5.000.000 Players And Counting At Pokerstars
Published: Friday, April 07, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
5.000.000 PLAYERS AND COUNTING AT POKERSTARS
Red letter day for Internet's second largest online poker site
March 29 was a red letter day for leading online poker site Poker Stars - the popular venue signed up its 5 millionth player.
It was a lucky occasion for the player, too - 35 year old chef George Draper of Las Vegas is new to online poker but chance has awarded him the sort of prizes that pokerheads dream about. Draper gets a generous sponsorship to play in two of the richest and most prestigious tournament in world poker.
Company spokesmen said that reaching the five-million player landmark illustrates the phenomenal rate of growth for PokerStars, and the online poker industry overall, in recent years. The company was launched in September 2001, and less than a year ago, had 2.5 million registered players. Since then, that number has doubled. PokerStars has found popularity amongst online poker players due to its wide diversity of games and limits, efficient customer support, sponsorship of major tournaments and events worldwide, and a close affiliation with the last three World Series of Poker champions.
Putting the numbers in perspective, a spokesman said that if the PokerStars community were a country, it would be the 112th largest in the world, ranking higher than half of the planet's nations. The PokerStars population is larger than the populations of Los Angeles and Dallas combined, he said.
Chris Welch, the Poker Stars group marketing director says, “Many people who might be intimidated at the thought of playing inside a [land] casino find that playing at PokerStars is a comfortable and convenient alternative. Millions of players from all walks of life who are living in many different countries have signed up at PokerStars because we make playing poker fun, exciting, and easy.”
What will the five millionth player get? He will receive a poker player’s dream prize: a World Series of Poker main event prize package, with an opportunity to win a record $10 million first prize. The winner will also receive an entry into the main event of the fourth annual World Championship of Online Poker, the world’s largest online poker tournament, with an estimated prize pool of $5 million.
On days when it is running at full throttle, PokerStars.com has over 100 000 players simultaneously on-site. That translates into tens of thousands of games and tournaments from which players can choose. By comparison, PokerStars has nearly 50 times more players and games than the world’s largest land-based poker room which has only 243 tables.
