PokerStars is celebrating a milestone, 40 Billion hands dealt!!!

And they’re celebrating it with you. They’re organizing great value tournaments and tons of exiting cash games. 

F40 Milestone hands

Poker players dealt in every millionth hand will win a cash prize of $40 for every VPP they earned in the previous 40 hands played on that table. Every player that’s dealt in will be awarded a VPP and the winner of the hand will get their cash prize doubled.
Example: Play at a $1/$2 table and get dealt into a milestone hand. PokerStars calculates that you have earned 31VPPs in the last 40 hands + the extra VPP = 32 VPPs. This means 32x$40 = $1280!!! If you win the hand it will be doubled to $2560!!!
And to top it off, at the time the 40th Billion hand will be dealt, all players will be awarded $400 for every VPP earned in the previous 40 hands.
Example: 32VPP x $400 = $12800. Win the hand and earn a whopping $25600!!!!

Multi-Table tournaments (MTTs)

F40:Sunday Million $4.000.000 guaranteed on February 21st, the biggest prize pool EVER, with at least $1.000.000 for the winner!! Buy-in $215
F40: $40 Micro Million $1,000,000 guaranteed tournament

A special F40 tournament takes place at 14:30 ET on Sunday, February 14. For a buy-in of just $40 you can play for your share of a guaranteed $1,000,000 prize pool.

F40: 40 FPP - $40,000 Specials

You can also play in a series of special F40 FPP tournaments. Each has a buy-in of only 40 FPPs and a prize pool of $40,000. Start times will alternate between 13:40 ET & 21:40 ET each day.
To register for the Sunday Million or any of the other F40 tournaments, open the PokerStars lobby, click ‘Tourney’ & ‘Special’.

Sit & Go’s

F40: Super Sit & Go tournaments

A series of 40-man Super Sit & Go torunaments will be helt 24/7 from February 14 till February 21.

F40: First Depositor Freerolls

Every player whit a first real money deposit on PokerStars using the code F40 will be awarded a ticket to all 40 of PokerStars free-to-enter tournaments with a $1000 prize pool.

From starting my “From Zero to Hero challenge” in February 2009, I finally passed the $100 mark yesterday evening.

The $50 mark was passed in May 2009 and I hoped to double up in 2 months’ time. I guess I was wrong . It took me much longer than expected, but I had some other businesses to do that were a bit more important than playing poker unfortunately. But even then I didn’t reached the double up in 2 months.

What made it so hard this time was that I played more at cash tables and with that losing more. When playing freerolls, you don’t lose anything, you can only win. In cash games you better be sure you cash out at least the amount you spend to enter. And that’s a lesson I’ve learned to many times the last couple of months.
A couple of months back, I started playing more and more cash games and at first everything went really well. I had the $100 mark in sight with just a couple of cents left. But then in a $0,05/$0,10 cash game I got pocket jacks and lost to a set of 4’s on the river, losing $4 in one game.
It was the starter of a bad streak. The day after I lost a bit more than a dollar in 5 different cash games. The week after I only made profit in 30% of the cash games I played, but never enough to cover the losses.
I decided that it was time to stop playing for a while. I kept calling that it was bad luck etc… But never how I played. And that’s where the problem was. I was to confident and started bluffing the wrong way. Ok, sometimes it sure was bad luck and I definitely had some bad beats, but I was playing BAD, no doubt about that.
For a month I didn’t play at all, it was just what I needed, a little time of. (Hear me, sounding like a pro).
After that time-off I started playing safe and entered in the freerolls. And since then I’m also playing much better. It isn’t the fast money you would be expecting, but I was getting closer and closer to my goal.
Yesterday, with about $2 to go I played a $1000 and $5000 freeroll on PokerStars. In the $1000 freeroll, I won 0,85 cents and in the other I won $0,45 cents. So only about 50 cent left. And I was eager to pass that until now magical $100 marker the same day.

