Pokerstars Breaks Record with 65,000 Player Turnout

Published on July 19th, 2009 8:07 pm EST

Earlier today, Pokerstars once again broke the record for "Largest Online Poker Tournament".

65,000 players turned out for the $1 ($130k Guaranteed) tournament on Pokerstars, which allowed the company to hold off a strong challenge from Full Tilt Poker.

A few weeks ago, Full Tilt Poker announced that they would be attempting to beat the 35,000 player record that was held by Pokerstars (the record was set on December 28th, 2008). This was going to be a part of their "Full Tilt Poker Five" promotion.

Pokerstars, not wanting to lose the record and their place in the Guinness Book of World Records, quickly sprang into action.

The online poker behemoth announced that they would also be attempting to best their old record. Not only that, but they would be attempting to break their old record on the same day that Full Tilt Poker was making their attempt.

50,000 players turned out for Full Tilt Poker's record-breaking attempt - however, Pokerstars was able to secure a turnout of 65,000 players, which allowed them to hang on to their record. For some reason, Full Tilt Poker decided to put a 50k player cap on their attempt, even though they knew that Pokerstars was running a competing tournament with a lower buy-in.

While Pokerstars managed to keep their place in the Guinness Book of World Records, they did so with a much smaller buy-in tournament ($1) than Full Tilt Poker ($5). It makes you wonder if Full Tilt Poker is going to attempt to break the record again, but with a tiny buy-in this time (say, 10 cents).

Regardless of the outcome today, many micro-stakes players were given a chance to dramatically increase the size of their bankrolls, which is always a good thing. Full Tilt Poker added a whopping $250k to their prize pool (for a total of $500k in prize money), while Pokerstars added $65k (for a total of $130k in prize money).

One lucky player on Full Tilt Poker will take down $45,000 for winning "The Record Breaker" later today. Not bad for a $5 investment.

It should be interesting to see if Full Tilt Poker attempts to break the record again. I don't really see the point - Pokerstars has a much larger player base, and they are obviously not going to give up the record without a fight.



--

Filed Under: Online Poker Rooms