PokerStars Breaks World Record (Update)

December 30, 2008 (InfoPowa News) — After all the hype surrounding its latest world record-breaking attempt, which included the news that registrations had reached the cap of 35,000 players a good day before the event started, it was almost an anticlimax to learn Sunday that PokerStars.com had achieved its aim of 35,000 players in action simultaneously … almost, as this is a remarkable feat by any standards.
 
Today, the Guiness World Book of Records entry for most poker players on one site, in action, at one time is held by PokerStars after an outstanding turnout that showcased both its pull and technological capacity. The fact that the maximum 35,000 entries to the $11 buy-in, $500,000 prize pool event had been achieved by early Saturday morning speaks to the wide appeal of both the game and the appeal of the giant site.
 
The biggest poker tournament in the world ran for 9.5 hours, with player Stan34Powa eventually surviving to take the top prize of $30,000.  
 
The event completely overturned the last record set by PokerStars, which took place in July 2007 and featured a $100,000 prize pool that pulled in 20,000 players.
 
In the latest record breaker, the money bubble ran very deep — down to the 8,750th player — with the payouts structured like this:
 
1. 30,000
2. 20,000
3. 15,000
4. 10,000
5. 7,500
6. 5,000
7. 3,500
8. 2,500
9. 2,000
10. 1,500
11-15. 1,150
16-20. 850
21-30. 700
31-40. 600
41-50. 500
51-70. 400
71-100. 300
101-150. 225
151-200. 175
201-300. 150
301-400. 125
401-500. 100
501-700. 90
701-1000. 80
1001-1500. 70
1501-2000. 60
2001-2500. 50
2501-3000. 40
3001-4000. 35
4001-5000. 30
5001-6000. 26
6001-7250. 22
7251-8750. 20
 
By way of comparison, the largest ever World Series of Poker live tournament in 2006 attracted a total of 8,773 entries — only a quarter of this Sunday's massive online turnout.
 
Poker ace and Team Poker Stars pro Daniel Negreanu probably summed up the continuing success story that is PokerStars.com when he said: "No other site brings the level of excitement, skill and challenge that poker players crave."
 
Rounding off a very busy weekend for the poker website, the Sunday Millions also saw a record-breaking player turnout. The regular Sunday Million attracted a total of 16,260 players, generating a record prize pool of $3.2 million — well over the boosted guarantee amount of $2.5 million underwritten by the site. The cash extended down to the 2,475th player, and the winner of the event, Swedish player Ip_SakiSaki, took home a $331,378 main prize. The six-figure payouts went down as far as the fourth finalist in the giant event.