In a cash game on Full Tilt, I entered a $0,05/$0,10 cash game hoping to score the left cash. I waited for the big blind to really start playing, which gave me time to observe what I’m up to. With 4 games played I already won 20 cents. At the time I got AK suited (clubs) and in middle position, I raised 3x the BB to see only 1 player calling me. Flop was beautiful, although not pairing me, 9JQ with 2 clubs. I had a straight draw and a flush draw. My opponent checked and I made a 40 cent bet to get called again. If he paired, I needed a good card quick or I have to fold the hand. Luckily another spade (5) came on the turn, giving me the nuts. I could quietly sit back and figure out how many I would bet, not making him fold. He checked (as expected), I made a 20 cent bet, not too much to scare him, just enough to lure him into the trap. He called and when the river draws a 10 of hearts he made a 40 cent bet. I figured he made a straight now and I started thinking what amount of cash would make him fold or should I take the risk of re-raising and hope he would re-raise again? I could go all-in, but he definitely would fold then. So I took the bet and just re-raised him. He quickly went all-in to scare me. I called his all-in immediately. I won the hand and reached my goal!!!

Hopefully the next double up, to $200 will not take this long again

For US and Canada players only!
You have a chance to win $1.000.000 on PokerStars for free. Register in one of the tournaments that are running to win an entry to the big pot.
Tournaments can be found under ‘Tourney’, ‘Regional’ button. Look for “FOX-PS Million Dollar Challenge”.
Top 10 finishers will be asked to submit an audition movie where 21 auditions will be selected to compete in the next stage.

A series of heads-up matches to win $25.000 against team PokerStars pro’s and celebrity poker players. Daniel Negreanu will be there to coach you and help you beating them all.
After this you can take home the $25k or go for a guaranteed $100.000 and a shot to the $1.000.000 main prize if you beat Daniel Negreanu.

Don’t have the PokerStars software installed? No problem, you can download it right here.

Good luck!!!

Till now, I mostly played freeroll tournaments to get my bankroll up. By almost reaching the $100 it’s time to stop playing freeroll’s and start making some cash.

In the time I started playing poker, I did experiment with cash games before, but overall it didn’t go well. I still was too much focused on playing tournaments.
A big mistake I made was that I didn’t make a bet or a raise when it was needed. For example, I’m holding pocket 8’s and the flop was Q J 8. Instead of making a bet here I just checked hoping somebody would make a bet so I could re-raise. But nobody did just that, so they all got a free run to the next card, a King. Not a good flop for me, with 4 other players in the game. Someone certainly has an Ace and will make a straight if the 10 flops. Or one has a 10 or 9 and also will make a straight if their needed card hits. So in a desperate attempt scaring them of I made a bet, 4 times the big blind. 2 players called and I could only hope the board will pair or no Ace or 10 will show up. And as expected a 10 was drawn on the river And I got forced to fold my set when the first player made a bet and was re-raised by the other player. They both had the straight to the Ace.
Ok, I made a very good laydown here, but it wasn’t hard at all to fold it as it was pretty obvious I was beaten. If I only made a good bet after the flop, maybe they folded already then?

I can name a few other hands like this that I played wrong in a cash game that would not harm me that much in a tournament. When playing in a tournament, you can make up for this loss, but in a cash game it’s actually real money that I was losing and we don’t like that do we?

So after a few misplayed games I decided to focus myself back on tournaments to get my bankroll up.
And although it took some time, I can say I did pretty good so far.
When I started out in February with $0 it took me a couple of games to win my first money. $2 to be exactly. A freeroll on Full Tilt set me on my way to success  
5 days later I again ended up in the money and with a few cash games in between I Managed to end the month with $4,73 on my bankroll.
March was awesome, I made it to my first Final Table, but got a bit too excited and tried to win the pot with deuce seven This immediately ended my final table experience.
Not too worried about that, the day after I made it to the Final table a 2nd time. This time I ended on the 4th place.
10 days later I did exactly the same, finished 4th again.

In April I started out playing on PokerStars also where I won my biggest tournament cash so far, $24 in a $500 freeroll. But this money was needed to deal with the losses I made in cash games. With a few other good tournament results, I almost made it to the $50 that month.
May was the best month so far with 13 money finishes in freeroll tournaments. I got my first real top 3 finish when I ended 2nd and on the last day of the month I won my first tournament with AK.
In June I took a well deserved holiday near Venice, Italy so I didn’t play that much. In July and August I enjoyed the nice weather here in Belgium so I didn’t play much. And in September I started out playing freeroll tournaments on PokerStars where the Pokerchamp of Flanders will be decided. Closest I got in the weekly final was a 7th place, just 2 places away from advancing to the live regional finals. But I did manage to qualify myself 4 weeks in a row for the weekly final.

