The one to add a PKR Sportsbook to its PKR Poker site. The PKR sportsbetting offering will be provided in cooperation with Global betting Exchange (GBE), including use of GBE’s new and highly sought-after software iBroker.

This is a novel twist or a prevailing trend happening now in which many online sportsbooks are starting to add online poker and casino games and tournaments to their offerings. And here comes a poker site looking to add a sportsbook.

Could you imagine having two windows on your screen, like when you’re multitabling, except only one of the windows is a poker game or tournament you’re playing; the other one is the real-time stats on one or more sporting events that you’ve bet on without ever leaving the poker room (or even getting up from virtual poker table). It’s an incredible pairing for anyone who loves to gamble.

Word on the upcoming PKR Sportsbook is that it should be launching in 2010 and you can expect it to have the same sort of revolutionary 3-D graphics that PKR Poker uses for its poker games.

First the milestone: At just about PKR’s 1st birthday, they hit 1 million players; at just about their 2nd birthday, they hit 2 million players; and this year they get to continue that tradition having surpasses 3 million players within one day of their 3rd birthday.

Now the bonus: It’s PKR Live III, the third installment of PKR’s singular live poker series each year. PKR Live III will take place at London’s Loose Cannon Club starting on November 20, and it will last for three days.

On Day 2 of the series, the PKR Poker Live 3 Main Event will take place, a $1,500 buy-in event with a 1st prize of $40,000. The player pool will be capped at 150 players. On Day 3 of the series, a PKR Bounty Tournament is scheduled, a $200 buy-in event with a guaranteed $30,000 prize pool, on top of additional cash bounties earned by knocking certain PKR pros out of the running.

Last year’s winner of the $20,000 main event grand prize was Philip Conneller, the features editor for Bluff Europe.

Also they have a new upgraded version of the 3d poker software over at PKR. If you haven’t seen it yet, you really should go check it out. It’s the latest in three-dimensional virtual online poker, with an impressively realistic Las Vegas feel surpassing all others.

The buy-ins for the 5 events vary between a $50 rebuy event and the $500 main event. All of the action gets kicked off on May 1st with a $200 buy-in; $30K guaranteed no limit hold’em tournament. The tournament series caps off on May 9th with the $500 buy-in; $30K guaranteed main event.

PKR is making the High Stakes Championship great value for everybody involved with $17,500 being added to the tournament series. First of all, PKR is adding $5000 to the $50 rebuy event that is taking place on Thursday May 7th, making this tournament a must play for all PKR players who can afford the buy-in.

On top of this PKR is also awarding a $12,500 WSOP prize package in their winner-takes-all tournament of champions. The top two finishers in each of the PKR High Stakes Championship events earn a seat in the tournament of champions and a chance to battle it out for this amazing first place prize. The big champion’s tournament takes place on Sunday May 17th, more than one week after the last High Stakes Championship event.

The PKR High Stakes Championship is meant for the players with a slightly larger bankroll than those of the PKR Small Stakes Championship, but this doesn’t mean the small stakes players can’t take a stab at entering any of these tournaments. PKR is running satellites to High Stakes Championship events from as little as $2.10 so players of all levels can have a shot at winning a High Stakes Championship tournament and subsequently the WSOP prize package.

Most of the smaller buy-in satellites are “lottery satellites” which means everyone goes all-in each hand until the seats have been won. Of course, there are other satellites where it takes a bit more skill to win your tournament seat.

If you have never played at PKR before, sign-up via pkrpokerreview links using a PKR bonus code when making your initial deposit in order to ensure that you receive the PKR bonus that is right for you.

Big Guaranteed Tourneys

Every Sunday the $50K guaranteed Sunday Classic with a buy-in of $71.50 is held at 2pm EST at PKR Poker. On the last Sunday of the month, though, the PKR Masters $100K guaranteed tournament replaces the Sunday Classic and offers a bigger payout for all participants. During the week you can still find some big guaranteed tournaments at PKR including “The Open” tournament which takes place every day at 2:30pm and boasts a guaranteed prize pool of $12.5K for a buy-in of $24. On Wednesdays “The Open” is replaced by the Wednesday Night Bounty Tournament. The Bounty Tournament guarantees $15K, plus some added value in the form of $100 bounties on PKR sponsored pros.

