PokerStars Weekly News Update 3/19/2012

1. Viktor "Isildur1" Blom and Isaac Haxton took part in another epic "Isildur Challenge", with Haxton once again coming out on top. This match was quite volatile, with Blom racing out to a $120,000 lead, only to see Haxton go on a $200,000 heater to lead by $80,000 himself. Isildur then fought all the way back into the lead, but on the final hand, Haxton won $9,000 and took the challenge by a mere $5,000.

2. The Isildur Challenge has not been the only high-stakes action on Stars lately. There has been tons of $100/$200 PLO games running between Blom, Phil Galfon, Ben "Sauce123" Sulksy, and Jens "Jeans89" Kyllonen. Currently, Galfond is the big winner in March, having netted nearly $1,500,000 in over 25,000 hands. Blom is also doing quite well, having nearly won $500,000 himself. The biggest loser has been Kyllonen, who is down more than $700,000 less than 20 days into March.

3. Poker players living in Taiwan can grab a hold of $600 in weekly freerolls. To qualify for the weekly final, just enter the M/W/F freerolls running at 21:00 local time (9:00 PokerStars time). Players can also qualify through $.10 daily SNG qualifiers.

4. PokerStars ZOOM has gone from beta testing to the actual PokerStars client. At this time it is capped at just 1,500 players and $.01/$.02 blinds, but these will surely increase shortly. Zoom Poker is a fast-paced format that allows players to fold a hand and instantly be dealt another at a different table. This style can result in hundreds of hands played per hour while seated at just one table. ZOOM will be great for clearing bonuses, earning VPPs, and moving up the PokerStars VIP ladder.