September 20, 2005 01:23 PM US Eastern Timezone PokerStars' World Championship of Online Poker Now the Third Largest Poker Tournament in the World; Poker Players from 82 Countries Compete for Nearly $13 Million in Prize Money

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fifteen new poker champions were crowned in the fourth annual World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) held at PokerStars.com. The 15-day competition attracted 19,727 players worldwide representing 82 different countries. The enormous turnout made the WCOOP poker's most international competition. Winners were awarded a whopping $12,783,900 in total prize money in 15 tournament events.

The WCOOP main event, a $2,500 buy-in No-Limit Texas Hold'em tournament, attracted 1,494 entrants. After nearly 14 hours of bluffing, raising and folding the three finalists in the championship event (one American and two Swedish players) agreed on a deal. The prize money was divided and each player collected more than $500,000 from the largest prize pool in online poker history.

"I was overwhelmed by this year's World Championship of Online Poker," said Lee Jones, WCOOP Tournament Director and PokerStars' Poker Room Manager. "We exceeded our $8 million guarantee by nearly 60 percent, making the WCOOP the third largest poker tournament series of any kind so far this year. As always, it's the players who made this event into such a colossal success. This was a poker tournament to remember."

All events were broadcast live over the Internet. In addition to being easily accessible for viewing at PokerStars.com, poker fans everywhere tuned in to radio broadcasts of final tables featuring commentary from such popular poker celebrities as Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker and Barry Greenstein. "No other tournament in history has provided such easy public access to the excitement of high-stakes tournament poker as the WCOOP," added Jones.

The 2005 WCOOP started out in spectacular fashion. Event #1, a $500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em tournament, attracted a staggering 3,062 players. This ranks as one of the largest poker events in history, exceeded only by the WCOOP 2004 main event (and eventually by the WCOOP 2005 main event). Many players won their entry way into WCOOP events through satellite tournaments, costing as little as $5.50. Other players earned free seats into satellites using "Frequent Player Points," accumulated by playing at PokerStars.com. In all, PokerStars.com awarded over $1 million in free entries to this landmark event.

Overall, prize money was paid out to 1,972 winners. While the overwhelming majority of winners were amateur players, many famous names were among the competitors. The 2003 and 2004 World Series of Poker winners, Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer respectively, both logged on to play, along with many other top professional players. Winners of each event were tagged with the "world champion" title, and received a coveted WCOOP Championship gold bracelet, which has become a tradition at PokerStars.com.

For complete results, visit the 2005 WCOOP information page at: http://www.pokerstars.com/2005wcoop/main.html

About PokerStars

PokerStars (www.pokerstars.com) is the world's most innovative online poker site. PokerStars was the first site to introduce features that became industry standard such as sophisticated multi-table tournaments, integrated game statistics, players' notes, personalized images, time bank for tournaments and big bet ring games, satellite tournaments, multi-table sit and go tournaments, and much more.

To date, PokerStars has dealt over 2.5 billion hands and run more than twelve million poker tournaments, awarding over $1 billion in prize money. PokerStars' support team is truly unique, with help and assistance available around the clock from people who know and understand the game of poker and the importance of impeccable customer service.

The PokerStars.com site sets new standards in security for its players. PokerStars uses industry-leading security software to ensure the integrity of the system, including encryption, card shuffle randomness and preventative measures against cheating and collusion. Money covering player's balances is held in segregated accounts managed by the Royal Bank of Scotland, ensuring that PokerStars can fulfill its obligations to players at all times.

PokerStars is an official member of the World Poker Tour, and the title sponsor of the European Poker Tour (EPT) and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. PokerStars is the site where the 2003 and 2004 World Champions of Poker won entries into the World Series of Poker, thus earning the trademark, "Where Poker Players Become World Champions."

Contacts:
for PokerStars.com
The Bohle Company
Craig Sinel or Sibel Sunar, 310.785.0515 Ext. 211/271
craig@bohle.com
sibel@bohle.com