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August was a great month for online tournaments, and
September is shaping up to be even bigger. Let's begin with a look at some of
our favorite poker rooms and see what satellites and big buy-in tourneys are
being offered this month.
PokerStars
The 4th Annual World Championship of Online Poker kicks off at PokerStars this
Sunday with the $500+30 entry, $800,000 Guaranteed No-Limit Hold'em event. For
the next two weeks, the WCOOP will offer one tournament a day with a
guaranteed prize pool of at least $150,000. There simply isn't a bigger event
anywhere on the net. You can still win your way into these tournaments through
satellites - check the
WCOOP FAQ for
more information.
Also running at PokerStars this month are satellite tournaments for the second
season of the European Poker Tour. The EPT season starts in Barcelona on the
16th of this month, and you can win your way in for as little as $5.50 through
a PokerStars satellite. Also currently available are satellites for
tournaments in London (9/30-10/2) and Baden 10/4-10/6). The prize package for
each of these tournaments is well over $6,000, including travel, lodging, and
tournament entry fees. Also worth a mention is that each of these tournaments
will be broadcast on throughout Europe on Eurosport and on the UK's fiveTV.
For more info on the EPT, you can check the official website.
Finally, PokerStars has organized two charity tournaments to benefit the
regions affected by Hurricane Katrina. The $5+0 no-limit freezeout will be
held September 12th at 9:30 PM ET, and the $20+0 no-limit freezeout will be
held September 14th at 9:30 PM ET. The prize pools will be matched 100% by
PokerStars, and all the money will be donated to the American Red Cross for
relief of the affected areas. Wil Wheaton - actor, writer, and member of Team
PokerStars - will be playing in each of these events, and will be giving
autographed books away to the players at each final table. PokerStars has an
excellent reputation for responding in times of crisis, and they continue to
show what they're made of with these two events.
Empire Poker
Empire Poker has run its TV Star tournaments regularly for some time, offering
entry into tournaments taped for television. This month's TV Star qualifiers
will receive a $17,000 prize package that includes entry into the WPT Bellagio
Five Diamond Classic in Las Vegas - one of the most prestigious tournaments on
the tour. Every Saturday this month, Empire will hold a $100+0 qualifier
tournament for the WPT event, with one seat being given away for every 170
entrants. While you can buy in to this qualifier directly, there are several
ways to win your way in for less. Multi-table qualifiers, awarding one seat in
the $100+0 Saturday tournament for every $100 in the prize pool, are available
daily for $10+1 (12:30 AM ET), $5+1 (7:30 PM ET), and $1+0 (5:30 PM ET).
Single-table SNG qualifiers run around the clock for $20+2, and multi-table
SNG qualifiers are available for $10+1.
UltimateBet
The premier offering from UltimateBet this month is its annual WPT Aruba
Classic event. The tournament on the southern Caribbean island kicks off on
September 26th, but you can still win your way in through UltimateBet
satellites. Super-satellites are now running 7 days a week, with buy-ins
ranging from $20+2 to $300+20, and satellites are to these tournaments are
running every day for as little as $3+0. 300 prize packages that include
hotel, travel, and tournament entry fees - worth $9000 - are being awarded,
and there are unlimited chances to win the $5200 tournament entry as long as
the satellites are still running. For the schedule of satellite tournaments,
visit UltimateBet's Aruba page here.
UltimateBet is also holding three tournaments to benefit the areas affected by
Hurricane Katrina, with all fees from the tournaments being sent to the
American Red Cross and earmarked for hurricane relief. While the site is
guaranteeing a minimum contribution of $10,000, they can send even more if
enough people sign up to play. What's more, Team UB members Phil Hellmuth,
Jr., and Russ Hamilton have offered to match the contributions 100% up to
$10,000. That's a lot of money headed to people who desperately need the help.
UltimateBet's hurricane relief tournaments are running on September 8th
($5+5), 9th ($20+5) and 10th ($150+150). Plenty of Team UB pros will be
playing with bounties on their heads, and players who make the final table of
each tournament will receive something special. Full information on the
UltimateBet hurricane relief tournaments can be found
here.
Part 2 of September Tournaments
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