You would never expect to find an online poker room in the Guinness book of World Records, but PokerStars has managed to do it.  The world’s largest online poker site has shattered the former record for the ‘Largest Online Poker Tournament’ and got their name memorialized for history.  PokerStars broke the record on December 28, 2008 when they hosted a 35,000 player buy-in world record tournament with the guaranteed prize pool of $500,000.  The buy-in was only $11.

The tournament was sold out well in advance of the date it was played, and players who bought into the event battled it out for over 9.5 hours.  A record 8,750 players hit money with no deals made.  Player ‘Stan34powa’ outlasted all of the other players in the tournament to win the top prize and championship title.  The online poker room had set the record they broke previously on July 29, 2007 with the Sunday Hundred Grand with a playing field of 20,000 players.  Additionally, the website broke another record with 250,000 online spectators.

Breaking the two records was not enough as the poker room broke a third record for hosting the largest Sunday Warm-Up tournament with a record 5,836 players that showed up for the game.  The players boosted the prize pool to over 1.5 million dollars and 855 players in the warm-up tournament winning a part of the money.  ‘Hr_Herman’ walked away with $7,067.20 for the win.  The Sunday Million tournament saw its largest week yet, bringing in 16,260 players who created a substantial prize pool of over a million dollars.  2,475 players won money during the game, with Team PokerStars professional player Katja Thater finishing 134.  The winner of the Sunday Million tournament was ‘lp_SakiSaki’, taking home a whopping $1,378.80.

Poker professional and WSOP winner Daniel Negreanu stated, “No other site brings the level of excitement, skill, and challenge that poker players crave.  The Sunday tournaments on PokerStars provide an unrivaled opportunity to prove your poker prowess with a lucrative prize pool that matches the highest level of competition.”

Every month, PokerStars awards millions in cash, prizes, and all-expense paid trips to some of the most alluring travel destinations and world famous casinos. With tournaments like the Sunday Million, and annual events such as the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), PokerStars consistently hosts some of the most lucrative and renowned online tournaments. Over a million dollars in prizes were awarded to players during the 33 events that comprised the 2008 WCOOP.