PokerStars deals 65 billionth hand

(PRESS RELEASE) -- It’s taken PokerStars nearly ten years to deal 65 billion hands and for one player on Sunday, July 24 it was a memorable moment. Christopher ‘yllams’ Small from New Zealand was the lucky person who won the 65-billionth hand and collected a massive $68,420 – not bad for a game of $0.10/$0.25 six-max No Limit Hold’em.

Small was 24-tabling at 1am in the morning on a snowy night in Christ Church, New Zealand in the hope of being involved in the Mega Milestone. On one of those tables he had just $27.84 in his stack when a pop-up announcement appeared informing him and five other people at the table that they were being dealt into the 65-billionth hand.

Small’s reaction was one of bemusement: “I had A-K when I looked at the table. My reaction was one of this must be a dream. I couldn’t believe it.”

But the 24-year-old student had to believe it when two more Aces came on the flop to give him trips. The turn and river were blanks and Small – a Platinum Star player who has been a PokerStars regular for the past three years – won the hand for the grand total of $68,420 when all the bonuses were taken into account.

PokerStars dealt 300 milestone hands in the big run-up to the 65-billionth. The total prize money awarded reached $770,588.88, meaning on average each hand was worth $2,560.10 or $449.59 to each player.