Terminator Bounty Tournaments

PKR’s terminator bounty tournaments are PKR’s own unique version of how a bounty tournament should be structured. In terminator tourneys 50% of each players buy-in goes to the tournament prize pool and 50% becomes a bounty on each players head. The unique thing about terminator tourneys is that when you knock a player out you only collect 80% of their bounty and the other 20% is added to your own bounty. This means that the later you play into the tournament the bigger the bounty payouts will be. The terminator tournaments have become very popular at PKR and you can play them both as sit and go tournaments and as schedule tourneys.

PKR Satellite Tournaments

PKR always holds a ton of satellite tournaments into their bigger guaranteed events. There are lottery satellites, where every player pushes all-in each hand until the seats have been won, and more normal satellites where you have to play well to ensure you seat. You can find both varieties of buy-ins for as little as $1 to most of the bigger events at PKR.

Rebuy Tournaments

PKR’s tournament schedule includes a lot of rebuy tournaments. Some of these tournaments are the normal rebuys where you are allowed to rebuy for the first hour, but PKR also has launched some unique “rebuy” tournaments called “second and third chance tournaments. In these tournaments you have the option to split your starting stack into two or three portions or just keep it as one big amount. If you choose to split your starting stack, then when you bust out you can start over with the other portion of your stack. The smartest way to play these tournaments would of course be to just play with your entire stack from the beginning, but I guess there may be some short stack specialists out there who may prefer to split their starting stack in these unique tournaments.

PKR’s tournament schedule is very fun and unique. You can always find a game to your liking and PKR is always cooking up new, fun ways to keep your tournament playing experience interesting. If you are considering trying out some of PKR’s tournaments, signup via PKRPokerReview using the best PKR bonus code when signing up in order to guarantee you get the bonus that is right for you.

So far there have been two issues of Stacks magazine – one released in the summer of 2008, and one released in the fall of 2008. The summer edition was the inaugural issue, and had 68 pages packed with poker content. There were a few articles that were very useful, and we’ll do a quick run down on what you can expect.

The first article that was interesting was an article on ClubPKR. This is PKR’s new loyalty program, and was something that many players were confused about. The article in the magazine fully explained the program, and had a cool chart that laid out the benefits each level of member receives. For example, Bronze members get special freerolls, monthly prize draws, pkr points booster, free tournament tickets, a birthday gift, and invitational tournaments.

Also, Stacked had a long article on the TV show High Stakes Poker, and talked about some of the biggest ever poker pots that were played on the show. In addition to that, there are some great strategy pieces, including a 7-page section on MTT strategy, and a 7-page section on SNG strategy.

At the moment, Stacked magazine is only mailed out to players who are Silver level ClubPKR members or higher. Not to worry though, each issue is added to the online Stacked collection so everyone, regardless of their ClubPKR status, can get all the articles and information.

Unique promotions like the Stacked magazine is what makes PKR a unique poker site, and they’ve had many other creative ideas in the past, such as their annual Oktoberfest tournament, and PKR TV, which is a TV broadcast that replays some of the biggest online tournaments at PKR.com.

Boasting a massive prize pool totalling over $260,000, Oktoberfest 2008 repeats last year’s inaugural festival but will offer almost double the size of the prizes with generous increases on the guarantee of every event.

“The future of online poker is here” – Poker Player … “It rocks!”- FHM
the most exciting thing that’s happened in the internet poker world…” – Bluff
“Online poker is about to take a giant leap forward” – Inside Edge

Following the success of the Super Series, Oktoberfest will feature a similar structure – twelve hot events set over as many days, capped off with the hugely popular ‘PKR Masters’ and the ‘Tournament of Champions’, which pits the best players of the series against each other for a cool $5,000 and bragging rights to champion status.

The events on offer at Oktoberfest are tailored to appeal to everyone with both speed and long running deep stack tournaments included in the schedule, in addition to popular Terminator and bounty tournaments. There are many ways in with a massive range of satellites on offer as well as lotteries to ensure everyone has a chance to book a seat to this fantastic series.

Last year’s festival was a huge success and this year’s will be bigger and better. PKR are planning to hit their biggest prize pool ever in The PKR Masters.

All final tables will be televised with the action broadcast to millions of televisions across Europe and also via youtube.com and PKR.TV – PKR.com’s very own web-based video channel.

