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POKERSTARS.NET LAUNCH APPT SEASON THREE WITH THE ‘MACAU SUMMER POKER FESTIVAL’

PokerStars.net APPT Season Three Looks Set to Break Asia’s Poker Tour Records
ISLE OF MAN, UK JULY 23 2009 – PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site with over 25 million
registered players, today announced the schedule of the ‘PokerStars.net APPT Macau Summer Festival of
Poker.’ This event marks the start of the hotly-anticipated PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Season 3.
With five stops in five months, the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) remains Asia’s largest and richest poker
tour in terms of both player participation and prize pools.
The PokerStars.net APPT Macau Festival of Poker takes place August 25-30, 2009 at the luxurious Grand
Lisboa Casino, home to the PokerStars Macau Poker Room – the largest poker room in continental Asia. The
Festival of Poker will consist of 20 events, including the $40,000 HKD ($5,200 USD) buy-in Main Event and a
prestigious ‘High Roller’ event with a buy-in of $88,800 HKD ($11,500 USD). There will be a number of
preliminary and side events in a wide range of buy-ins, such as the $4,000 HKD ($500 USD) NLH Knockout
Bounty Tournament, the $1,500 HKD ($200 USD) NLH Turbo Shoot-out and a $2,500 HKD ($320 USD) 6-
Handed Fixed Limit Hold’em Tournament. See the full schedule below, or visit
www.appt.com/tournaments/macau/ for more details.
“I’m pleased to see the sport of tournament poker continue to grow in Asia” said Team PokerStars Pro and
Poker World Champion Joe Hachem “I played in the first APPT Macau in 2007 when PokerStars planted the
seeds of No-Limit Texas Hold’em poker culture in Macau, and it’s been incredible watching that legacy take
root and bloom. There are now hundreds of local players, cash games running 24/7 and tournaments available
every week at the PokerStars Macau Poker Room. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next World Champion comes
from Macau or elsewhere in China.”
In Season 2, The PokerStars.net APPT Macau generated the biggest prize pool recorded for a poker event in
Asia, more than $12.6 million HKD ($1.62 million USD). Edward Sabat of the United States bested a record
field of 538 players to take the first prize of $3.5 million HKD ($453,851 USD). This year the APPT expects to
beat its own records, with more players and a prize pool of more than $15.5 million HKD ($2,000,000 USD).
Jeffrey Haas, President of the PokerStars.net APPT, said: “This season’s APPT is set to be even bigger than
Season 2 in terms of both number of participants and prize pools. This has been made possible by continued
enthusiasm for the tour right across the region, with amazing levels of participation. As poker culture continues
to grow in Asia Pacific and more extraordinary players emerge on the scene, they tell us how excited they are
to match their skills against players from around the world to win the prestigious poker title of APPT Champion.
We will continue bringing together vast numbers of poker players at many experience levels, giving them the
greatest poker experiences, in some incredible places and constantly exceeding their expectations.”
The PokerStars.net APPT will make stops in Seoul, Auckland and Cebu in the Philippines before moving on to
Sydney for the Grand Final in December. Increased tournament capacities will enable the forthcoming tour to
build on the success of Season 2 which attracted a total 1,772 players and created a total prize pool of
$38,736,076.49 HKD ($4,998,268 USD).
