Respite from remarkable run of new poker millionaires
ONCHAN, Isle of Man – October 30, 2015 – In a surprising development, 48 consecutive hours have passed without any new millionaires being created from a Spin & Go on PokerStars, an Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand. From October 21-28, six Spin & Go’s had a $1 million first prize at PokerStars:
- On October 28, ‘ifipushud325’ from Australia won $1 million from a $5 tournament.
- On October 26, ‘handbt1’ from Germany won $1 million from a $5 tournament
- On October 26, ‘barrakuuda4’ from Estonia won $1 million from a $100 tournament. On October 25, ‘prophethicks’ from England won $1 million from a $5 tournament.
- On October 22, ‘wrawras’ from Brazil won $1 million from a $100 tournament.
- On October 21, ‘Samara Lúcio’ from Brazil won $1 million from a $5 tournament.
In addition to these six players who each won $1 million, a further 12 players each won consolation prizes of ‘only’ $100,000, for a total of $7.2 million in prizes. Those players came from Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Guernsey, Hungary (twice), Lithuania, Netherlands, Romania, Russia (twice), and Ukraine.
“Everything is definitely working correctly. I know it seems crazy, but somehow we just didn't make a millionaire these last two days,” said a bemused Lee Jones, Director of Poker Communications for PokerStars.
KEY STATISTICS AND PROBABILITIES OF $1 MILLION SPIN & GO’S
The Spin & Go system uses a randomly generated prize pool for each separate event. That means that the prize pool of any Spin & Go is selected independently, and randomly, without any relationship to the prizes in any other Spin & Go. The chance of each Spin & Go creating a millionaire does not change, and is the same as outlined on the PokerStars website for each tournament of the same buy-in.
Here are some key statistics for the $1 Million Spin & Go promotion so far:
- Since the promotion started on October 19 until the last millionaire was made on October 28, there was a 0.05% chance of 6 or more millionaires being created. This is about the same probability as getting one-outed on two consecutive occasions (with one card to come, each time) or based roughly on PokerStars
- Sports’ Outright Market odds, the chance of football team FC Malmo becoming the first Swedish winner of the European Champions League this year.
- Based on statistical probability, one Spin & Go millionaire was expected at this point in the promotion, but instead, six players are now millionaires.
- Players have won more than $120 million in prizes in Spin & Go’s in the 50¢, $5 and $100 buy-ins which create millionaires. This is about the same amount of money as would be required to buy the most expensive residential property ever sold in the USA.
RECORDED VIDEO COMMENTARY OF SPIN & GO’S
Felix ‘xflixx’ Schneiders, a member of Team PokerStars Pro Online, recorded some live commentary on two of the $1 million Spin & Go’s. These are available on YouTube, and can be embedded as you see fit:
This video shows Schneiders commentating on a recorded replay of the October 26 Spin & Go won by ‘barrakuuda4’ from Estonia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh3G20CZr6U
This video shows Schneiders commenting on the final hand of the October 25 tournament won by ‘prophethicks’ in real time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC0yEac6JEs
Schneiders has recorded a whole playlist of videos called the “Let’s play IWONTMILLION” series which includes eight videos so far: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeNzMQbTGc64qWIuqYp_VfJWhQmkd5JM6
MAP OF COUNTRIES TO PARTICIPATE IN $1 MILLION SPIN & GO’S
HTML code for an embeddable map showcasing each of the countries that have participated in a Million Dollar Spin & Go so far is reproduced below, courtesy of 29travels.com. You can edit the size of this chart by manipulating the Width and Height attributes. Make sure to update the width and height in the image URL too.
For further information, please contact: press@pokerstars.com
About PokerStars
PokerStars operates the world’s most popular online poker sites, serving the global poker community. Since it launched in 2001, PokerStars has become the first choice of players all over the world, with more daily tournaments than anywhere else and with the best online security. More than 140 billion hands have been dealt on PokerStars, which is more than any other site.
PokerStars.com and PokerStars.eu operate globally under licenses from the Isle of Man and Malta governments, respectively. PokerStars also holds local licenses in many jurisdictions, including Italy, France, Estonia, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, United Kingdom, Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, Ireland, Romania and New Jersey in the United States of America.
PokerStars is the flagship brand of Rational Group, which operates gaming-related businesses and brands, including PokerStars, Full Tilt and the European Poker Tour. In 2012, 2013 and 2014, Rational Group companies in the UK and Isle of Man was recognised as one of the top 25 best places to work by the Great Place to Work Institute’s Best Workplaces – Large category ranking. Rational Group entities in Costa Rica and Dublin also achieved the same accolade in their respective local rankings in 2014. PokerStars is owned by Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA).