Get to Macau with these PokerStars.com Tournaments on Wednesday, July 1st  

The Asian Pacific Poker Tour Macau event is on the way, and PokerStars has qualifiers you can play on Wednesday, July 1st. There are, in fact, eight of them, with buy ins that range from 750 frequent player points to $1.10 in cash to $27. Win one of these events and you move into another qualifying round or even the super satellite itself.

Also on tap for July 1st are satellites to a few other major events, such as two in the EPT. The European Poker Tour usually starts is Barcelona, and you can play for that event, but the first this year will be the new Russian leg, the EPT Moscow! Both have satellites in the PokerStars lobby.  

Use bonus code STARS50 when signing up with PokerStars to get $50 free

Can you do this? Earn enough Frequent Player Points at PokerStars  to acquire a Porsche Cayman.

Dario Minieri, move over. Dario, as you may or may not know, was the first player at PokerStars (and, perhaps, the world) to use Frequent Player Points to buy a car. His picture next to his new Porsche got a lot of attention, and now there is a new player with a similar picture.

That’s him, over there on the right.

Canadian FX Trader (that’s “foreign exchange” trader – someone who buys and sells currency to make money on the exchange rate) Brad Sweezey “did a Dario” by accumulating enough FPPs to make the major purchase, but he’s not quite satisfied. He has his eyes on a Ferrari.

Use bonus code STARS50 when signing up with PokerStars to get $50 free

Win a $13,000 WSOP Main Event Prize Package with Victor Chandler Poker and make your way to Las Vegas to play against the best the world has to offer.

With feeder satellites starting from as little as $0.84, Super Satellites playing out every Sunday Night and a WSOP Mega Satellite with a guaranteed 40 Prize Packages to be won, there's ample opportunity to play your way into the WSOP Main Event at VCPoker

In addition, each WSOP Main Event package winner will be entered into an online qualifier tournament from where the top 21 finishers will participate in special Celebrity Bounty Tournament to be played live in Vegas on July 9th and where each celebrity will have a bounty on their heads of a package for the 2010 WSOP, worth $13,000! And if that’s not enough to tickle your taste buds, the winner of this event will also pocket a cool $20,000.

The online qualifying tournament for the Celebrity Bounty event will take place on June 21st. The celebrities playing in this Celeb Bounty tourney are:

Jamie Gold
Montel Williams
Tony G
Marty Smyth
Neil Channing
Scotty Nguyen

Package Details - $13,000
$10,000 buy-in to Main Event (July 4th – July 11th, 2009)
7 nights accommodation at the Rio, (July 4th - July 11th, 2009)
$2,150 expenses for flights and spending
Weekly Satellites
Sundays at 20.00 BST $500 + $35 Buy-in
40 Prize Package Mega Satellite
Sunday June 14th at 18.00 BST
$500 + $30 Buy-in

Note: For complete satellite schedules, launch the VCPoker client and open the Super/Mega Satellite Tournament Lobby.

Step tournaments are a great way to play your way to the top.

In the step process, there are multiple-levels with different buy-ins. In essence, each of these levels is a sit & go. The lower the step, the lower the buy-in (and the converse is true). Steps are a great way for players to get to a big buy-in tournament on a budget. (Note: steps may vary in level and buy-in size depending upon the poker room you use. For our purposes, we are using a six-step process based on six-handed tables.)

During each step, the top two players move on to the next level. The third player will get the opportunity to replay the level without having to pay the buy-in again. Therefore, they get a second shot to move along.

Of course, if your budget allows, you don’t have to start at the first step. You can go as high or as low as you want to. Often times, step tournaments are turbo at least for the first few levels. They are great ways for players who like one table tournaments to get in on the high stakes and live action events.

Now that you have a basic understanding of Steps’ tournaments, why not consider following these strategies.

1. Play tight during the first few levels. Let other players risk their tournament lives while the blinds are low. The more players who bust out early, the closer you are to your goal. 
   
2. Play for the replay. Try to make the level where you can replay the event. Then, at that point, you can turn up the aggression and go for broke. You’ll either win or get a chance to play again. Either way, it’s not a bad trade off. 
   
3. Don’t worry about the top spot. Just make it to the lowest spot you need to win the seat. Remember, more than one player gets the prize. There’s no penalty for being the second-biggest chip leader. If someone is way ahead of you, don’t tussle with them. Let them do their thing and knock the others out so you can be standing at the end with them. 
   
4. Keep an eye on who’s already qualified. Some players want just one seat; others are playing for multiples. A player who already has a seat may take more chances and is, therefore, harder to play against. Stick to the players who haven’t won their seats and go toe to toe with them. Your aggression will pay off better here.
   
5. Don’t give up. If you receive a bad beat or make a mistake, don’t write off the entire tournament. Tournaments are won with determination, skill and tenacity. Dig your heels in and try to double-up once, twice or more if need be. Who knows – you may surprise yourself pleasantly!

PokerStars pro Hevad Khan gives five tips to qualifying for a WSOP package on PokerStars in this video.

You gotta love him. Unless you can’t stand him – but these days he isn’t doing much to ruffle feathers, except for being brilliant at poker.

Hevad Khan lets fly with five tips to qualifing for a WSOP prize package on PokerStars in this video. Yes, he says for the 2008 WSOP, but his tips still apply for this year.

Interestingly, his first tip might be the one most wouldn’t consider, concerning double shootouts. Not all poker sites will give their players the chance to win a prize package in this format, so kudos to PokerStars.

Sign up with PokerStars to play some World Series of Poker qualifiers today. Use bonus code STARS50 to get a $50 bonus while you are at it.

The PokerStars Pro gives his five tips on how to qualify for the World Series of Poker – or any big event.

Five Tips from PokerStars Pro Steve Ambrose is a quick, simple video from the folks at PokerStarsTV that packs four great pearls of wisdom into a fun format.

Steve wants to let you know that you shouldn’t be afraid to play multiple qualifiers, and you should pick on those players who are afraid of losing chips (the middle stacks.)

Check out this Canadian poker pro’s five tips below.

Yes, I did say four pears of wisdom; his last, number one, most important tip sounds like “When your flips, lake. That’s the best way to ensure you win a seat.”

Must be some kind of poker jargon.

Sign up with PokerStars here to qualify for the WSOP.

 Aced just recently added a nifty sidebar gadget to up your Aced experience and as usual is showering its players with tons of freerolls and other promos.

The Sidebar Gadget
A downloadable widget from Aced that lets you see how many players are online, the start of the next tournament and the climbing numbers of the bad beat jackpot, all at once.

Freerolls
No cost to you poker tournaments that offer free cash for your accounts!

$50k Monthly Freeroll
$10k Weekly Freeroll
$2k Weekly Freeroll
$1k Monday and Tuesday Freerolls
$500 Daily Freerolls
$50 Freerolls every four hours

Tournament Qualifiers
Aced is a great place to find qualifiers and satellites to most of the big poker tournaments found all around the globe. All year long satellites can be found to events like the WSOP, WPT and more. Currently Aced offers:

WPT Satellite
The World Poker Tour’s events are always popular, as are the Aced satellites. Win a prize package to a WPT event and a shot at becoming the next WPT Millionaire!

WSOP
Win a seat in the historical 40th World Series of Poker for as little as $2.

APPT
The Asian Pacific Poker Tour is the new kid on the block, which means there will be tons of action at these events – Aced wants to send you there.

GrandMaster Bounty Tournament
Like bounty events? How about when YOU are the bounty? Play the GrandMaster Bounty Tournament where every Aced player has a price on his or her head.

Royal Flush Bonus
Getting a royal flush will make anyone’s day. It means you win the pot for sure, but at Aced it also means you win the Royal Flush Bonus, 100 x the big blind! Playing in a $1/$2 cash game? That’s $200 on top of the pot!

Four Aces Bonus
Hey, that Royal Flush Bonus sounds nice, but what about quads? Aced has you covered there as well -- just make four of a kind with Aces and you get a bonus of 40 x the big blind.

MTT Leaderboard
Leaderboards are a great way to get rewarded if you play a lot of tournament poker, and the MTT Leaderboard at Aced is no exception. The top 100 places win a set to a Leaderboard Grand Final, and the winner there gets a major live seat package for first place.

Outs
You’ve participated in loyalty programs before, but nothing quite like Aced’s “Outs”. This poker rewards system is like the “accomplishments” system on video games, where when you meet certain goals you get rewarded. The chart below shows you the name of the Out, what you need to do to get it, and how many comp points you get:

Back to Back 
Win 2 hands in a row (6 players must be dealt in hand) 
5

Three-peat 
Win 3 Hands in a row 
25

On A Roll 
Win 5 hands in a row 
100

Take 'Em Down 
Win an 'All In' bet 
50

Aced 
Two Aces back-to-back (in the hole) 
50

Reload'em 
Bust two players in one hand 
100

Ballin 
Place a bet of $1,000 
100

One Time! 
Hit two outer on river to win 
100

Steam Rollin' 
Win 5x max buyin in one hour 
300

That's a Good Start 
Play your 100th hand 
50

Rolling Along 
Play your 1,000th hand 
200

Still Going 
Play your 5,000th hand 
750

Loyal 
Play your 10,000th hand
2000

A Legend 
Play your 100,000th hand 
5000

Just....Wow 
Play your 1 Millionth hand 
50000

FML 
Lose with four of a kind or better 
200

Score the Fill 
Hit a straight flush using two hole cards 
150

Well Rounded Play
 30 hands of holdem, Omaha, and stud each in one hour 
500

Tournament Outs

Getting Started 
Build your chip stack to $100k 
20

Going Deep 
Build your chip stack to $500k 
100

Heating Up 
Win 2 sit n go's in a row
100

On Fire 
Win 5 sit n go's in a row 
1200

Running Good 
Win two multi table tournaments in a row 
1200

Proof 
Win two MTT's in one day 
750

Just Begun 
Make Final Table of MTT 
100

Seriously? 
Bubble the money in a Sit n Go 
25

Next Time 
Bubble the money in an MTT
50

Gimme a Bracelet 
Win 5 MTT's in career 
250

Flat Nasty 
3 Final Tables in one day
250

Domination 
Win 5 heads up Sit n Go's in a row 
750

Unstoppable! 
Win 10 heads up Sit n Go's in a row 
2500

Sign up with Aced here and earn up to a $1,000 bonus!