Last year, the best poker players from around the globe played at APPT events – including Team PokerStars
Pros Joe Hachem, Lee Nelson, Isabelle Mercier, Barry Greenstein, Hevad Khan, Chad Brown and Player of
the Year Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, as well as Johnny Chan, John Juanda, Scotty Nguyen, Grant Levy, Men
“The Master” Nguyen, Eric Assadourian, Nam Le and Liz Lieu.
Joining the professionals will be a host of players from across Asia Pacific and the rest of the world, many of
whom will have won their way to the event via free online tournaments at PokerStars.net. Satellites for APPT
Macau are running on PokerStars now.
PokerStars.net APPT Macau Summer Poker Festival
Sat 15-Aug
14:15 – Satellite to 100K Guarantee $550
18:00 – No Limit Hold’em – $100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool $2,500
Sun 16-Aug
14:15 – No Limit Hold’em w/ Re-buys – $20,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool $500
17:00 – Satellite Main Event Phase 2 $900
19:00 – Satellite Main Event Phase 3 $4,200
Mon 17-Aug
12:15 – Satellite Main Event Phase 2 $900
14:15 – No Limit Hold’em $1,000
Tue 18-Aug
12:15 – Satellite Main Event Phase 2 $900
14:15 – No Limit Hold’em $1,500
Wed 19-Aug
12:15 – Satellite Main Event Phase 2 $900
14:15 – Knock-Out Bounty No Limit Hold’em – $500 cash for every player you eliminate $2,000
18:00 – Satellite Main Event Phase 3 $4,200
Thurs 20-Aug
14:15 – Free to Enter Mega Satellite w/ $500 Re-buys – 1 MAIN EVENT SEAT
GUARANTEED $0
18:00 – APPT Macau Charity Event w/ max 2 Re-buys – $50,000 added value prizes $1,000
Fri 21-Aug
14:15 – No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack $1,500
18:00 – Satellite Main Event Phase 3 $4,200
Sat 22-Aug
12:15 – Mega Satellite to 10k $2,150
15:30 – No Limit Hold’em Day 1 – $500,000 GUARANTEED Prize Pool $10,000
18:00 – Satellite Main Event Phase 3 $4,200
Sun 23-Aug
12:15 – No Limit Hold’em Day 2
14:15 – Terrence Chan Limit Hold’em Tournament 6 handed $2,500
18:00 – Satellite Main Event Phase 3 $4,200
Mon 24-Aug
12:15 – Satellite Main Event Phase 3 $4,200
14:15 – Turbo Shoot-out No Limit Hold’em $1,500
16:30 – Satellite Main Event Phase 3 $4,200
21:00 – APPT Macau Welcome Party
Tue 25-Aug
12:15 – APPT Macau Main Event Day 1 Flight 1 $40,000
15:00 – No Limit Hold’em $4,000
Wed 26-Aug
12:15 – APPT Macau Main Event Day 1 Flight 2 $40,000
15:00 – No Limit Hold’em 7-Handed Event $5,000
18:00 – Last Chance Mega Satellite to Main Event $4,200
Thu 27-Aug
12:15 – APPT Macau Main Event Day 1 Flight 3 $40,000
16:00 – Knock-Out Bounty No Limit Hold’em – $1,000 cash for every player you eliminate $4,000
18:00 – Ladies Event No Limit Hold’em $1,500
Fri 28-Aug
12:15 – APPT Macau Main Event Day 2
15:00 – No Limit Hold’em Teams Event $5,000
18:00 – Mega Satellite to High Roller Event $9,400
Sat 29-Aug
12:15 – APPT Macau Main Event Day 3
14:15 – APPT Macau High Rollers Event Day 1 $88,800
15:00 – No Limit Hold’em $2,000
18:00 – Satellite to APPT Seoul w/ Re-buys $500
Sun 30-Aug
12:15 – APPT Macau Main Event Final Table
13:00 – APPT Macau High Rollers Event Day 2
14:15 – No Limit Hold’em w/ Re-buys $1,000
18:00 – Mega Satellite to APPT Seoul $4,000
All amounts in above table are in HKD $
PokerStars.net APPT Season Three Schedule
EVENT VENUE CITY DATES BUY-IN CAP
APPT Macau Grand Lisboa Casino Macau August 25-30 40,000 HKD (5,160 USD) 700
APPT Seoul 7-Luck Casino Seoul September 17-20 3,000 USD 250
APPT Auckland Skycity Casino Auckland October 12-15 3,250 NZD (2,050 USD) 350
APPT Philippines Shangri-la Mactan Resort Cebu October 14-19 100,000 PHP (2,150 USD) 300
APPT Sydney Star City Casino Sydney December 1-6 6,300 AUD (4,920 USD) 750

