Newsletter: Volume 3 - Issue 15

Five-A-Side Poker Championship

If you were to team up with four of your best poker playing friends to tackle an online tournament surely you would succeed!

SunPoker proudly gives you the opportunity to team up with your friends through a unique promotion…The Five-A-Side Poker Championships! A promotion where you’ll have a chance to create a team of friends to play and qualify your way to The Five A Side Poker Championship final and have a share of a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool!

Your teams will be made out of 5 players who will compete in MTT’s and accumulate points to their team according to their finishing position and just like a leader board, the more points you earn the higher your rank!

Registration

Registration is simple and as Captain you can enter your team either to the Gold League $30 +$5 or Silver League $5 + $1

Registration will begin on April 18th, and will be available for three weeks until May 8th, 2011. The following week (May 9th – May 12th) will be a final changes and organization period for all the teams.

Each player will choose his role in his team, and will register to his team in 3 steps:

The weekly tournaments will be divided to two leagues as shown in the following buy-ins:
The Five A Side Poker Championship Gold League: $30+$5.
The Five A Side Poker Championship Silver League: $5+$1.

Just like a FootBall League or the NBA your team will play its way through a series of tournaments making it all the way to the playoff where The Five A Side Poker Championship tournaments will be held on Monday and Thursday at 19:00 from May 16th until June 9th

AND YES we recognize MVP’S ALSO!

Each week we will choose the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and the Most Valuable Team (MVT) of the week according to their performance, from each league:

1. MVP: The player with the highest number of points accumulated in each week wins $300!
2. MVT: The team with the highest number of points accumulated in each week wins a massive $1,25.00

Here’s what you can expect as part of a winning team!

Don’t have a team player? NO PROBLEM

Players who do not have a team are able to register through a special general registration tournament in the lobby. These players will be teamed up on a “first to arrive first served“ level and will be automatically assigned with a role by iPoker.

Who says Poker isn’t a SPORT!

On your marks…get set…SHUFFLE AND DEAL!

http://www.sunpoker.com/promotions/promo_FiveASide.asp

Invite a Friend

Missing a friend or two on SunPoker that can help you win the $100,000 5 A Side Poker Championship?

Well it’s not to late to invite them to join you on the tables and the tournament! As a matter of fact, for every friend you get to join, we’ll credit you $100 and on top of that your friend will also earn $100!

For every friend you invite to join you on the tables at SunPoker, you’ll both earn cash bonuses… Once your friend starts to play in any real-money ring games or tournaments, the “refer a friend” bonus is deposited into both your accounts as he/she reaches the following milestones:

How does your friend get the $100?

As they pursue the Refer a friend milestone, they will be earning SunPoints that are worth cash; therefore the SunPoints that complete the milestone are kept for cash rewards. Not only that, but with their first deposit they automatically qualify for the 100% Welcome Deposit Bonus…and you guessed, those same points help clear the bonus!

Get Started

To get started it is important you follow these simple 1-2-3 Steps

1. Log onto your SunPoker Account
2. Select “Invite a Friend” option in the Cashier
3. Submit your friends email address through that sheet.

That’s all there is to it, once your friend registers an account with SunPoker he/she will be linked to your account and the credit process will begin as their gaming commences.

One important note to keep in mind please, your friend MUST register their account using the same email address that you invited them from.

There is no limit to the amount of friends you can invite to SunPoker, so open up that address book and start earning some extra cash!

Final package to DeepStack Open Cannes 2011

SunPoker players are on their way to Dublin for the 2011 Irish Open, but as we all know, opportunities to Land Based tournaments are particularly endless with this poker room!

So what is our next stop? DeepStack Open Cannes of course!

Dublin offers a city for the young and ready to party, but so too does the city of Cannes in the South of France! Along with its bars and night clubs, players can experience pure luxury, beauty and of course a city well known for the famous Cannes Film Festival!

SunPoker invites you to participate in the final Satellite on Monday April 18th 2011 at 20:30 Server time for your opportunity to win a €1,150.00 VIP Package to the DeepStack Open Cannes 2011 and enjoy the beauty France has to offer!

