PokerStars, which recently was rumored to have made a purchase offer for Full Tilt Poker, has released its schedule for MicroMillions II, a huge online tournament series with low-stakes events. Starting at just $0.11, the events are apt for those looking to play poker with a small bankroll. Though the buy-ins for the events are small, the prizes accompanying them are big. The guaranteed prize pool in the events runs into millions of dollars. With 100 events taking place between the 12th and 22nd of July, there are plenty of opportunities for players to win. PokerStars will run the events 24/7 during the tournament.
PokerStars Events and Formats
The tournament series will feature a number of Texas Hold’em events, like No Limit Hold’em. It will also have poker variants like Omaha (PLO), HORSE, Draw, Stud (Hi-Lo and Fixed Limit), Razz, Badugi, Triple Stud and 2-7 Triple Draw. They will be offered in a number of formats, some of which are – hyper-turbo, turbo, shootout, super-knockout, ante-up and heads-up. In addition, the online poker room will conduct a few events in some of their special formats – Sunday Storm special edition, Sunday Spark special edition, Sunday splash special edition and Big Game. The lowest guaranteed prize pool is $5,000, and the highest is $1,000,000, which accompanies the No Limit Hold’em main event. The buy-ins for all events, except the Main Event, range between $0.11 and $11. For the Main Event, players will have to post a $22 buy-in.
Guaranteed Prize Pool and Other Rewards
In addition to the guaranteed prize pool, each event will offer winners a number of prizes which will give them more chances to play tournament poker. PokerStars will maintain a leaderboard for the Player of the Series. As the top players for each event is announced, the online poker room will update the stats on the leaderboard. Based on who is at the top of the leaderboard, PokerStars will award a package to its prestigious live tournament series – PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). The next 49 players on the leaderboard will get tickets to play in one of the most prestigious annual online poker tournaments held by the site, World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP).
Players will have the option to make deals facilitated by PokerStars staff at the final tables. In all the deals, a portion of the prize pool will have to be set aside for the winner. The minimum amount to be excluded from the deal is mentioned in the PokerStars lobby.
PokerStars is holding a series of satellites through which players can enter MicroMillions II. The satellites are featured on the online poker room’s event schedule. The buy-ins for the satellites can be paid with the Frequent Player Points (FPPs) that players have earned till then. A few events require them to buy-in with cash.
What are Frequent Player Points at PokerStars?
FPPs are similar to comp points offered to players for being loyal, active members of the site. It is part of PokerStars’ VIP Club program, which offers many benefits for being a member of the online poker room. All real money players can qualify for the points, which can be spent on a number of things – to enter online tournaments like the MicroMillions II and live events like the PCA, and to purchase PokerStars merchandise.
Earning FPPs is easy – for every hand raked during a game, and each time you pay the entry fee for a tournament (Sit n Go’s and MTTs), you will be awarded a few FPPs. The number of points you get will depend on the VIP level at which you are, in the poker room’s VIP Club. If you want to know about some of the other features that make PokerStars one of the leading poker rooms, read our review of it.
How to Enter the PokerStars MicroMillions
Entering MicroMillions is simple if players have a real money account at PokerStars. They have to find an event with a buy-in requirement they can meet. Players who want more than one chance to enter an event in MicroMillions II, should ideally enter the satellites. Players have the option to un-register from a satellite event once they win a seat to it. PokerStars will credit their account with tournament dollars (also indicated as T$) equal to the fee and buy-in for the event. T$ can be used to register for some of the online poker tournament that PokerStars conducts. The option to un-register will be active until two minutes before the event commences.
PokerStars does not extend this provision to events in the main tournament schedule. If players don’t want to participate in an event after winning a seat to it, they will have to forfeit it. Once players win a ticket to an event, they should ideally refrain from playing more. Even if they win a second seat to the tournament, it will not be valid.