The Hotshot Operator of the Year award is awarded to the online gaming operator that has made the biggest impact in 2007/2008 and shown the greatest promise for the future on a global scale. PKR Poker the 3d poker site secured the most votes to beat rivals Everest, Betsson and Betclick to the coveted prize. The award crowns a staggeringly successful year and firmly places PKR.com as a major player in the online gaming industry.

“The future of online poker is here” – Poker Player … “It rocks!”- FHM
the most exciting thing that’s happened in the internet poker world…” – Bluff
“Online poker is about to take a giant leap forward” – Inside Edge

PKR.com also received an honourable commendation in the Poker Operator of the Year category. The other nominees were industry stalwarts Party Gaming, Everest and 888.com, and the commendation alone is testament to PKR.com’s incredible achievement in a short period of time.

The award which not only considers our accomplishments over the last year, but also reflects PKR’s potential for the future. The honourable commendation capped off a great evening and to receive special mention and be recognised as such a big player in the online poker sector is a massive achievement.

The eGaming Review Awards are the best recognised and most prestigious online gaming awards in the UK. Judged by an independent panel of experts in the industry the awards are designed to recognise the best online operators in the business.

The fourth annual eGaming Review Awards ceremony took place on 19th September in Park Lane’s Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

Featuring an industry first ‘one a week, every week’ format, the ‘Road to Vegas’ will give players the chance to win a different World Series package every week. With a total of $200,000 in packages up for grabs, the groundbreaking move puts PKR.com players in pole position to book their places in World Series events ranging from $1,500 buy-in tournaments to the $10,000 Championships.

“The future of online poker is here” – Poker Player … “It rocks!”- FHM
the most exciting thing that’s happened in the internet poker world…” – Bluff
“Online poker is about to take a giant leap forward” – Inside Edge

At least 33 dream packages will be available through the weekly freerolls running at PKR.com. Players will be required to qualify for each weekly freeroll, with qualifying criteria changing from week to week. This innovative format means that serious players can target specific bracelet events, while players of varying bankrolls and ability are also offered a realistic chance to ‘viva Las Vegas’.

Marketing Director Simon Prodger added, “This is by far the biggest promotion ever offered by PKR.com and one of the largest World Series promotions in online poker history. Our ‘one a week, every week’ format opens the door for all players and we’d love nothing more than to be celebrating a PKR bracelet winner come next summer.”

Q&A with PKR Marketing Director Simon Prodger

Do all packages include a travel and accommodation allowance ?
“Yes, each package includes $1,500 for travel and accommodation expenses. Packages for the Main Event come with a $2,500 allowance.”

Can any PKR player enter ?
“Absolutely, this isn’t limited to just real money players or high rollers – every single PKR player will have the chance to win a seat at the 2009 World Series. The only thing we have to stipulate is that players must be aged over 21 by the time their chosen event starts.”

How many people will be in each week’s qualifying freeroll ?
“The number of people in each week’s qualifying freeroll will vary depending on the value of the package that’s up for grabs. For example, freerolls for packages at the lower end of the spectrum will have around 20 runners, while those for Main Event and Championship packages will have no more than 50 runners. We think this balance offers great value for everyone.”

What sort of things will I have to do to qualify for that freeroll ?

“It will largely depend on the package that’s up for grabs that week. For example, if we’re offering the chance to win a Pot Limit Omaha package, the qualifying criteria for that week will be based around Pot Limit Omaha play and so on. Each week will feature something different, from PKR point races to tournament ranking results, high hand jackpots to community participation.

There will also be freerolls to get into the weekly finals so that everyone gets a shot regardless.”

Why have you decided to change the criteria every week ?
“There are two main reasons behind changing the qualifying criteria each week; one is to keep the promotion fresh and interesting. But the second, equally as important factor is our desire to offer every player – regardless of ability, experience or budget – the chance to win a trip to the WSOP and represent Team PKR.”

Where will I be able to find details for each week ?

“Details of each week’s package and qualifying criteria will be made available on the PKR website.”

Can I choose the event I play in ?

“If there are multiple events that correspond to the package won, then absolutely. For example, players winning a package to play in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event can choose which $1,500 NLHE they play in. The only exception will be for players who win a seat at a Championship event, as these are one-offs.”

How can you offer packages when the 2009 World Series schedule hasn’t been announced yet ?

