PokerStars to Make at Least Five More Millionaires Over the Next Eight Weeks
You can become a millionaire with PokerStars; in fact, the world's biggest online site has created more than 150 poker millionaires drawn from online tournaments such as the World Championship of Online Poker, live events like the European Poker Tour, made-for-TV poker competitions such as Million Dollar Challenge, and recent product offerings like Spin & Go’s. A millionaire won't be crowned here in the EPT Malta High Roller — the winner will take home €597,000 — but that's not going to stop us from telling you about one of PokerStars biggest and boldest campaigns ever.
Over the next eight weeks, PokerStars promises to make at least five players millionaires in what is being called "PokerStars Makes Millionaires." The promotion will kicks off today, March 27, with the return of the incredibly popular $1 Million Spin & Go promotion, and will continue through May 24 when a minimum of $1 million is guaranteed to the winner of the Spring Championship of Online Poker Main Event High tournament.
“PokerStars has a long history of hosting online and live events that turn normal players into millionaires," said Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, who won his first seven-figure score ($2 million) at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2008. "It happened to me at the PCA and there will be several more millionaires created in the next month. New games like Spin & Go’s, where literally anyone who enters has a chance to become a millionaire, is generating excitement amongst the online poker community again.”
PokerStars has a long history of making millionaires. To date there have been 22 players who have won $1 million or more in online tournaments, with the biggest winner being Tyson ‘POTTERPOKER’ Marks for his win in the 2010 World Championship of Online Poker Main Event for $2,278,098. In the live realm, 95 millionaires have been made, with Niklas Heinecker being the biggest thanks to his $4,463,293 win in the 2013 GuangDong Asia Millions Main Event.
Interestingly, one of those millionaires, Fedor "CrownUpGuy" Holz, is still alive in the EPT Malta Main Event, which is playing out across the room. If you recall, Holz won $1.3 million after topping a field of 2,142 entrants in the 2014 WCOOP Main Event. Not too shabby for the youngster who started his journey at the micros.
"I think the first tournaments I played on PokerStars where the micro-limit sit-and-go, like 180-mans," Holz previously told PokerNews. "I want to win a super high roller. I enjoy playing live tournaments and this would be the cherry on top of an awesome year."
Holz didn't win a high roller in 2014, but something tells us he'd be just as happy to win an EPT Main Event here in the first quarter of 2015. We'll have to wait and see if he can do it, but first he'll need to survive today and make the final table.
Finally, PokerStars has crowned two millionaires via TV shows — Million Dollar Challenge and Shark Cage — and three Spin & Go millionaires in "sss66666," "Tornádo111," and "anushan_2323."
PokerStars Makes Millionaires Schedule
Here’s a rundown of the key PokerStars Makes Millionaires events and dates:
- $1 Million Spin & Go (From March 27) — Players can turn $5 into $1,000,000 in just minutes with special $1 Million Spin & Go’s. Click here for more info.
- EPT Grand Final Promo (March 27 – April 6) — Players can win a free package to the EPT Grand Final Main Event in Monaco, with a guaranteed €1 million for the Main Event winner. There are a series of freerolls from March 27 to April 6 in which PokerStars is giving away three free Main Event packages, and players can also claim a free €11 satellite ticket by making a deposit. Click here for more details.
- EPT Grand Final Mega Qualifier (April 5) — Players can win a €14,000 EPT prize package in the Mega Qualifier on April 5 at 13:05 ET, with 10 packages guaranteed. Click here for more info.
- Millionaire Month (Round 1: April 6 – 17, Round 2: April 19 – 30) — PokerStars is giving away more than $4 million in cash prizes during Millionaire Month which gives players the chance to win $1 million via two Millionaire Finals. Players need to complete simple challenges during the qualification periods for entry into $150,000 All-in Shootouts. The winner of each of the six All-in Shootouts in Round 1 (April 18) and in Round 2 (May 1) advances to the six-player Millionaire Finals tourneys on May 10 at 13:00 ET, where two new cash millionaires will be crowned, one in each of the finals. For more details, click here.
- May 2-22: SCOOP All-in Shootout Deposit Raffle — Players can win their way to the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event (High) for free and play for a first prize of at least $1 million. Players simply need to make a deposit to receive a raffle ticket. In the All-in Shootout we’ve got 16 free SCOOP High Main Event entries - each worth $10,300 - up for grabs, plus over 2,000 free entries to the SCOOP Low and Medium Main Events. See here for more details.
- SCOOP High Main Event (May 24) — $1 Million is guaranteed to SCOOP High Main Event winner. For more details, click here.
For more on what it's like to become a PokerStars millionaire, check out this video featuring those who have done it:
on the flop was full of blanks, but the 
on the river meant nothing and McCorkell doubled up. Ravnsbæk has just 10 big blinds left.
flop and 
turn.
on the river made for four diamonds on the board and Litvinov checked again. Gruissem bet 15,000 and Litvinov went into the tank.
and Altman bet 17,000. Drinan made the call.
hit the river. Altman checked and Drinan shoved all in by placing 200,000 worth of 25,000 chips in the middle. Altman tanked for a long time before calling with 
for 91,300, Drinan had bluffed with 