Past actions can indicate future actions at the poker table for both you and your opponents.

As a poker player and former historian, I always enjoyed the concept of ‘the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior.’ The reason for that was simple. It showed that patterns exist in the world and one can analyze those patterns perhaps in the effort of being proactive if necessary.

Sure, the world doesn’t seem to work hard on being proactive, but poker players must be. Nothing has helped my game more than this particular concept.

How? Well, this is two-fold. First, you must observe the actions of your opponents. If you notice a player likes to play 7,2 off-suit, then you need to make note of it because the possibility exists that he/she could put a heck of a bad beat on you with this rag-hand.

Another example, if your opponent twirls her hair before folding, then you can watch for the twirl and predict a future fold. It is part of reading your players and just observing what they do.

In your own game, however, the past actions predicting future ones is more difficult to work with. Why? You must realize that you have patterns. There are things you do that perhaps you shouldn’t do. You want to call that big raise with the 6,9 off-suit because you think the Big Lick hand is funny. You may tilt easily. You may do so many things that need work.

If you remember that your opponents are watching you and that sometimes changing behavior can be the best thing you can do at the table – especially if you’re running poorly – then, you can work to be proactive and put out fires before the flames consume you.

These May tourneys and promos at Blue Square Poker will have you adding smiles to your face and cash to the bank.

ECOOP IV
ECOOP IV is a huge 13 day festival of poker beginning on 25th May with massive rewards to crown Europe’s finest online poker players - this time there's over $4.5 million guaranteed, and you can start getting seats to it on Blue Square Poker.

WSOP
As of March 20th, qualification began for the highlight of the Poker Calendar, The World Series of Poker Series (WSOP) in Las Vegas in July. Blue Square have come up with a number of ways that you can qualify to be in the thick of the action be it for The Main Event, the Pot Limit Omaha or a side event package. Qualifiers running now.

2009 GUKPT Online Qualifiers
Ten events this year, and you can chose which to play when you win one of these $2,500 packages. Every Wednesday and Sunday and Friday you can play to win!
 
Wednesday     
$100 + $9        Rebuy ($100) 
GUKPT £1060 Event
 
Friday
$50 + $5          Rebuy ($50)    
GUKPT £1060 Event   Seat Only
 
Sunday            
$250 + $20      Freezeout        
GUKPT £1060 Event
 
There are plenty of other tourneys to be found at Blue Square Poker:
 
JackPot SNGs
These are neat SNG events that pay off big if you can win a number of them in a row. A great way for SNG specialist to make bank!
 
Dirty Dozen Jackpot Sit & Go
Win four in a row, win $2,000
 
Maui Jackpot Sit & Go
Win five in a row, win $15,000 minimum.
           
Rio Jackpot Sit & Go
Win six in a row, win at least $25,000.
 
Fort Knox Jackpot Sit & Go
Win six in a row, win at least $50,000.
Plus anyone who gets 1st or 2nd in six back to back gets a $750 bonus!
 
Blue Square Freerolls
Blue Square Poker has a lot going for them, and one big item is their freeroll selection.
 
New Player Freeroll
Once a month the new players at Blue Square Poker are given a shot at a $1,000 prize pool for the cost of -- nothing! The freeroll gives them a chance to build their bankroll with no risk.
 
Beginner Freerolls
If you miss the New Player Freeroll -- or can’t wait for it -- you can try out the daily freeroll with a $50 prize pool. You are eligible to play if you signed up a new account in the last 90 days, to give the new players a chance!
 
Daily GUKPT Freerolls
If there is one thing Blue Square likes to do, it is help their players get to the GUKPT! These two daily freerolls pay seats into the next day’s satellites.
 
And of course you can hardly beat a $500 sign up bonus, which you get when you sign up with Blue Square Poker!

PokerStars , known for their commercials blending poker with adventure and their photogenic pros, really pull out the stops for this Isabelle Mercier comercial.

Isabelle Mercier is about as French as you can get, but she pulls off a wonderful pseudo- Japanese look (hair, outfit and attitude) in this commercial, where she amasses chips and uses them as her own personal army of Samurai.

They could have gone with Samurai in battle dress instead of stylish Kendo costumes, but then, that would have been less… stylish, and Mercier is certainly known for her style as well as her poker prowess.

Enjoy this PokerStars commercial featuring Isabelle Mercier (the recent Ante up for Africa champ, by the way).

You can play Mercier online, but first you need to sign up for a PokerStars account.