The final package winner will receive;

• €500 + €50 Buy In to the Main Event. 50,000 chips.
  All players are registered to day 1B, April 29th.
• €400 for 4 nights’ accommodation at the Gray d'Albion, April 28th – May 2nd, 2011.
• €15 for handling fees.
• €185 for flights and spending.

Be sure to secure your seat to the Satellite with a buy in of only €50 + €5! http://www.sunpoker.com/promotions/promo_DeepStackCannes.asp

We hope to be sipping champagne with you in Cannes in a couple of weeks!

Selbst back at NAPT final table

For the second straight year Vanessa Selbst has found her way to the final table of the NAPT Mohegan Sun final table. Selbst will enter the final table second in chips, trailing only Tyler Kenney as she continues her quest to repeat as the NAPT Mohegan Sun champion.

Joining Selbst at the final table is another former NAPT winner –at the 2010 Los Angeles Main Event– Joe Tehan. Tehan will enter the final table in the middle of the pack in terms of chips. Yet another familiar name to poker fans at the final table is Dan Shak, the former hedge fund manager turned poker player.

Here is a look at the eight final table members as well as their seating assignments for the NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Event:

Seat 1: Joe Tehan — 1,238,000
Seat 2: Thomas Hoglund, Jr. — 541,000
Seat 3: Dan Shak — 1,571,000
Seat 4: Vincent Rubianes — 1,711,000
Seat 5: Steve O’Dwyer — 1,032,000
Seat 6: Tyler Kenney — 3,021,000
Seat 7: Aaron Overton — 373,000
Seat 8: Vanessa Selbst — 2,249,000

Selbst won $750,000 for her victory last year, but after a huge drop in attendance –from 716 down to 387 this time around—first place prize-money has dropped to $450,000, with each player guaranteed at least $32,330 for an 8th place finish.

Source; www.pokernewsboy.com

This week I had a debate with a friend; Is No’ Limit better than Limit Hold’Em?

I believe No’Limit is much better and if Jack Strauss did also, then I'm the winner of this debate

"Limit poker is a science, but no-limit is an art. In limit, you are shooting at a target. In no-limit, the target comes alive and shoots back at you." Jack Strauss

Which do you prefer?

The Bluff Master

Everyone does it but very few do it well. Oh get your mind out of the gutter; we are taking poker here, bluffing at poker to be more precise! The ability to bluff is a refined skill, something that can tilt a game in your favor if used sparingly and at the right time.

In order to learn when exactly is the right time to bluff, first have to study the behaviors of the other players in the game. It is important to understand the betting habits of those at the table with you in order to execute a well timed bluff. First, establish yourself as a consistent player, show the others playing with you that you don't make a bad habit of raising when you are holding a pair of deuces or holding back and calling with a full house. Establish your table character so you can use your bluff effectively.

Once you feel you have established your betting identity at a given table and have a good read at the betting habits of others you are now ready for your first bluff. The two players you have marked as quick betters raise with their first bets while at the same time those you have marked as rocks or conservative betters have either called or folded leading to your ideal bluff scenario. Start off with a conservative raise as you are not trying to scare off the maniacs still in the game. If the quick betters once again raise you are now set to begin betting aggressively with the intent of either building the pot or scaring of those faint of heart.

At this point the knowledgeable players remaining in the game will either decide it is time to fold or will counter with a call. The novice player marked as a maniac will se too enthralled with the size of the pot to back out at this time which is exactly what you were hoping for.

The ideal bluff strategy is what is called a semi-bluff, where you may be holding a pair of low numbered cards that offer you a change at winning the pot against the maniac bluffers simply waiting for all the other players to fold.

Using a well executed bluff will also help you with your strong hands, as now the possibility of you bluffing has been shown to the other players. They may go deeper into a game with an average hand knowing there is the possibility you are playing another bluff. Use the bluff sparingly and you time at the table will be much more enjoyable and profitable!