events, the festival offers something for everyone.”

The Christmas Cracker events are all direct buy-ins, with the only exception being the coveted PKR Masters, where satellites will be running throughout December.

London, February 02, 2010 – PKR.com has picked up its first award of 2010 by winning the International Gaming Awards Online Poker Operator of the Year title.

The IGA’s Online Poker Operator of the Year award recognises the online operator that made the most headway in the real-money poker sector during 2009. Operators are judged according to originality, growth and scale, usability, payment processing and marketing. Special consideration is also given to the most innovative operators and those with a unique and or outstanding brand setting it aside from the competition.

PKR.com’s unique blend of advanced 3D graphics, immersive gameplay and enhanced community focus through its new integrated social media platform saw off competition from all major rivals including big shots like Pokerstars, Full Tilt, Partypoker, Betfair, Ladbrokes, and 888.com.

PKR CEO Malcolm Graham said, “It is a wonderful achievement for us to be named Online Poker Operator of the Year. We are absolutely delighted to be honoured by the International Gaming Awards in this way.”

The annual International Gaming Awards are hosted in London’s Millennium Gloucester Hotel & Conference Centre and seek to reward excellence in all areas of the online gaming industry. Nominations are made across a range of categories with judges selected from leading industry professionals, journalists, analysts and representatives of the Awards’ main sponsors.

High Stakes cash game legend Phil ‘OMGClayAiken’ Galfond will join the crew of PKR TV to commentate on some of the best ring game action on PKR.com, including footage from a special ‘Galfond TV Cash Game’.

The top tier of PKR.com’s cash game players will test the action in the four-hour ‘Galfond TV Cash Game’ session which is set to be played on Sunday January 24 2010 from 18:00 to 22:00 GMT, with high stakes buy-ins of $1,000 to $5,000. Galfond, also known as ‘jman’ on the 2+2 Forums, will be sharing his poker wisdom as he steps behind the microphone next week to comment on the play.

Renowned for his prowess in high stakes cash games, Galfond also has six World Series cashes and a WSOP bracelet to his name. Having founded the Buefire Poker training site with Billy Murphy in January 2009, Galfond and his team of pro players provide in-depth poker strategy analysis through instructional videos. In March 2009 they signed a partnership deal with PKR.com with the next-gen poker site taking the role of exclusive European partner.

Marketing Manager Erika Schwartz said, “We are thrilled to have Phil in the studio to become a PKR TV commentator. It will be fantastic for our players to get someone of his reputation watching the action and giving some advice on their play’.

PKR TV and the ‘Galfond TV Cash Game’ will be broadcast on The Poker Channel in 13 countries across Europe. Airdates will be confirmed closer to the time.

Next-gen online poker site PKR.com has today unveiled a major new partnership with IPC Media’s award winning men’s magazine brands, Nuts and Loaded.

The partnership sees the launch of Nuts and Loaded branded poker rooms that allows readers and fans to play their favourite game surrounded by images of the magazines’ lovely ladies. Players can also personalise their avatars with Nuts and Loaded t-shirts.

The partnership goes live with a major launch in both the print and online versions of Nuts and Loaded. Going forward, readers can expect to get poker tips and tricks from the members of Team PKR Pro, as well as stories of their fantastic exploits as they go from tournament to tournament. There will also be special promotions for readers throughout the year.

PKR marketing director Simon Prodger says, “We think that the collaboration with IPC Media is a perfect matchup of brands. Nuts and Loaded readers are spot on for us, and by having branded environments within our game, we offer them a unique poker experience.”

Nuts publisher, Clair Porteous adds, “Between them, Nuts and Loaded have a combined audience of more than 1.7 million monthly unique users online. Both are iconic men’s lifestyle brands and collaborating with a partner of the calibre and scale of PKR really ticks all the boxes.”