POKERSTARS SHATTER GUINNESS WORLD RECORD

PokerStars.com Breaks ‘Largest Online Poker Tournament’ Guinness World Record
ISLE OF MAN, UK, JULY 21 2009 – PokerStars.com, the world’s largest online poker site, has smashed its
own world record for hosting the ‘LARGEST ONLINE POKER TOURNAMENT’, as officially certified by the
Guinness Book of World Records*. The previous World Record was set by PokerStars.com on December 28,
2008 when 35,000 players took to the tables. On Sunday July 19, 2009, PokerStars.com held an online
tournament that had a total opening field of 65,000 players – shattering the old World Record by a massive
30,000 players.
Players from 155 countries around the world came together to play in the event which had a buy-in of just $1,
but boasted a $130,000 guaranteed prize pool. 16,250 players cashed in the tournament, with the top prize of
$13,000 going to ‘004 license’ from South Carolina, USA.
“Having played at many other online poker sites, I’m very glad I settled on PokerStars as the only site I play on.
PokerStars gives all players, even us part time and low star rated players an equal chance to win. They have
numerous and really well run tournaments.” said ‘004 license’ after his win on Sunday.

POKERSTARS DOMINATES THE WSOP ONCE AGAIN

Over 1,100 Main Event Players, 2 Bracelets, 113 Cashes and the Party of the Year
LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 16, 2009 – A total of 6,494 players entered the tournament creating a total prize pool
of $61,043,600; but only the final nine remain. PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room, once again
had a dominating presence in Las Vegas throughout the 2009 World Series of Poker $10,000 No Limit
Hold’em Main Event.
PokerStars provided over 1,826 seats to the WSOP Main Event in 2009 with close to 1,000 of those players
accepting the challenge and playing in the event. PokerStars also sponsored a number of celebrities and
professional poker players into the Main Event, bringing the total number of PokerStars players to 1,100 -
around one fifth of the field. Some 113 PokerStars players cashed in the event, earning well over $7 million.
PokerStars sponsored player Kevin Schaffel of Coral Springs, Florida had the best performance of the group,
and will return in November for the final table and a shot at winning $8.5 million, the WSOP Main Event
Championship title and coveted gold bracelet.
“This is the largest land-based event in poker,” said 2003 World Series of Poker Champion and Team
PokerStars Pro member Chris Moneymaker. “It makes sense that the largest online poker site in the world has
more players competing than any other site. Every year PokerStars players show why they are the best at the
WSOP. I expect this year to be no different.”
Other PokerStars players that finished well in the Main Event include Team PokerStars Pros Dennis Phillips
(45th place), 2008 WSOP Champ Peter Eastgate (78th place), Noah Boeken (96th place), Bertrand ‘ElkY’
Grospellier (122nd place) and actor Lou Diamond Phillips (186th place). Hall of Fame pitcher Orel Hershiser,
actors Jason Alexander, Marlon Wayans and NBA players John Salley and Jordan Farmar also wore
PokerStars at the main event. Alexander was among the chip leaders during day two and Farmar made a
deep run, but neither made the money.
Click here for Team PokerStars Pro and 2008 WSOP Final Tablist Ylon Schwartz comments on this year’s final
table; http://www.pokerstars.tv/movies/7HT/wsop-2009-ylon-on-final-feelings.html
Outside of the main event, Team PokerStars Pros had myriad successes during the World Series. Poker
legend Daniel Negreanu had the most cashes – a total of eight – including 2nd place in the $ 2,500 Limit
Hold’em Six Handed event. Barry Greenstein cashed seven times, Alex Kravchenko six and Vanessa Rousso
four. Angel Guillen, a member of Team PokerStars Pro Mexico won the first Team PokerStars Pro bracelet of
the 2009 WSOP, and only the second bracelet Mexico has ever won, when he took down the $2k NLHE event
for $530,548. Guillen’s win came only ten days after he was runner-up in the $2,500 NLHE event; his total
winnings of over $800k made him the most financially successful member of the team this year.
Other Team successes included Tom McEvoy’s victorious win in the WSOP Champions Invitational event, EPT
founder John Duthie’s runner-up place in the $10k event, Chad Brown’s third place in the $10k NLHE event,
JC Alvarado’s 5th place in the $10k PLO and Ylon Schwartz coming third in the $ 2,500 Mixed Limit/No Limit
Hold’em tournament. Greg Raymer won the single biggest prize – $774.927 for his third place in the $40k
NLHE event, while Jason Mercier, who has just joined Team PokerStars Pro, won his first ever bracelet in the
$1,500 PLO event.
“PokerStars players were very successful this year,” said 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion and Team
PokerStars Pro Peter Eastgate. “Everyone kept cashing left and right. This is the best time of the year for
poker and PokerStars players.”
For very many PokerStars qualifiers in Vegas, the highlight of their trip to Vegas was not at the Rio and nothing
to do with poker. As well as winning their seats, accommodation and spending money, they were also the
guests of honour at the most spectacular party of the year and treated to a mesmerizing performance from hiphop
superstar Nelly. For more footage from the PokerStars Party please see:

