So many in fact, that PokerStars are on the cusp of celebrating their milestone 75 billionth hand being played at their virtual tables. Despite being an impressive number in itself, the 75 billion mark is just another notch on the countdown to the incredibly 100 billionth hand – this countdown has been marked in the form of a lucrative promotion that has left some PokerStars players very happy indeed.

Fortunately for the many PokerStars players out there, the chance to win big on the landmark hands are not restricted to big money players; this is thanks to their simple ethos on promotions, which leaves everybody, no matter what their usual stake level to benefit from the success of the world’s number one online poker website.

Players can become a part of this lucrative promotion through sheer luck, by being dealt into one of the millionth hands that is played at a money ring game; by being part of this luckiest of hands, any player dealt in will receive a basic cash prize $20, plus another $60 which is then multiplied by the number of VIP Player Points (VPPs) which have been earned by the player during their previous 50 hands at the table. In addition, just because the table’s luck has come in is no incentive to slow down on the poker acton – this is due to the fact that the winner of any millionth hand has their prize doubled!

The mega milestone hand is, of course, the 75 billionth; with those being dealt into that particular hand receiving a base prize of a whopping $10,000.

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Ivey has had an up and down past couple of years, which has seen some especially low points; despite this, it appears that the fortunes of one of poker’s best ever players seem to be on the rise again. In a move that seems to have marked an end to his dry-spell, Ivey has just managed to net himself a cool $2 million by emerging victorious in the $250k Challenge. The win has been made especially sweet for Ivey due to the fact that only 24 hours previously he crashed out of the main event at the ‘Aussie Millions’. During that competition Ivey could only manage to pick up a meagre 12th place, but in true professional character, he was able to dust himself off and take his seat at the next challenge. Ivey defeated fellow professional Patrik Antonius to steal the crown at the $250k challenge.

“It feels good to be back,” commented Ivey.

“I took some time off from poker.

“This is one of my first tournaments back and it’s nice to get back to winning again.” he added.

Ivey chose to view his performance at the Aussie Millions in a grateful light after his latest victory, realising that it was a better option in the grand scheme of things.

“I got pretty close in the Main Event,” he said. “Luckily I got knocked out just in time to play this. It worked out.”

It is still a point of discussion of whether gambling at online casino establishments is legal in the United States. Legislation and regulation is changing day by day but it is for instance legal to place bets within the state of Nevada. There are also some positive signs that the other states are leaning towards being more accepting and tolerant of gambling at the online casino of your choice. Some states still criminalize betting but most of them do not and there is no federal law on this matter at present.

Some parents are worried that by playing at online casino sites, this could cause their children to be exposed to underage gambling as well. But the same way as a lot of teenagers get away with under aged drinking at pubs and clubs; this is less likely to happen at an online establishment than a land based one. There are some casinos and bookies that will allow under aged kids to place bets but online casino establishments ensure that their players have very secure accounts in their payment methods that are password protected and monitored.

There are people who are still dubious about whether online casino can be regulated in the United States, as well as internationally. Online casino gambling is in fact successfully regulated in many countries, which has proved that this is possible. If online casino gambling can be regulated in the UK and Ireland as well as in Antigua and Australia, who is to say it can’t happen in the rest of the world?

The new partnership has resulted in the creation of the ‘Patriot Poker Players’ or ’3P’ group; the group aims to raise and improve both awareness and funds for various charitable causes linked to military service personnel.

A statement issued by the newly established charity-driven group read:”Patriot Poker Players are not just poker players, we are a team of military members who take our game from the frontlines to the poker felt to raise money for charities and raise awareness through our presence and interactions with the public.

“3P’s come from all over the world to participate in no limit hold’em tournaments, and aim to cash and contribute 10 percent of the team’s earnings to the charity of 3P’s choice. 3P members also volunteer time with communities. Patriot Poker Players are committed to 3P’s mission and maintaining an absolutely positive and professional attitude.” it added.

At the present moment in time, the 3P group has close links with charities such as ‘Fuelled by the Fallen’ and ‘American Military Family’; it aims to develop these relationships in order to make a workable business model that will ultimately be of some benefit to such charities.

A founder of the 3P group recently divulged his vision for the future of the company, saying: “In three to five years, I envision 3P, not only be a group of military poker players playing for charity, but we will be a powerful brand within the poker community. A clothing and poker accessory line is in the works; should be up and running by June 2012.”

With the relatively recent boom in personal computers, people are finding that this problem has shifted domains from the television to the computer – this can be a particular problem for people who spend a great deal of time at their computer screens on a regular basis – such as online poker players.

Spending too much time in front of a computer screen is thought to be able to induce a condition which has been dubbed ‘Computer Vision Syndrome’ or ‘CVS’; it is thought to bring about a variety of symptoms, most of which will be fairly familiar to those poker players who spend large amounts of time sat in front of their computers.

“No study has proven that long-term computer work truly damages the eyes; 
it could however lead to strain, fatigue, headaches and symptoms of dryness 
(gritty sensation, vision starts off clear but blurs with time).” commented ophthalmologist Dr. S. Singh.

