Brucie Bonus

Last night, the iPOPS (iPoker's Online Poker Series) made its hotly-anticipated debut as 1,890 ambushed the virtual felt, falling short of the $200,000 guaranteed prize pool to create an $11,000 overlay.

The opening event was a $100+9 No Limit Hold'em freezeout with no fewer than 92 hopefuls (almost five percent of the field!) playing through Black Belt Poker and looking to take advantage of the exclusive bonuses. Among them were Academy host Alex Rousso, Nottingham Live winner Stuart Hyson, and former EPT Champion Toby Lewis.

Each iPOPS event is hosted by a Black Belt with added bonuses awarded for the following achievements:

Bust the host
Bust by the host
Chip leader at the second break
Bubble boy (within five places of the money)
Final table bubble

Event #1's host was Aussie Millions finalist and UKIPT Cork Champion Sam Razavi who was unable to add to his list of accolades when he departed in 1488th. Unfortunately, his assassin didn't play through Black Belt Poker, and so was unable to claim his free seat into the iPOPS Main Event.

One player who will be playing on Sunday courtesy of Black Belt Poker is 'FlopTheNuts77'. Although he finished two away from the money, he was awarded a consolidative bonus seat for being a Bubble Boy and finishing within five places of a cash prize.

Those who did make the money included Black Belt Neil Channing (250th), and League XI runner-up Nick 'nickhem1' Hemming (110th), who recently lapped up a free London Live 2012 seat when he survived a last-longer against his fellow League winners at last week's Nottingham Live.

The most impressive performance, however, was that of Bruce 'Usainzeus88' Jones, who made it all the way to the final table before finishing fourth for $13,160 when he lost a massive pot for the chip lead with Q-9 versus A-7. In a fantastic gesture, he declared prior to the event that he would be donating 20 percent of any returns to three different charities.

An Orange Belt in the Black Belt Poker Belt-Up Rewards System, Bruce's total investment for the event was zero, having earned entry into all four iPOPS events via the Nottingham Live Finalists Freeroll last Tuesday. He then continued his incredible form by beating a record-breaking field the following day in the Deepstack Mulligan.

If you would like to follow in Bruce's footsteps and turn a small acorn into a giant money tree, then throughout the week, we're offering you the chance to qualify for Sunday's Main Event for a single buck. At 20:00 every day, we're holding a $1 Bang for Ya Buck rebuy with a seat added to first prize. Last night, just 28 players participated, meaning Black Belt Poker more than doubled the prize pool!

Already, Black Belt Poker have given away an amazing eight seats, and there are plenty more up for grabs. What's more, whether you win a seat or not, if you play the Main Event and manage to eliminate one of our three Black Belts, you'll automatically receive a package worth €1,450 into the iPOPS Live Open in Prague.

Nowhere else do you receive this kind of value, so if you're thinking of taking advantage of the $1,000,000 in guaranteed prize pools and inevitable overlays, then make sure you play the iPOPS on Black Belt Poker.

Players who cashed through Black Belt Poker:

4th UsainZeus88 -- $13,160.00
36th emotivator21 -- $660.00
49th johnnycoot123 -- $500.00
58th griffyid7777 -- $460.00
110th nickhem1 -- $280.00
138th RVP83 -- $260.00
172th farryboybbp -- $220.00
180th PhilNe2Q -- $220.00
250th NeilChanning -- $180.00