The tournament will start at 14:00 ET on Monday, August 10th. There are many different ways to satellite your way into this historic event. Fulltilt Poker is holding feeder sitngos and tournaments with buy-ins starting at $8. You can even use your FullTilt Points to enter some of these satellite sitngos.

Currently the only Red Pro signed up is the host Soren Kongsgaard but there will likely be several more. If you are lucky enough to knock Doren or any other Pro out you will receive your buy-in back as a bounty.

With the huge overlay I am expecting many inexperienced HA poker players to signup for this event. If you want to learn more about HA poker please read our HA Poker Rules and HA Poker Strategy articles. HA Poker is a mix of pot limit Texas Hold’em and pot limit Omaha.  It is the same as PLH/PLO at Pokerstars.

If you do not have an account at Full Tilt please check out our up-to-date Full Tilt Poker review for info on our exclusive deposit bonus.

I just checked the player list and there are 8 professional players competing in this event and more will likely sign-up within the next couple of hours. This will be the largest H.O.R.S.E poker tournament in recent history.

This event will be hosted by Svetlana Gromenkova, a well known player from New York. She is a WSOP bracelet holder and has cashed in 19 major offline poker tournaments. If you knock her or any of the other Full Tilt Pro’s out of this tournament you will receive a $200 bounty.

Full Tilt Poker’s FTOPS and the SCOOP/WCOOP tournament series at Poker Stars are the two largest online poker tournament series in the world. Full Tilt is guaranteeing $2,000,000 in prize pools for this 2 day event.

Our unique signup bonus for Full Tilt Poker is a 100% match bonus up to $600. Read our Full Tilt Poker review for more info.

If you want to avoid the freerolls you can take advantage of the $1.10 and $11 satellite tournaments that will be starting every two hours.

The Grand Final tournament will be held on October 3rd and will pay out to the top 5,000 players. The first place finisher will receive the Lamborghini Gallardo and Pokerstars is throwing in an additional $250,000 to make things interesting.

This is an excellent opportunity for anyone to win a lot of money or to win one of the coolest cards in history. It doesn’t cost you a dime so theres no reason not to play. With the number of freerolls to the wqeekly finals it is pretty much guaranteed that everyone who really tries to win a seat will.

If you don’t not have an account at Pokerstars please visit our Pokerstars Review to see how you can receive three 100% bonuses when you make your first deposit.

Ladies Poker  Bootcamp With Vanessa Rousso

Vanessa Rousso is one of the hottest babes in poker. She is also one of the best female online poker players. Poker Stars is hosting a special promotion that will grant some lucky ladies a spot in a sepcial bootcamp hosted by Vanessa. Pokerstars will fly you to one of several exotic resorts so you can learn more about poker from Vanessa and compete in a major live tournament. EVERYTHING is covered by Pokerstars so this really will be a dream vacation. Pokerstars will be hosting some “Ladies Only” satellite tournaments so everyone will have a shot.  Learn more about it in the video posted at the bottom of this page.

If you are new to Pokerstars please visit out Pokerstars review to find out how you can take advantage of our $600 bonus promotion that gives you a 100% match bonus on your first three deposits.

- Visit Pokerstars

- Download their free software

- Enter the marketing code PSP11820 when you signup

- Enter the bonus code MANIA when you deposit

After doing this you will receive three 100% match bonuses ($600 max) and a free $1.10 tournament ticket to get into one of the satellites mentioned above.

Pokerstars

Each WSOP Main Event prize package is worth $12,000. You’ll be staying in the Palms Resort in Las Vegas. The package inlcudes the following:

- Tournament entry ($10,000)

- Travel/expense  money ($1,000)

- 8 Night VIP Hotel Stay - ($1,000)

- Transportation to/from tournament

Exclusive Benefits From Pokerstars

If you qualify for the WSOP at Pokerstars they will ask you to represent them at the tables. This basically just adds up to wearing clothing provides by Pokerstars (hats, shirts..ect). They get some primetime advertising and you’ll receive the following incentives:

- Prize package to the Caribbean Poker Adverture or the North American Poker Tour. Both of these packages are worth thousands of dollars. All you need to do is sign on with Pokerstars and cash in the Main Event (any place!).