“Obviously we’re assuming that the 2009 schedule will feature a similar mix of events as the 2008 World Series. Should there be any material changes, we’ll look to amend the packages offered accordingly.”

Over 1.1 million players have signed up to PKR.com in the last 12 months alone, taking to total membership to almost 2 million. According to PokerScout.com, the respected industry monitoring service, this makes the next-gen site the fastest growing online poker room that does not accept US players, and the second fastest overall. This incredible growth was illustrated in July when PKR.com passed Cryptologic, Ladbrokes and Betfair to become the 15th busiest network worldwide for real money poker.

“The future of online poker is here” – Poker Player … “It rocks!”- FHM
the most exciting thing that’s happened in the internet poker world…” – Bluff
“Online poker is about to take a giant leap forward” – Inside Edge

The last year has seen PKR.com go from strength to strength. Key milestones include the launch of PKR TV, an hour long TV show that reaches a potential audience of over 15m across Europe, the introduction of the Club PKR loyalty programme and the publishing of Stacked magazine.

It has been another great year for PKR.com. Their continuing success has meant that PKR have surpassed all targets even though they set themselves high standards. The poker room has demonstrated they can compete with the best poker sites in the market.

To celebrate the occasion, PKR.com has drafted a fantastic programme of themed tournaments for its players. August 17th will boast Bounty tournaments all day with happy hour sessions where players earn twice as many PKR points. On top of this, three extra $500 freerolls will be added along with the exclusive ‘Trailblazer’s money added’ tournament which rewards the most loyal of players – beta testers who registered before the site launched in 2006.

The event is set to attract 25,000 poker enthusiasts who will participate in fun, free poker tournaments, pokers lectures by the best pro players in the UK and will be able to buy poker books and merchandise from the top names in poker. Produced in conjunction with Bluff Europe and title sponsor PKR, the event is the largest consumer poker show in Europe.

Check out our PRK Poker Review & Download PKR FREE using our PKR Bonus Codes

PKR are this year’s headline sponsors and will be hosting the Poker Dome which will see poker players battle it out in hourly tournaments. Simon Prodger, the Marketing Director of PKR commented … “London’s Leicester Square is one of the most famous attractions in the world and we are excited about sponsoring such a unique poker festival in this location. This year’s Poker in the Park is going to be even bigger and better than last year’s and, because it’s free to participate, it creates an interesting experience for all kinds of people passing through the heart of the city.”Michael Caselli, Editor-in-Chief of Bluff Europe, believes this year’s event will cement Poker in the Park’s reputation as the key event for raising awareness about the fun of poker … “Last year was the start of something special, with Poker in the Park demonstrating that London is one of the premiere cities in the world for poker. This year’s event will show why poker has become the global phenomenon it is today, and we’re looking forward to two days of poker madness.”Throughout the two day festival, the sharpest poker minds in the UK will be lecturing to players of all skill levels at the UltimateBet/ AbsolutePoker Poker Academy tent. Those attending include poker pros: Dave Devilfish Ulliott, Neil Channing, Marc Goodwin, Nik Persaud, Paul Jackson, as well as author Tony Holden, international celebrity and poker aficionado Montel Williams and one of the game’s newest talents, Liv Boeree.

Timetable of Seminars at Poker in the Park’s UltimateBet Poker Academy

Friday 15th August

17:00 Tony Holden – Gives a reading from his latest book, Bigger Deal
18:00 Ian Frazer – How to dominate short-handed games
19:00 Marc Goodwin – Insight into Omaha
20:00 Paul Jackson – Tells: Reading opponents through body language and other tales

Saturday 16th August

11:30 Liv Boeree – The beginner’s guide to No Limit Hold’em
12:30 Nik Persaud – The pro’s guide to online poker
13:30 Neil Channing – Cash games vs. Tournament poker
14:30 Dave Devilfish Ulliott – Table Image: Dominate the table using table talk
15:30 Liv Boeree – Pre-flop play: hand selection and playing position
16:30 Dr Tom Sambrook ­ Playing poker the professional way
17:30 Montel Williams ­ The future of poker and the International Poker League

Seminars range from the basics of what it takes to play your first game of poker to the pro’s hidden tips on body language, betting patterns and how to win at online poker. Seminars are free of charge and run 20-40 minutes each, with time left over for questions, photos and autographs with the pros.