Listen up, Mac poker players. Face it: Your options are limited. There are only a handful of sites that you can compete on, including PartyPoker. Once the largest site in the world, PartyPoker fled the United States market after the 2006 passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The bill caused nearly every online poker room owned by a publicly traded firm, which included PartyPoker, to vacate the U.S. Recently, PartyPoker has rebounded to become the second largest site that does not accept U.S. players (next to the iPoker Network) and launched the $1 Million Race in May.
The promotion awards Race Points to players when they battle it out on PartyPoker’s virtual felts. At the end of May, the top 3,000 – yes, 3,000 – players on the leader board will take home a share of the $1 million prize pool. This is one of the largest rake race prize pools ever and it’s even open to Mac poker enthusiasts. The winner of the race, which runs between May 1st and May 31st, will score $20,000 in cash plus an Elite experience at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, also valued at $20,000. The second place finisher grabs $18,000 in cash plus the Elite package, while the third place leader board finalist earns a bankroll boost of $15,000 plus an Elite prize package.
In total, three PartyPoker players will head to Sin City to compete in the WSOP Main Event, the world’s most prestigious poker tournament. Last year, Danish poker pro Peter Eastgate became the youngest WSOP Main Event Champion ever at the ripe old age of 22, besting Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth’s standing record of 24. Eastgate earned over $9 million for the win and became an instant celebrity in the poker world. The fourth through tenth place finishers in the $1 Million Race will win a WSOP Experience prize package, which includes a $1,500 buy-in to a side event, seven nights’ accommodation in Las Vegas, airfare for two, and a one day excursion to attractions like the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Red Rock Canyon. Along with players in the top ten, the 50th, 100th, 300th, 500th, and 750th place players will earn a WSOP Experience package. Tickets to PartyPoker WSOP satellites will also be given away.
The top 3,000 players on the leader board will finish in the money, with each player padding their wallet by at least $20. Determining the number of Race Points you’ll receive requires plugging in the total rake per hour, total hands played per hour, number of raked hands played, and a special multiplier to a mathematical formula. However, the general rule of thumb is that the more you rake, the more Race Points you’ll receive. PartyPoker will actually display the top 5,000 Race Points earners on its site and only cash game tables count.
PartyPoker’s Instant Play interface is your ticket onto the site if you’re using a Mac. The online poker room’s client will launch right in your web browser. Just make sure you have the most recent version of Java installed and it should work like a charm. You may experience a slight delay starting up the software (the average lag time is about 20 to 30 seconds from our experience). However, once Instant Play is loaded, you can open four tables at a time and start generating Race Points on the popular site.
PartyPoker offers more than $6 million per month in guaranteed prize pool tournaments. Its flagship event is the Monthly Million, which takes place on the first Sunday of every month. On all other Sundays, at least $300,000 is guaranteed to be up for grabs in a high-stakes $215 buy-in tournament. Daily, a $20,000 guaranteed event with a $109 price tag takes place, as does an $18,000 guaranteed $55 buy-in contest. Both the $640 buy-in Monthly Million and the $215 buy-in $300,000 Guaranteed have extensive qualifying schedules, so visit the PartyPoker lobby to find the next one on the horizon.
Party Gaming is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol “PRTY.” It is one of the staple internet gambling companies and its subsidiaries do not accept players from the United States. Visit our PartyPoker review to learn how to launch Instant Play.
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