PartyPoker Introduces Monthly $1 Million Guaranteed, by Tom Jenkins - Poker News Daily - 17th January 2009

Beginning on Sunday, February 1st, PartyPoker will host a $640 buy-in $1 Million Guaranteed tournament once per month. Aptly called the Monthly Million, it will take place at 17:45 GMT on the first Sunday of every month. Qualifiers start as low as $1 and are running constantly on one of the largest online poker rooms that does not accept U.S. players.

A PartyPoker spokesperson explained in a press release distributed on Friday, “With $1,000,000 up for grabs in the Monthly Million, the first Sunday of every month is definitely not a day of rest at PartyPoker.com.” The tournament utilizes a Championship blind structure. For $1, players can enter rebuys that feed into either a $70 Monthly Million Qualifier with 18 seats guaranteed or a $35 Super Satellite Saturday with 25 seats guaranteed. Alternately, on Fridays, PartyPoker players can take advantage of a $55 buy-in tournament that doles out at least 30 seats into the Monthly Million. Country specific freerolls and points qualifiers are additional ways to enter, so check out the online poker room’s tournament lobby for more information.

Currently, PartyPoker’s premier tournament is the $300,000 Guaranteed, which takes place every Sunday at 17:45 GMT. The buy-in for the event is $215 and it will likely be replaced by the Monthly Million on the first Sunday of each month. Last week’s $300,000 Guaranteed was taken down by Rev_Hwy61, who bested a field of 1,451 entrants en route to a $60,000 first place payday. The turnout meant that the event had a $9,800 overlay, which occurs when the guaranteed prize pool of a tournament exceeds its actual prize pool. Finishing as the runner up was HOTEL_, who pocketed $30,000. Others who landed atop the field included paskwal (third place for $20,700), DoiNW8BeTs (fourth place for $16,350), Merseylad (fifth place for $13,800), Sonygolf (sixth place for $10,350), og1512 (seventh place for $7,950), RAGEUNIT22 (eighth place for $5,250), Poortwacht3r (ninth place for $4,050), and BrngMrRssns (tenth place for $2,850).

PartyPoker recently launched the Palladium Lounge for members who generate more than 5,000 points in a calendar month. Perks include 24 hour customer service, exclusive promotions, and additional deposit methods. Palladium Lounge Elite is available for players who accrue 75,000 points per quarter and 300,000 points per year. Benefits of Elite status include “snowboarding trips and adventure getaways” as well as the chance to “represent PartyPoker.com in televised events.”

Its parent company, Party Gaming, is traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol “PRTY.” In December, one of its co-founders, Anurag Dikshit, admitted to violating the Wire Act of 1961 in a New York court room. He agreed to shell out $300 million to the U.S. Government in three installments. Dikshit may also face up to two years in jail, although a sentencing hearing is not scheduled until December of next year. In the process, Dikshit sent shares of Party Gaming climbing, as his actions may serve to clear the air legally of any wrongdoing by the company in the eyes of the U.S. Government. Party Gaming was one of several publicly traded companies to withdraw from the U.S. market following the 2006 passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

According to PokerScout.com, which tracks online poker room traffic, PartyPoker ranks as the fourth busiest worldwide by the number of cash game players, boasting a seven day running average of 4,500. It trails only PokerStars (23,200), Full Tilt Poker (9,900), and the iPoker Network (5,700) in that department. The iPoker Network, which like PartyPoker does not accept U.S. customers, is owned by Playtech.

Recently, PartyPoker added Quick Seat and table preview features to its lobby. Players also now have the ability to open similar tables to the ones they’re playing on without having to visit the lobby. Tiling and manual resizing of tables are also available. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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