Regular online poker players are not being warned to stay away from the game they love, however, they are being informed of certain strategies and helpful hints that can ultimately lead to less discomfort when settling in for a session at the virtual felt.

“While on the computer, every 20 minutes, take a 20
 second break, and look at least 20 feet away, whether it be out the window or down the hall. This, along with the use of some over-the-counter lubricating eye drops three to four 
times a day, will help with the previously mentioned
 issues.” added Dr. Singh.

In order to mark the online poker room’s ten-year anniversary, PokerStars has published a free e-magazine which is available to all of its customers; the new e-magazine aims to inform PokerStars customers of the major names, people and developments that have helped to shape the poker room into the undeniable success that it is today.

The e-magazine spans a sizeable 26 animated pages, all of which help to tell the story of PokerStars by portraying its history of triumphs; this engaging narrative goes all the way back to when PokerStars was merely in its beta testing stage, and runs all the way up to the present day. In addition to the interesting and colourful history of the world’s most successful online poker rooms, there is also some extra goodies up for grabs in the form of anecdotes and interviews with some of the most renowned players in professional poker – among those who have graced the pages of the PokerStars publication are Sweden’s Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, Daniel Negreanu, Chris Moneymaker, Terrace Chan of Canada, Germany’s Sandra Naujoks, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier of France and, finally, former poker room manager Lee Jones.

There is plenty to keep even the casual reader interested in this superb commemorative offering from PokerStars; however, for those with a genuine interest in the company and its history, there are plenty of gems on offer. For instance, did you know that PokerStars was online for three months with players using play-money chips before it switched over to real-money chips?

The ‘Poker Bucket List’ has been devised by a well known online poker publication, and features everything that a fledgling poker professional should be aiming to achieve before their time at the felt comes to an abrupt end. Each of the items on the poker bucket list is also accompanied with a reason as to why it is so essential for players. Below are some of the top items on the Poker Bucket List:

First on the list is to ‘play poker in a proper deep-stacked live tournament’; the rational behind this choice is quite simply due to the fact that it allows the amateur player to feel like a professional at a fraction of the cost of actually competing as one! Next up on the list is the difficult task of ‘making the cash in the WSOP Main Event’; this is by not stretch of the imagination an easy task to complete, however, seeing as the World Series of Poker is the pinnacle of professional poker achievement, its place on the Poker Bucket List is indeed well deserved. The third task on the Poker Bucket List is one for the amateur poker player who isn’t quite so financially restrained as most; while ‘playing poker on a Caribbean Island’ may make you feel like James Bond, it is certainly one of the more costly trials to feature.

With seven more Poker Bucket List tasks to tick off, those interested in seeing the list through to the end would do well to check out the original articles at: http://www.pokerplayer.co.uk/news/features/11989/the_poker_bucket_list.html

The latest addition to what many consider to be the online poker ‘dream team’ is Bjorn ‘Bjoerni89′ Schneider; the German sit-and-go specialist was tipped to be involved in a lucrative new deal, which has been confirmed as a signing to the Team PokerStars Online squad – he joins many big names as one of their crack squad of paid professional players.

Schneider is a native of Gottingen and has only been a professional online poker player for a mere two years; however, during this time he has managed to build a superb reputation for himself, particularly for his antic at nine-player sit-and-go style games.

With its latest signing, Team PokerStars now has 26 members in its ‘Online’ squad; this features some of the best names in online poker, as well as a few up and coming stars of the future – among Team PokerStars latest signings was the Danish professional Mickey ‘mement_mori’ Petersen in September.

PokerStars have been quick to endorse their latest signing, thanks to a statement on their website, which read: “Schneider is not just a sit-and-go specialist as he’s also found some success in multi-table tournaments including a fourth-place finish in the Sunday Warm-Up for more than $50,000,

“And the worrying part for everyone else is that he’s constantly looking to fix leaks in his game and add a major title to his name in 2012 .
“You’d think all that time at the virtual felt would leave little room for anything else but Schneider, like other great players such as [Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier], enjoys playing video games like World of Warcraft and Starcraft. Oh, and he’s also studying history and philosophy.” it added.

Finishing in dead last place in an online poker tournament is the worst nightmare of any online poker player; managing to finish in this kind of position is known as ‘the bubble’. Fortunately, there is a new scheme that aims to protect players for the bubble, which is known simply as ‘Bubble Protection’.

It is thought that the bubble now encompasses around 10% of online poker tournament entrants; this is largely due to the fact that online poker has witnessed a surge in popularity in recent years, making the typical playing field in a tournament much larger than it ever has been. Bubble Protection aims to shield players from being caught out by the bubble through the aid of ‘bubble insurance’. The process of bubble insurance is simple; those players who are interested merely have to create a bubble protection account, then find the tournament on the website that they are planning to compete in; then a payment is made to secure the bubble insurance, and players can go about playing their game as usual – following this, players who finish within the 10% bubble will automatically receive their entrance fee (including rake) as a refund!

The new scheme is being championed by online poker star Chris ‘Moorman1′ Moorman, who says: “I will personally be testing Bubble Protection on Tuesday evening when I play in a $30 buy-in event on PartyPoker, hopefully I will not need protection from the bubble but it is good to know the chances I will see my money again is much greater than a standard tournament!”