- $1,000,000 - You’ll receive plenty of cash for live and online tournaments.

- Pokerstars Bag - I know this isn’t much but you’ll need something to carry all of that money home in.

- 50,000 VIP Points!

- Pokerstars will fly you and a +1 to the Pokerstars Player Party in July, 2010. Imagine how much your friends will stalk you!

- Plus more!

New To Pokerstars? Exclusive Bonus Offer!

If you have never held an account at Pokerstars you can take advantage of HorsePoker.net’s special bonus offer. The first deposit, 2nd deposit and third deposit will each be matched at 100%, with a cap of $600. You won’t find a better bonus anywhere and claiming this bonus is easy:

- Visit Pokerstars

- Download their free software

- Signup and enter the marketing code PSP11820

See our Pokerstars review for more info.

8 Game Mix

8 Game Mix at Pokerstars

Pokerstars launched 8 Game Mix back in 2009. Within 6 months it was receiving most traffic than every other mixed game they offer combine, even HORSE poker. This is quite an achievement since Horse poker has been the #1 played mixed game since before I was born. The game line-up includes the following:

Each game is played for 6 hands at Pokerstars. I really prefer this to the 10 game rotations at Full Tilt. Everyone is board to dislike 1-2 or these games. The game I dislike the most is Razz. It just gets so boring. Usually around 4 out of the 6 hands is basically just whoever has the lowest upcard winning the antes. 8-Game is available at the following stakes at Pokerstars:

$.20/.40 - $400/800

Typically you’ll find steady action $.20/.40 all the way up to $10/20. Heads-up action is readily available at the $100/200 tables though. I personally hate HU mixed games and I’m sure others do as well so I’m sure once some of the highrollers say 2 players at one of the highstakes tables they would jump in.

7 Game Poker at Full Tilt

7 Game Poker was launched by Full Tilt Poker shortly after 8-Game Mix. these two rooms are arch-rivals so that is not surprising. It also took much of the traffic from their other popular mixed games like Horse, Heros and HA poker. There are only two major differences between 7 Game Poker and 8 Game Mix:

- 7 Game Poker does not include 2-7 Triple Draw

- In 7-Game Poker you’ll play each game for 10 hands.

8-Game Mix Vs 7 Game Poker

Based on traffic, competition and the overall enjoyability of the game I would have to say 8-Game Mix is the better of the two and here is why:

- Traffic - 8-Game Mix at Poker Stars receives around 25-50% more traffic than 7 Game Poker at Full Tilt. This is largely due to the fact that Pokerstars has an everage peak traffic of around 250,000 while Full Tilt peaks at 150,000.

- Competition - The action at the 8 Game Mix tables is slightly easier to beat IMO. This is mostly due to the fact that it includes 2-7 Triple Draw, a very misunderstood game. Another factor is 8-Game Mix having more traffic. The more article real money tables you have to choose from the easier it is to find weak competition.

- Enjoyability - 8-Game Mix is more enjoyable because you are only playing 6 hands per round. This breaks up the tediousness of playing games you do not like. I also really enjoy the 2-7 Triple Draw rotation because most players are horrible at that game and it’s just an exciting game.

Special Sign-up Bonuses

We are offering exclusive signup bonuses for mixed game players at bother poker rooms. The details for the bonuses & incentives as well as the instructions can be found in each review:

- Pokerstars review

- Full Tilt Poker review

• Day 1-3: During this period 90% of all echeck cashouts are paid.
• Day 4-5: When Pokerstars has issue like they are currently having things can get a little backed up. If they are just backed up you will receive your echeck cashout during this time-frame.
• Day 5-10: If you have made an echeck cashout and it’s been 5 or more business days the odds are Pokerstars will end up refunding your player account the money. The bad part is that they wait 10 buiness days no matter what. By then however they will have fixed the problem and have gotten caught up so it should only be 24-48 hours until you have the money.

