A $2/$4 No Limit Hold’em table on PokerStars dealt the site’s monumental 40 billionth hand. Coming out on top in the historic moment was PokerStars member Senecady, who walked away with $24,000.
Each player who was dealt cards in the 40 billionth hand received a colossal $400 for every VIP Player Point (VPP) amassed in the previous 40 hands at the table. The winner would see their cash bonus doubled, potentially resulting in a five-figure payday for one lucky online poker player. Senecady was in the cutoff in the hand and dealt K-10 offsuit. In the end, the board read 7-Q-7-10-7, giving Senecady a full house, defeating Joe Hahn’s K-J and thecooler292’s K-5. The pot amounted to $401.
Senecady pushed all-in pre-flop for $117 and Hahn came over the top for $412. Meanwhile, thecooler292 called off his stack of $138 as each player jockeyed for the extra payout to the hand’s winner. According to PokerStars, 280,000 players were logged into the site around the time the 40 billionth hand was dealt and a massive 41,000 tables were in operation. The momentous occasion occurred at 12:43pm ET on Friday.
PokerScout.com, which keeps tabs on online poker room traffic, noted that a peak of 53,371 real money ring game players were logged into PokerStars on Friday. The day before, the maximum number of cash game players was just under 50,000, representing a sizable jump as the 40 billionth hand approached. Between December 21st and January 30th, the site failed to cross the 50,000-player plateau. Then, between January 31st and February 19th, more than 50,000 cash game players were logged in on eight days.
The waiting list for “Naef III,” the table that hosted the winning hand, numbered 128 PokerStars users when the clock struck 12:43pm. Players in the historic 40 billionth hand were guaranteed a payout of $400; here’s how the final distribution of bonus cash shook out:
Senecady – $24,000.00
thecooler992 – $15,590.20
zawaaa – $15,590.20
jeckjeck – $12,400.80
13_Xerxes_13 – $1,500.00
Joe Hahn – $1,500.00
Still to come as part of the PokerStars 40 billionth hand celebration, dubbed F40, is a $4 million guaranteed version of the site’s weekly Sunday Million. The $215 buy-in online poker tournament will shell out at least $1 million to the winner and begins at 4:30pm ET on Sunday. Last Sunday, a $40 buy-in Micro Million was held on Valentine’s Day in the United States. The tournament, appropriately, attracted over 40,000 players. In the end, a four-way chop resulted in Brandon “anybodybut” Setzer coming out on top for $96,000. The runner-up in the Micro Million was a familiar face in the online poker world, Steven “PiKappRaider” Burkholder.
Sunday also marks Day 2 of the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Main Event in Las Vegas. Players who reach the second day of action in the $5,000 buy-in tournament will be unable to compete in the $4 million Sunday Million. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles this weekend is the annual World Poker Tour (WPT) Celebrity Invitational, which emanates from the Commerce Casino. The “Shuffle up and deal” command will be given at 8:00pm PT on Saturday for Day 1 and the final six-handed table will be played on March 3rd.
Also taking place on PokerStars this weekend is the $215 Sunday Lunch. Meant to cater to players in Australia and New Zealand, the tournament takes place on Saturday at 7:00pm ET (11:00 AEST in Australia on Sunday). Qualifiers for the special event have been running since February 14th. The tournament can be found in the PokerStars lobby by heading to “Tourney” and then “Regional.” The site happily accepts players from the United States and around the world.
40 billionth hand that’s incredible – It does show the popularity of the game. It is also a nice touch to give the players so much money for every VIP point.