PokerStars Apple Software
Apple Poker Ranking: 9.5
PokerStars Overview:
The world’s largest online poker room, PokerStars is the home of seven-figure weekly guaranteed tournaments, tens of thousands of online poker players, and the annual World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP).
PokerStars Apple Software:
Just like Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars offers a fully downloadable client for its Apple users. This means that you’ll be competing with many of the bells and whistles that your Windows opponents have. There are plenty of players who take advantage of PokerStars’ Apple software every single day. PokerStars offers complete download instructions for Apple users along with screen shots to help you along the way.
In order for the software to work, you’ll need Apple’s OS X 10.4.10 or later plus at least 60 MB of free space. Your Apple must be at least a PowerPC G4 or G5 or an Intel Apple processsor. The entire process of downloading and installing will take you less than five minutes on a high-speed connection. Then, it’s onto playing against some of the world’s top pros on PokerStars! Apple players can battle it out in multi-table tournaments, sit and go tournaments, and cash games.
PokerStars Tournaments:
The site offers some of the world’s highest-stakes tournaments every single week. The richest recurring online poker contest is the PokerStars Sunday Million, a $215 buy-in tournament that guarantees at least $1.5 million every week. It’s one of the rare opportunities to turn $215 into life-changing money in a matter of a few hours. This tournament attracts 8,000 to 9,000 entrants every week, so come prepared to battle it out against an enormous field. Winning the Sunday Million is one of the most prestigious accomplishments in poker.
PokerStars also offers the $750,000 guaranteed Sunday Warm-Up. Just like the Million, its buy-in is $215. The field for the Warm-Up is generally 4,000 to 5,000 poker players, meaning a first place prize of over $100,000 is typically up for grabs. The final tournament held on Stars every week is the Second Chance, a $250,000 guaranteed prize pool tournament that represents one last opportunity to take home a first place prize of around $60,000. All three tournaments – the Million, Warm-Up, and Second Chance – typically shatter their guarantees.
Cash Games:
With the high level of traffic on PokerStars, you’ll never have difficulty finding a game that is within both your interest and budget. The site spreads the complete gamut of popular varieties of poker: Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha High-Low, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud High-Low, Five Card Draw, 2-7 Triple Draw, 2-7 Single Draw, Razz, Badugi, HORSE, and an Eight Game Mix. If you’re unsure as to what any of these games are, PokerStars offers a full strategy guide for each. PokerStars spreads Limit games ranging from $0.02/$0.04 to $1,000/$2,000. No Limit, Pot Limit, and Mixed Limit games start at $0.01/$0.02 and run all the way up to $200/$400.
Traffic:
PokerStars is the world’s largest online poker room and happily accepts players from the United States (which opens the door for many of the world’s Apple users!). Many are lured to the site by its relentless television advertising that features its stable of pros such as Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Rousso, and Barry Greenstein. PokerStars’ rise to fame began when Chris Moneymaker, an accountant from Tennessee with a timely last name, qualified on PokerStars and parlayed his investment into the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event championship. In 2004 and 2005, WSOP Main Event winners Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem would also join Team PokerStars Pro. Its top-tier promotions, fleet of pros, and the best customer service in the industry have resulted in PokerStars becoming the world’s busiest site.
Promotions:
World Championship of Online Poker
No discussion of promotions on PokerStars would be complete without talking about the World Championship of Online Poker, or WCOOP as it’s commonly known as. The annual event typically occurs in September and features millions upon millions of dollars up for grabs. Five-figure buy-in tournaments and events with $15 million guaranteed are just a few of the reasons that the very best pros in the world migrate to the site for the WCOOP. PokerStars offers a wide variety of games during the festivities, including special Heads-Up and Shootout tournaments.
Live Tournament Sponsorships
Playing on PokerStars on an Apple affords you a unique opportunity to win your way into some of the richest tournaments on the planet. PokerStars sponsors the European Poker Tour (EPT), Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), Russian Poker Tour (RPT) and Australia New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT). Stops on all of these series are up for grabs on PokerStars. In addition, the online poker site sends its players to the WSOP, World Poker Tour (WPT) events, and the Aussie Millions.
PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
The annual live tournament series held in The Bahamas, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) is a stop on the EPT circuit. Past winners of this tournament have included Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, Ryan “Daut44” Daut, Steven Paul-Ambrose, John Gale, and Gus Hansen. The first place prize has topped $3 million in the past, making it a favorite pilgrimage for aspiring online poker players. The PCA can be found in the convention center of the Atlantis Hotel and Casino on Paradise Island in Nassau.