PokerStars Adds $30K in Cash Game High Hand Bonus for North American Players

How the Cash Game High Hand Bonus Works

Once opted in, players earn one raffle entry for every $1 raked at eligible cash game tables. On top of that, certain premium hands come with bonus entries:

• Aces Full earns 3 extra tickets
• Quads or better gets you 5 bonus tickets

Each of the three player pools — Ontario, Pennsylvania, and Michigan/New Jersey (shared liquidity)—has a $10,000 prize pool. Players are automatically sorted into two prize categories based on stakes:

• Low Stakes (10NL–50NL):
  • 1st: $1,000
  • 2nd: $600
  • 3rd: $400
• High Stakes (100NL–500NL):
  • 1st: $5,000
  • 2nd: $2,000
  • 3rd: $1,000

You can play in both and be eligible for both raffles, meaning grinders who switch gears have twice the shot.

Ambassador Showdown: Beat Them, Win Tickets

To give the promo a bit of a kickstart, PokerStars Ambassadors Caitlin Comeskey, Jen Shahade, and Arlie Shaban jumped into $2/$5 cash games for a one-night-only promo on May 23. The hook? Be one of the first ten players in each region to beat an ambassador in a hand, screenshot it, and reply to their tweet, and you win a $100 Summer Stacks tournament ticket.

It’s part of the return of The Big Game on Tour, which started airing May 24. The cash game session was meant as a prelude, adding a little competitive energy before the new season drops.

Meanwhile, in Tournament Land: SCOOP Heats Up

While the ring game action is getting spiced up, the tournament scene at PokerStars hasn’t slowed down. Kelvin “Kelvin_FP:AR” Kerber snagged his ninth Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) title by taking down Event 86-H, a $1,050 PKO event, for $49,155—over $30K of which came from bounties.

The win moves Team Kelvin_FP:AR closer in the SCOOP League, now just 395 points behind Team Spraggy.

Some other developments from Day 13 of the series:

• Teun “tinnoemulder” Mulder is chip leader in the $10,300 Main Event (82-H).
• Talal “raidalot” Shakerchi is sitting second after firing four bullets.
• The $109 Main Event (82-L) drew over 17,000 players and will play down this week.
• PLO events are also mid-run, with “FAL1st,” “gragik,” and “Elkku35” leading their respective fields.

PokerStars is also running its SCOOP Lucky Dip — players can opt in via the client for a shot at free tournament tickets just by playing SCOOP events.