In an effort to popularize their new Home Games feature, PokerStars is giving their freshly assembled poker clubs the chance to sit down with one of their established pros. Not only will the lucky users get a chance to play with a member of Team PokerStars, but they’ll also be treated to an extra infusion of $1,000 into the prize pool.
Qualifying play has already begun, with the current schedule running through the week of March 14-20. Those interested in competing will need to follow a few simple guidelines.
First, a poker club must be created featuring a minimum of eight players. The group must play either a ring game or tournament during the qualifying times before the weekly finale. Then, the club manager must enter into a weekly freeroll final, which are scheduled depending on which particular pro they would like to compete against. The winning manager will then be able to host his team in a scheduled match against the Team PokerStars member.
So far, the announced pros are as follows, accompanied by their qualifying times.
Daniel Negreanu (Jan. 12-16)
Anh Van Nguyen (Jan. 17-23)
Barry Greenstein (Jan. 24-30)
Victor Ramdin (Jan. 31- Feb. 6)
Greg DeBora (Feb. 7-13)
Johnathan Duhamel (Feb. 14-20)
Chad Brown (Feb. 21-27)
David Williams (Feb. 28-Mar. 6)
Pat Pezzin (Mar. 7-13)
Joe Cada (Mar. 14-20)
PokerStars has announced that this promotion will run through August 31, which provides plenty of time for the roster to be expanded. Teams may qualify every week, if they wish, which will inevitably create fierce competition between proud poker squads.
As an aside, PokerStars is also offering the same such service to their French players, who remain largely cut off from the rest of the online world.