http://www.pokerstars.tv/movies/7H6/wsop-2009-the-vegas-party-red-carpet-1.html

For a full recap of PokerStars at the 2009 World Series of Poker, go to www.pokerstarsblog.com or see
incredible footage of all the events at www.pokerstars.tv

NELLY ROCKS POKERSTARS.NET VEGAS PARTY

Sports stars and celebrities join PokerStars players at the biggest party in Sin City
LAS VEGAS, USA, JULY 10, 2009 – PokerStars.net, the world’s largest poker site, hosted the biggest
party of World Series at Rain Nightclub in the Palms Hotel and Casino resort in Las Vegas.
A host of celebrities from the worlds of sports, entertainment and poker joined with over one thousand
PokerStars players to watch a sensational live performance by hip-hop superstar, Nelly. Stars including
Jordan Farmar of the LA Lakers, WWE star Torrie Wilson, along with actors Jason Alexander and Lou
Diamond Phillips, joined World Series of Poker Champions Peter Eastgate, Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer
and Chris Moneymaker on a glittering red carpet.
Throughout the party at the exclusive Rain nightclub, PokerStars WSOP qualifiers mingled with
members of Team PokerStars Pro including poker legends such as Daniel Negreanu and Barry
Greenstein, as well as up and coming stars including ElkY, Dario Minieri and recent bracelet winner and
new PokerStars signing, Jason Mercier.
PokerStars VIP guests mixed with disco stilt-walkers and candy girls whilst podium dancers performed
around the arena. Aerialists suspended high above the packed dance floor kept the crowd entertained
before Nelly took to the stage and performed an epic set that spanned his greatest hits and showcased
new material.
With a packed guest list, huge crowds and a live performance by Nelly, all following last year’s stellar
appearance by Dita Von Teese, PokerStars has once again proven that not only does it provide more
players than anyone else to the World Series of Poker, but it also throws the best party in Las Vegas.