So with the bit more experience I gained in the last couple of months, I tried to play some cash games again and so far with good results. Biggest win I had was in a $0,02/$0,05 cash game where I bought myself in for $2 and cashed out with $3,9. Best win was when my KK won over QQ and 66.
In the few cash games I played now, I certainly can see that my game evolved compared to how I was playing before in cash games.
So the plan for the next month is to play more cash games and less freeroll tournaments.
Now let’s play some poker!!!

2 weeks back I qualified myself for the weekly final ‘Pokerchamp of Flanders tournament’ here in Belgium by finishing in the top 20 in the daily satellites.
That Sunday we started with 117 people and the best 5 will win a spot in to the regional live finals.
I played some very good poker from the beginning and quickly placed myself within the top 15. There I stayed most of the time during the whole tournament. My highest ranking I got was a 4th place.
As time went by and more players were forced to leave the tournament, I saw the final table getting closer and closer. Once I reached that final table I was holding the nr 5 spot. Then I made a few bad calls and dropped to the 8th spot. But I managed to get my rank up again to nr 6.
And with only 7 players left and blinds of 2000/4000, I got pocket Kings. Pre-flop I raised to 8000 and got re-raised by one player to 16000. I then took the chance and went all in. About 30000 chips at stake. He called me and showed pocket eights.
I was in the lead with my KK. After the flop (10 6 2) I was in the lead even more. The turn was a 9 and suddenly he got a few outs more, because he could make a straight. So any 7 or an 8 would steal my win. And that’s what just happened, I got rivered when he hit his needed 7. Damn, got some bad luck there.
I finished on the 7th place, a bit disappointed about the last hand, but very happy about the way I played the tournament. I honestly feel that I learned a lot that day.

A few days later I took the chance once again to qualify myself into next week’s weekly final and with a bit of luck I managed to do just that.
With 21 players left (20 to go through) I was holding the 20th spot with a few hundred chips more than the last player in the list. He sat at my table also, but in a later position then me.
So the situation is that if I didn’t win a pot at the time the big and small blind passed me, I was out before him. On the big blind I got very bad cards, 3 7 offsuit and I folded them as soon anyone raised.
So with only a few hundred chips left I was pushed all in on the small blind with 2 9 suited clubs.
3 players called the big blind, so I was 99% sure that I was going to be the bubble boy. Then the flop (9 4 3) paired my 9 and suddenly everything looked a bit brighter. Everyone else checked and the turn showed a 7.
At this time I was hoping they all got some high cards like QJ or AQ and wouldn’t make a pair. Again everyone checked. I figured out I had about 30% for winning the pot now.
When the river showed an 8 I felt I suddenly had pretty good chances to win the pot. Then One of the 3 other remaining players made a big raise and the other 2 folded their hands. Could he be slow playing a set?
Showdown time: I showed my pair of nines and he showed a pair of eights. I won!!!!
So I had a big chance to reach the last 20 now. Three hands later the other player was pushed all in on the big blind. 2 other players called and the flop showed 5 K 7.
The others checked and the turn showed a 6. Then one of them raised to all in which made the other fold his hand. KJ suited for the last one in the list against 9Q. Not good for me! But on the river the other player made a straight with an 8 and we’ve found the bubble boy and it wasn’t me

Then at the weekly final I had a bad day, not getting good cards and when I did, the flop was against me. Even some bluff with AK got called easily as I was low stacked all of the time.
After an hour of playing I only had 150 chips left and went all in with JJ, after the river another player made 3 others fold and I’d won the main pot. With about 800 chips again, I got AA immediately the hand after and again went all in. Now only one player called. Again I did win and I could play a bit more hands. But with the increasing blinds, it was an up- and down play for me. About 1500 chips was the highest I could reach. And before I knew it I was out on place 41.

Convinced I will reach the regional final I tried my luck again yesterday in a daily satellite. I finished on the 6th spot and for the 3rd week in a row I can play in the weekly final. Maybe this time is the charm?
Anyhow I’m going for it!