Pokerstars E-check Deposits Not Working

For many U.S. players the e-check deposit option is currently not working. I just attempted to make an electronic check deposit at Pokerstars with no luck. This is just a temporary problem and it isn’t just happening at Pokerstars. Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker use the same echeck processors so when one goes down so does the other. I just got this error message from Pokerstars:

“Your deposit attempt was declined by our eCheck processor’s Account Verification Service. We are not informed of the exact reason for the decline, but such reasons can include the following:

- Checking accounts that have been closed by a bank
- Checking accounts that do not support electronic funds transfer
- Accounts that are valid but cannot be used for echeck deposits (such as
a loan or mortgage account)
- Checking accounts that have insufficient funds
- Checking accounts that have outstanding unpaid checks with other merchants

If you have sufficient available funds in your bank account, it appears you cannot use this bank account to make eCheck deposits. Please use another bank account or another deposit method.

None of these reasons likely apply to you. Obviously you could make e-check deposits at Pokerstars without a problem a couple weeks ago so it’s not an issue on your end.

Aleternatives To Echeck Deposits At Pokerstars

During rare cases like this when Poker Stars is having problems with their e-check deposits and withdrawals you have a couple options. The easiest would be using a credit card but those also get declined from time to time. If you plan on depositing $100 or more Western Union is an excellent option. I have used them several times and it is fast and easy.

An important thing to remember about Pokerstars e-check deposits is that they use multiple processors. What does this mean to you? Your e-check deposit might get declined on Monday with processor #1 and then get approved on Tuesday with processor #2. So if you are not having any luck one day be sure to keep trying, it will eventually work, sometimes just after a few minutes. Here is a list of the current processors, or atleast how they show up on your bank statement:

- Awebdebit.com

- PStars.com

If you want to check the current status of Pokerstars e-check cashouts and deposits please visit this thread on one of the internet’s largest and most annoying poker forums:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/28/internet-poker/ps-echeck-discussion-thread-501206/

Be sure to click on “Last and work your way backward from there.

If you do not have a current account at Pokerstars please visit our Pokerstars review for more details.

Major Mixed Limit Poker Games

The major mixed limit poker variants are 8-Game Mix and 7-Game Mix. These two games are actually the top 2 mixed poker games in the world based on traffic. Pokerstars (Read Review) created 8-Game Mix and Full Tilt Poker (Read Review) created 7-Game Mix. Here is a break down on how these games are played:

- 8-Game Mix - This mixed limit game includes FL 2-7 Triple Draw, FL Holdem, FL Omaha HL, FL Razz, FL Stud, FL Stud HL, NL Holdem and PL Omaha. Each game will be played for 6 hands.

7-Game Mix - This game includes all of the games mentioned above with the exception of 2-7 Triple Draw. The only real difference is that at Full Tilt each game is played for 10 hands/round.

Other Mixed Limit Poker Games

There are a couple otherother mixed limit (ML) poker games out there. Some were quite popular until the inception of the two games mentioned above. Here is a list of all of the other ML poker variants available:

- Mixed Hold’em - FL and NL Texas Hold’em, availble at Pokerstars.
- Mixed Omaha Hi-Lo - FL and PL Omaha Hi-Lo, available at Pokerstars.

I expect to see the number of mixed limit poker variants grow considerably over the next couple years. The major poker rooms have realized that variety means success and that online poker players love a challenge. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was playing 9-Game Mix or 10-Game Mix before the year is out.

- ME!

Seriously though, Pokerstars is the capital of mixed game action based on traffic and game variety and the EPT is one of the biggest names in poker. The EPT had a tough time in deciding who to pick. It came down to eight finalists so they came up with an interesting way to determine who is the best. They had the eight players compete in an 8-Game Mix sitngo to see who would take home the title. The player line-up consisted of:

- Ben Kang
- Matthias “mattes123″ Kuerschner
- Joe Hachem
- Alex Kravchenko
- Katja Thater
- Scott “BigRiskky” Clement
- Mike “gordo16″ Gorodinsky
- Ilari “Fabahaba” Tahkokallio

Four out of these eight players are part of the fabled Team Pokerstars. The average online poker player will likely only recognize one of these players, Joe Hachem. Each of these players have extensive mixed game tournament histories and many wins under their belts.

8 Game Mix is one of the newest mixed poker games out there and is available exclusively at Poker Stars. The game line-up consists of :

The winner of this prestigious mixed game tournament was none other than Katja Thater, my German traumfrau (dreamgirl!). I’ve posted an image of Katja below, try not to drool on your keyboard.