POKERSTARS WELCOMES MARCEL LUSKE

Isle of Man, UK – JUNE 30, 2009: PokerStars (www.pokerstars.com) the world’s largest online poker
site, has announced a new addition to Team PokerStars Pro after signing Marcel ‘The Flying Dutchman’
Luske. The highly experienced Dutch poker pro, who won the European Poker Awards ‘Life Time
Achievement Award’ in 2008, has had a long and successful professional poker career, with tournament
cashes in virtually every country on the globe.
Luske is widely known in Europe for his distinctive and stylish dress sense, but he is also an incredibly
sharp poker player and was ranked the number one poker player in Europe in 2001 and 2003 at the
European Poker Awards.
It was not until the 2004 World Series of Poker however that Luske attained worldwide poker stardom,
when he came second in a Stud Event and then finished tenth in the WSOP Main Event. With an evenkeeled
temper and uncanny ability to read his opponents, he continued to excel in 2005 and 2006,
earning a coveted championship title at the Bellagio’s Five Star World Poker Classic.
Luske not only has a reputation as one of poker’s most skilled players, he is also one of the sport’s most
popular and respected faces. With his friendly personality, gracious demeanour, positive attitude and
genuine kindness, he is always a welcomed player in any card room.
During 2007 and 2008, Luske devoted himself to founding the ‘Federation Internationale de Poker
Association’ (FIDPA) aiming to standardise the rules of poker. Despite the demands of his new role, he
still managed to make two final tables at the 2008 WSOP in Omaha Hi-Lo events. At the ‘European
Poker Awards 2008’ at the Aviation Club in Paris, he received the ‘Life Time Achievement Award’.
Today, ’The Flying Dutchman’ has spread his wings to take on a number of projects – in addition to
representing PokerStars worldwide. This includes several charity projects, television work and even
music recordings. With his debut performance of ’The Poker Song’ at Bluff Magazine’s 2006 WSOP
Party, Luske’s childhood dream of becoming a singer ultimately came true and he still regularly performs
at poker events and card room grand openings.
Please see http://www.pokerstars.com/team-pokerstars/ for more details about Team PokerStars Pro.

JASON MERCIER JOINS TEAM POKERSTARS PRO

Isle of Man, UK – JUNE 30, 2009 – PokerStars.com, the world’s largest online poker site, has welcomed
Jason Mercier, a 22-year-old poker pro from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, into the elite Team PokerStars Pro.
Jason “treysfull21″ Mercier, already a PokerStars SuperNova Elite, has proved he’s a force to be reckoned
with on the live poker circuit with over $3.2 million in live cashes to his name since his first major
tournament appearance at the 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
Many of his biggest victories have been gained on the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour circuit and
only a few weeks ago he won his first World Series of Poker bracelet when he took down the $1,500 Pot
Limit Omaha event.
“Becoming a member of Team PokerStars Pro means a lot to me. I’m so excited to be playing for the site I
first started playing on. I feel like this solidifies my standing as one of the top poker players’ around.” said
Mercier.
Mercier first came to the attention of the international poker community when he took down the Season
Four PokerStars EPT San Remo event for $1,372,893 after winning his seat via a steps satellite on
PokerStars. Only a few months later, he finished sixth at the PokerStars EPT Season Five event in
Barcelona, earning $324,946, and the following month he cemented his growing reputation by winning the
PokerStars EPT London £1 Million Showdown High Roller tournament for £516,000 ($944,847). Playing
against some of the best live tournament players in the world, Mercier bested an 85-strong field and tore
apart a final table that included poker greats such as John Juanda, Scotty Nguyen, David Benyamine and
Team PokerStars Pro Isabelle Mercier.
Mercier has had a superb run at the World Series of Poker this year with four cashes so far. On June 1, the
young American beat 808 players in the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event for $237,415.
Jason first started playing poker when he was 15, and was introduced to online poker while he was
studying at college to be a Math teacher. After a successful run playing No Limit Hold’em cash games, he
decided to play poker full time, multi-tabling $2/4 and $3/6 no-limit Hold’em.

