Right on Kooner.

Good question.  We have always based the total number of qualifiers on actual number of spots that are available at the regional and this time will be no different.  If you look at the bottom of the regional page on the leaderboard you will see the total number and the true (distinct) # of players.

We use the total number to determine the number of seats and once Bucks Sioux Falls is finalized we will have the amount.

We are determining if our online site is reliable enough to host this $1000 freeroll for the regional winners of the WSOP "Destination Las Vegas".  Look for an official announcement within the next couple weeks.

Thanks for everyone's patience on this!

Wow, good to see a lot of interest in the details this early on.  Here is what I can confirm as of 8/12/08.  Here is the current MINIMUM breakdowns of packages per area;

MN state championship - 3
ND state championship - 2
SD state championship - 1
NE state championship - 1
"national" championship - 1 (FL, TX, TN, KY, MD, IN)

That's a total of 8 packages that will be guaranteed to those states.  The plan for the final 2 packages will be determined in the next few weeks based on participation from each state. 

Guy, the reason we are not doing one big tourney is that most players from around the country don't want to travel to Fargo for that tourney.  While it would be great for local players, players in WI and NE have voiced their opinion that they would rather have a more localized championship.

OVER 50 START DATES HAVE BEEN POSTED SINCE THE ANNOUNCEMENT LAST WEEK SO BE SURE NOT MISS OUT ON THIS PROMOTION!

In order to get a double chip stack at the regionals you must qualify in that regional in both sessions 1 and 2. 

Now if you qualify in regional "A" during session 1 and regional "B" during session 2 you would start with the regular chip stack.

Ok, folks.  Our programmers said that now Yahoo and Hotmail validation codes should be getting through.  We have already validated most accounts manually but if some players can resend the validation code to test for me that would be great.  Email support@freepokernetwork.com with results.

Glad to hear the enthusiasm so far!  Now to the questions (I like the compliments better, lol).

1.  The breakdown of the 10 packages is based on participation in each state.  MN and ND will be getting more than 1 each at their separate state championships while SD and NE will get 1 each at their state final.  The exact breakdown should be determined by about September 1st as we should have a good estimate on the number of locations per state at that time.

2.  Depending on where you look at the details, they might read a bit differently as the playoffs will be handled differently based on your state.  MN and ND will have a regional playoff step before the state championship.  All other states/regions will most likely go directly to the final championship.

3.  Whoever wins the cruise package will not have to pay any "out-of-pocket" expenses to get on the ship and enjoy a great vacation.  The only expenses one might incur would be drinks as they are not covered.  And of course we won't cover poker losses!!! LOL 

Here's what is covered:
$1000 of total airfare
Ocean-view cabin upgrade - $909 per person (per Norwegian Cruise Line's website for this cruise).  $1818 total
$150 buy-in to WPT satellite tournament (qualifier only, not guest)
Port/Govt charges - $213.67/person - $427.34 total
Fuel charge - $77/person - $154 total
For a total of a little over $3500 in expenses covered!

Well everyone, get ready for another awesome fall promotion from the Free Poker Network!  After considering lots and lots of options, we feel we have come up with a great new promotion that will really get players attention.

How does TEN $3500 CARIBBEAN POKER CRUISES sound?  This is a great cruise aboard the Norwegian Spirit, April 12-19, 2009.  It leaves New Orleans and will travel the western Caribbean making 4 stops such as Santo Tomas and Cozumel!  We will include airfare for 2, a cabin upgrade to "ocean-view", meals, entertainment, and cover you port/fuel fees!  How about we throw in a $150 buy-in to a WPT satellite while on board?  This cruise is sponsored by WPT cruises so they have a large poker room and run a tournament to give away a $10k WPT seat of your choice!  Typical entrants for this tournament is usually 60-80 so you have a great shot!

You want more?  How about the 10 winners play for a $10,000 "HIGHROLLER" WSOP package while on board?  While at sea, those 10 will compete for the following prize package; $1000 in airfare to Las Vegas, limo pickup from airport, $1500 hotel suite allowance, $2000 spending cash, $500 dinner and show tickets and $5000 worth of tournament buyins (2-WSOP $1500 events, $1060 Venetian Deep Stack, $540 Bellagio daily, $235 Caesers Mega Stack and $150 Binions Classic)!

Details are posted on all websites as of today so be sure to check out the details.  Due to popular demand we have broken the fall session up into 2 - 8 week sessions again.  Start dates will start appearing on locations pages this week and some bars will be starting as early as next week so don't miss out!

See everyone at the tables!

Pete Bushey

Ok, we are validating all players on a daily basis.  All user created before 3pm CST on 8/5 have now been validated and will be able to play without validating.  We will be doing this on a daily basis so if you don't get your validation code you will have to wait until we validate all players manually.

Thanks...

Ok, NOW it has been fixed. 

We have temporarily disabled required users to validate emails until we fix the problem with users not getting their validation emails.  You should now be able to login and play without validating.

For those users that were not able to validate you will still need to validate once we fix the problem.

Don't forget, freerolls all this week at 1pm and 9pm (Central time) for your choice of a poker medallion.

Depending on who your Internet service provider is, some of the emails are getting blocked as "spam". 

Internet mail programs such as Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, etc seem to work but it will file them in the "bulk", "spam", or "junk" folders. 

This is why we are doing "beta testing" and we will work to improve all problems that are being found.  A lot of these emails are getting returned to our poker inbox and we will forward them to the users during normal business hours.

You can always try to change your email address in the Options menu and try to get your validation code sent to another email address. 

PS.  The email is sent almost instantly so if you don't have it in 5-10 minutes it was blocked....

Beginning tomorrow morning (Friday, August 1st) at 10am CST the FPN Online software will be available for download for public "beta testing"! 

We need everyone's help with testing to make sure things are ready to roll and we will test for at least a week before we determine if the software is ready for the official launch. 

Starting on Sunday, August 3rd at 9pm we will be holding special freeroll tournaments where the winner's will get a poker medallion of their choice (see the store for all medallions).  They will run at 1pm and 9pm next Monday-Friday. 

We will also have various 2, 6 and 10 player "Play Money" sit-n-go's and ring games available for players to test the software.  Please remember, this is a "beta test" and we are looking for problems with the software that affect gameplay.  We will not really be looking for suggestions for improvements yet as our main focus will be to make sure the software is functional.

Thanks everybody for you patience and I'll see you at the tables!

Mark,

If you look at the regional pages you will see that the top 10% from each regional tournament are qualified for the National Championship in Las Vegas.  The winner from each regional will win $500 in trip expenses plus a "Party Badge" to attend the 2 awesome parties and can participate in the 12 private cash tournaments that will be taking place.

That's about $15,000 worth of prizes that will be given out at the regional level with over $20,000 worth being given out in Las Vegas!  Compare that with a lot of other leagues and this is why we repeatedly give away more prizes each year by far than anyone else in the country...

How about for those players that want to play from Arizona where we don't have regional?  Or Alaska?

LOL, these are things we have to think about if we open up an "online league" night to the public.  Everyone would have to be welcome and the playoff would probably also have to be online.

Trust me, when we get a working version of the software there will be many fun things we will be able to do. 

PS.  "Beta testing" will be open to the public by this weekend and we will begin beta freerolls shortly after for some poker medallions...(inside info, look for official announcement tomorrow)