Sat, 01/22/2011 – 02:52 – PokerPages Staff

#5 – Viktor ‘Isuldur1′ Blom
The mystery man from Scandinavia, whose meteoric rise last year became a poker sensation, was finally “outed” in January as none other than young Swedish high-stakes pro, Viktor Blom.  He started 2011 by winning a tidy $44,280 from Tony G at the Superstar Showdown and we think there is a lot more to come.

#4 – Jonathan Duhamel
Not many people get to be multi-millionaires by the age of 22 but Jonathan Duhamel is now one of this rare species.  He may not replicate his stunning $9 million WSOP victory of 2010 this year, but no one can deny that this guy has been born with some seriously superior poker genes.

#3 – Tom ‘durrr’ Dwan
Famously issuing a $1 million dollar challenge in January 2009 to play anyone online (except Phil Galfond), Tom Dwan is widely tipped to break through in live poker in 2011 and win his first big title.  Incidentally, that challenge (Dwan will give his opponent $1.5 million dollars if, after 50,000 hands, the latter is ahead) has still not been completed.

#2 – Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi
After a spectacularly successful early start, Michael’s career went through the doldrums for a couple of years before 2010.  However, it proved to be his comeback year, when he played with sheer brilliance at the World Series of Poker.  He won $1.5 million at the Poker Player’s Championship and made final table on three further occasions, including the Main Event.  We think he has his Mojo back.

#1 – Phil Ivey
2010 was the year when this unstoppable poker meister became the youngest person in history to win 8 WSOP bracelets.  The “Tiger Woods of Poker” is still going strong and looks set to continue on his glitteringly successful trajectory in 2011.

Sat, 01/22/2011 – 02:38 – PokerPages Staff

You are sitting in the Million Dollar Challenge studio, you stare across the table, is that sweat on Daniel’s brow?  You call and a full house wins you $1M and defeats the poker legend that is Daniel Negreanu.

  Then your alarm clock wakes you and you realize it was just a dream.  What if you could make it a reality?  PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge gives you the chance to make your poker dreams come true.

There are five steps between you and the chance to live your poker dreams:

1. Download the free PokerStars software.  (If you’re not already a PokerStars player)
2. Enter one of the four PokerStars freeroll qualifiers that are held every day.
3. Finish in the top 20 to pre-qualify for casting.
4. Read your winners e-mail and follow the instructions on how to submit your audition video.
5. Film and submit a two-minute video telling PokerStars why you should take on Daniel Negreanu for $1 million on TV in the million-dollar challenge.

When you have dazzled in your audition video, you will then compete against Team PokerStars Pros and other celebrity poker players in a series of head-to-head matches on the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge set.  Daniel will be on hand to give you some tips to improve your game.  You can win up to $25k if you manage to reach this stage.  You must then decide, do you take your winnings or do you gamble and go for the big prize against one of the top players the game of poker has ever known.

Beat Daniel and you are guaranteed $100k and have a chance to win $1 million.

Viewers of the show also have a chance to earn $20k.  At the end of every show, a password will be announced that will allow you to take part in a PokerStars freeroll tournament where the first prize is $20,000.

For more information about this chance to play against the top names in poker go to the website.

The PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge is the competition where poker dreams can come true.