Sunday’s attempt by Full Tilt Poker.com to stage the biggest online poker tournament ever (and upstage its main rival Poker Stars in the process) was a resounding success, with a massive 50 000 entrants for its $5 buy-in, $500 000 guaranteed event, generating cashes for the top 7 500 spots and a first prize of $45 000.
The record entry field eclipsed the previous record set by Poker Stars earlier this year of 35 000 players in a single tournament, and was observed by the Guinness Book of Records.
Unfortunately for Full Tilt, the Poker Stars people, alerted by the pre-publicity for the record attempt, had planned their own brand of immediate retaliation.
The world’s largest online poker site staged a prompt comeback to build an entry field of 65 000 before closing its lists, thus retaining the title. The Poker Stars $1 buy-in, $130 000 guaranteed surprise tournament packed the pokerheads in, leaving a number of players unable to enter due to the enforced cap of 65 000.