2008 WORLD CHAMPION PETER EASTGATE AND RUNNER-UP IVAN DEMIDOV TO STAGE UNIQUE, HISTORIC RE-MATCH

ISLE OF MAN, UK, JUNE 23, 2009 – World Series of Poker Main Event champion and Team PokerStars Pro
Peter Eastgate is to take on his 2008 opponent – fellow team member Ivan Demidov, in a unique heads-up
charity tournament held online at PokerStars.
When the two first clashed last November, there was over $9 million in prize money at stake; the final table
took well over 15 hours making it the longest Main Event final table in WSOP history.
Now, only days before the 2009 Main Event kicks off, the two will face-off against each other again, but this
time they’ll be slugging it out for charity.
The match takes place on PokerStars, June 26 at 18:00 ET, and will replicate the exact same circumstances
under which the two pros played in 2008. Eastgate, from Odense in Denmark, will start with 80,300,000 in
chips, while Demidov from Moscow, Russia will start with 56,600,000. The blinds will be set at 120,000 /
240,000, with a 30,000 running ante.
In the 2008 final, Demidov managed to snatch the chip lead early on, but lost it again when his jack-high was
beaten by Eastgate’s queen-high. The action then reached Level 39, with a big blind of one million chips – the
biggest blind level in the history of the WSOP. Demidov never recovered the chip lead, and after 15 hours and
39 minutes of play, Eastgate was crowned the youngest ever world champion.
The two pros are excited about the re-match, which will see $10,000 go to one of their chosen charities.
Eastgate is playing for the Danish Refugee Council and Demidov is playing for The Hospice Charity Fund
“Vera” INN.
This is the first time that a major live contest like the WSOP final has ever been “re-played” on PokerStars, and
is likely to prove a huge draw. PokerStars players can watch the match live on the PokerStars client.

POKERSTARS UNVEILS $40 MILLION PRIZE POOL FOR 2009 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OF ONLINE POKER

ISLE OF MAN, UK, JULY 2, 2009 – The PokerStars.com World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP)
returns on September 3, 2009 for its eighth year. The $40 million guaranteed prize pool – $10 million more than
last year’s tournament series – makes it the biggest online poker tournament series in the world. Players from
all over the world will be competing to become World Champions, winning millions in cash prizes and picking
up the much-coveted WCOOP gold bracelets.
PokerStars have taken into account feedback from the poker player community when creating the schedule,
with each WCOOP event promising a huge guaranteed prize pool, with many exceeding $1 million. There will
be a total of 45 events covering a wide range of poker variants including Hold’em, Omaha, Stud, Razz,
HORSE and 2-7 Draw. There are eight brand new events this year including the $320 FL Badugi, $530 Heads
Up PL Omaha and big ante NL Hold’em events.
Last year a total of 22,873 unique players from 119 countries competed in the 33 event tournament series, and
PokerStars awarded a grand total of $39,958,000 in prize money. The Main Event World Champion ‘ckingusc’
won more than $1.2million. Poker player ‘liberace’ was the biggest overall cash winner, taking home
$1,377,179, while ‘thedonator’ made the most cashes – making the money in 10 of the 33 events.
Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu said “There are hundreds of exciting tournaments all year round but
nothing compares to the [PokerStars.com] WCOOP – it’s the ‘must play’ event of the year for any poker player.
Last year over 20,000 players came together from across the world to compete in the largest ever online poker
event – for their chance to become a World Champion.”
The WCOOP is hosted exclusively by the world’s largest poker room, PokerStars.com, and will run across 18
days from September 3 – 21, 2009 starting with the $215 buy-in NL Hold’em tournament. The series will
conclude with the two day, $10k guaranteed NL Hold’em Main Event on September 20, 2009.
Team PokerStars Pro had a great overall team success at last year’s PokerStars.com WCOOP – winning a
combined total of over $1.5m. Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier netted a total of $407,285 with
cashes in the NL Hold’em Triple Shootout, 6-max Re-buy events, Main Event and a second place finish in the
NL Hold’em High Roller – Gavin Griffin came fourth and Vanessa Rousso fifth in the same event. Chris
Moneymaker made two final tables, in the High-Roller NL Hold’em and the PL Omaha [1R1A], while André
Akkari was also on form with a second place finish in the $10,300 HORSE Event for $200,000.
“The [PokerStars.com] WCOOP is my favourite event – anyone can play at anytime, anywhere, with
tournaments running throughout the day. For millions of players, it’s the ultimate poker championship and
everyone has the chance to become a World Champion!” said Team PokerStars Pro and runner up in the 2007
WCOOP Main Event, Vanessa ‘LadyMaverick’ Rousso.
Players can qualify for WCOOP events via PokerStars satellites which will be available in a range of low-stake
buy-in’s that mean everyone has a chance to qualify, and win an event!

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