William Hill To Host No Surrender UK Poker Classic

iPoker Network site William Hill has teamed up with the No Surrender Charitable Trust to bring the first ever No Surrender UK Poker Classic to life. The online event will raise money for a cancer-related social network and research institute.

The tournament is slated for Friday, June 26 and has an expected prize pool of USD 30,000. Its grand prize winner will take home a one-of-a-kind VIP trip to Las Vegas, Nevada worth USD 10,000

Organizers are gunning for 1,000 players in the online event, which will play out on the virtual felts of William Hill. A longstanding fixture in the online poker industry, William Hill is a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, where it can be found under the symbol “WMH.” The UK Poker Classic comes with a price tag of USD 30 with USD 20 re-buys available for those finding themselves short on chips.

Its winner and a very lucky guest will jet set to Sin City in style aboard British Airways in the carrier’s luxurious Club World class. While in Las Vegas, the duo will call the Bellagio, a Strip casino, home for four nights. The venue is rich in poker lore, playing host to the annual World Poker Tour (WPT) end-of-season Championship event each April as well as the Bellagio Cup, Festa al Lago, and Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. It’s the equivalent of Ground Zero for the WPT tournament series and also hosts Bobby’s Room, the home of high-stakes cash games featuring poker’s biggest names.

“We are always looking for new ways to raise funds and keep within the spirit of the No Surrender Trust, which ultimately is to do it having fun! Jason would have loved this event. As a city trader before he contracted pancreatic cancer, he was hugely competitive and loved synergy between the city and a game like poker,” Marc Maley of the No Surrender Charitable Trust commented in a press release distributed by William Hill.

The “Jason” in question is Jason Boas, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two years ago at the age of 33. Nevertheless, he has raised over GBP 150,000 for cancer-related causes, including research and a helpful social networking site for patients.

The tournament kicks off at 8:00 p.m. 70 per cent of the prize pool will be donated to the charity, while the remaining 30 per cent will serve as the event’s purse. In addition, William Hill will add USD 1,000. The USD 10,000 travel package is good for non-blackout dates before December 1. Travel is not permitted on Independence Day (July 3rd and 4th), Labor Day (September 7th), Columbus Day (October 12th), Veteran’s Day (November 11th), and Thanksgiving (November 26th), all major US holidays when tourists flock in droves to Las Vegas.

The iPoker Network’s weekly major is the USD 250,000 Guaranteed, which runs on Sunday nights at 19:00 UK time. The tournament sports a USD 320 buy-in and satellites start as low as USD 3.80. On Friday, the family of sites hosts a USD 150,000 guaranteed prize pool event, which comes with a USD 109 buy-in and unlimited re-buys are available. The high-stakes contest kicks off at 20:00 UK time and qualifiers start at an affordable USD 1.20. Finally, Saturday night sees the running of the USD 50,000 Guaranteed, which has a USD 109 price tag. Thee freezeout starts at 18:30 UK time and satellites begin at USD 8.80.

Players on William Hill battle with competitors from across the iPoker Network, which also includes CD Poker, Mansion Poker, Noble Poker, Paddy Power, and Titan Poker. The Network is the third largest worldwide and the biggest that does not accept players from the United States. 

Titan Poker Re-launches VIP Program

Titan Poker players will soon be able to experience a brand new VIP Program. The popular iPoker Network site will roll out its heralded promotion on July 1, offering a VIP status based on the previous month’s play.

Titan Poker players will rack up around 17 points for every USD 1 in the rake. If you can navigate a gem shop, then you can master Titan Poker’s revamped VIP Program. Players start off at the Bronze Level, which requires no monthly point balance and goes all the way up to 999. There is no VIP Point boost associated with this level, although you will still be able to use points-based promotions. When you finally work your way up to 1,000 points in a given month (or approximately USD 58 in rake), you will become a Silver member. This provides a boost of 20 per cent, ultimately giving you monthly points of 1,200 to 5,999.

Come 5,000 points, Titan Poker players will gain membership to the Gold level. Points are boosted by 40 per cent in this level, resulting in a range of 7,000 to 13,999. Above Gold is Platinum, which requires a monthly point minimum of 10,000. This VIP level results in a point boost of 60 per cent to at least 16,000. Titan Poker players can reach the heralded Titanium VIP level by racking up 17,000 points in a given calendar month (which is approximately equivalent to USD 1,000 in rake). Doing so results in a colossal 100 per cent points boost to between 34,000 and 69,998. The pinnacle of the new Titan Poker rewards system is Diamond, which is reserved for players who accumulate 35,000 or more points, which will promptly be boosted by a whopping 120 per cent.

Points can be exchanged for cash on Titan Poker, making the prospect of accruing points even more lucrative. The more points you save and ultimately cash in, the lower the rate of exchange. For example, trading in 2,000 points will net you a USD 10 cash reward, or 200 points per USD 1. However, trading in 6,500 points will result in your bankroll growing by USD 45, or just 144 points per USD 1. Other options available include USD 150 for 20,000 points (133 points per USD 1), USD 800 for 80,000 points (100 points per USD 1), USD 1,750 for 160,000 points (91 points per USD 1), USD 4,000 for 320,000 points (80 points per USD 1), USD 8,000 for 600,000 points (75 points per USD 1), USD 14,000 for one million points (71 points per USD 1), USD 39,000 for 2.5 million points (64 points per USD 1), and USD 120,000 for seven million points (58 points per USD 1). The bottom line is that saving your points before cashing them in is the optimal strategy.

Titan Poker offers a full points calculator complete with a graph to help you compute where you stand. Drop-down menus for the number of seats, game type, game speed, hours per week, number of tables, table stakes, average tournament buy-in, and number of tournaments per week add to the fun. As an important note, players on Titan Poker can cash in points any time they would like. With only USD 58 in rake required to attain Silver status, a bevy of Titan Poker players are eligible, making the VIP club accessible to customers of all bankrolls.

The iPoker Network’s featured tournament is the USD 250,000 Guaranteed, which runs every Sunday at 18:00 GMT. First-time depositors in June receive four entries into World of Poker Freerolls. The promotion’s grand prize winner takes home a USD 35,000 prize package which includes entry into the Asian Poker Tour’s Macau stop, the Irish Winter Festival, the 2010 Irish Open, and next year’s World Series of Poker Main Event. That’s three different continents’ worth of tournaments. New depositors also take home five chances to satellite their way into the USD 20,000 New Depositors’ Freeroll.