Playing poker, whether online or in a live setting, is an exhilarating pastime for all lovers of the game. For most poker players, it can be nearly as much fun to sit back and watch the most talented players battle it out head to head for enormous cash prizes, as is evident from the past viewer ratings of the annual WSOP Main Event. That is exactly what every poker fan and member of the PokerStars online poker community will have an opportunity to do this weekend.
The PokerStars All Star Showdown will be awarding over half a million dollars to the ultimate winner of the event, but unlike most of PokerStars big-money tourneys, this one does not have many seats available. In fact, only 8 players will be able to participate in the All Star Showdown.
Most of the online poker community’s players are perfectly happy to take to the rails, especially considering that the bulk of the site’s player base does not have a big enough bankroll established to participate in the first place. Each player who managed to get their hands on a seat has already forked over a whopping $100k buy-in to get in on the action.
It’s pretty simple… 8 players, $800k prize pool, $550,000 to the 1st place finisher.
The PokerStars All Star Showdown has stacked up to be the highest paying event in the history of the world’s largest online poker room, in relation to the infinitesimal size of the field.
It all starts this weekend as the 8 competitors were randomly drawn to compete in 4 heads-up matches, facing off until each table piles its chips into one player’s virtual pocket. The remaining 4 will face off next in two more heads-up tables and finally, the last two standing will go head to head for the ultimate prize of more than half a million dollars.
The 8 competitors registered for the event include Isaac “Ike-Haxton” Haxton, the newest member of PokerStars Team Online, the infamous Phil “mrSweets28” Galfond, Alexander “Kanu7” Millar, Alexander “Sussie Smith” Roumeliotis, Tobias “KTPOKP” Kuder, Benjamin “Sauce123” Sulsky, Daniel “w00ki3z” Cates and Ben “ben86” Tollerene.
The winners of the first two matches will reconvene for round 2 on Nov 2nd at 18:00 CET, while the winners of the last two matches will hit the virtual felt on Nov 3rd at 18:00 CET. The grand finale will take place the following day, Saturday, Nov 4th at 18:00 CET.
Note that railbirds are not required to have an open account with PokerStars in order to watch all the action of the All Star Showdown. Anyone and everyone can take a virtual seat in the rails. The results will be updated regularly on the PokerStars Blog, detailing the reactions of players, all noteworthy hands and much more.