October 27 2011, Josh Bell

Download PokerStars and win your way into the Saturday Countdown.

Introducing the Saturday Countdown

For those who aren’t familiar with the Saturday Countdown, it is PokerStars’ newest addition to its already jam-packed Saturday tournament lineup. The Saturday Countdown will use the new Time Tourney format.

In Time Tourneys, instead of playing until one player has all the chips like in a traditional format, play lasts for a set period that changes depending on each tournament. Once this time limit is reached, the prize pool is distributed based upon the size of players’ stacks.

In the Saturday Countdown this set period is an action-filled 120 minutes. Imagine winning an obscene amount of money in only two hours!

Win Seats into the Saturday Countdown

To help celebrate the launch of the brand new PokerStars Saturday Countdown, PokerNews will be hosting an affordable satellite, which will award at least 100 seats to its winners.

The satellite will run Friday, Oct. 28 at 1500 ET (1900 GMT) and features a $2+0.20 buy-in. To participate, players will simply need the password, “POKERNEWS,” when signing up for the tournament.

With 100 guaranteed seats up for grabs, the Saturday Countdown satellite is sure to be a massive success, so don’t be one of the few to miss out when the Saturday Countdown kicks off Saturday, Oct. 29.

The PokerNews Saturday Countdown Satellite is open to players regardless of where they signed up for PokerStars, but, of course, there is always extra incentive to open a PokerStars account through PokerNews, since we continue to offer the best, exclusive promotions available anywhere online.

Double the Reason to Countdown

To further celebrate the launch of the Saturday Countdown, PokerStars has decided to double the guarantees in all of its Saturday lineup tournaments this weekend.

This means the Saturday Countdown will feature a massive $20,000 guarantee, and thanks to the PokerNews satellite, you could turn just $2+0.20 into a share of this huge prize pool!

Try a Time Tourney for Free

If you don’t already have an account, download PokerStars now and remember to use the marketing code “POKERNEWS.COM.” If you deposit more than $30 before Oct. 28, use special bonus code ”TIME” when depositing to receive a free $5.50 tournament ticket!

If you don’t happen to sign up to PokerStars before Oct. 28 to claim your free tournament ticket, remember to still use the marketing code “POKERNEWS.COM” and then use the 100% up to $600 first-deposit bonus by also using the bonus code “STARS600.”

If you experience any problems with this or any of our promotions, please contact our Ticketed Promo Support System.

Thu, 09/08/2011 – 07:12 – PokerPages Staff

The Deal
After antes or blinds have been placed, the deal is carried out. Each player receives five hidden “hole” cards. Unlike Texas Hold ‘em, none of the cards are community cards, each player’s cards remain hidden until the showdown.

First Betting Round
After the deal, there is a first round of betting, this is undertaken by the player directly to the left of the dealer. Each player has the option to call, raise or fold, when it is his turn. A player choosing to call will add the same amount of money as the preceding player. A raise involves adding some more to the bets already placed, whilst folding players do not bet and take no further part in the hand. The first player in the round has the option of checking, where he neither bets nor folds, passing the responsibility of betting to his neighbor. Players can only check if no other player before them has bet. The round of betting concludes when each player has bet an equal amount or only one player remains.

The Draw
After the first round of betting is the draw. The draw is where players get to discard and replace cards in their hands, in the hopes of building a better hand. At this point, a player can change any cards in his hand, from all five cards, to not changing any. Following this draw is a second round of betting.

The Showdown
Once the second betting round has been completed, all remaining players must reveal their hands. The highest hand will be the winner.

If you would like to find out more information on the many different varieties of poker, visit PokerSchoolOnline. If you feel like you’ve learnt enough already and want to play, why not enter a free no-risk tournament from PokerStars.net?