The past weekend saw NBC Sports launch a brand new online poker room, much to the joy of its customers. The new site will naturally only offer free to play games, to keep in alignment with the online poker laws introduced by the US government, but players will still find lots of goodies up for grabs. These include cash, unique NBC sports gear, great prizes and even a lucrative package that incorporates a seat to the 2010 HeadsUp Poker Championships, valued at $20,000.

“Poker has been a growth area in our broadcast schedule over the last few years, and we have always sought to bring a complimentary online component to our audience,” said Jon Miller, speaking for NBC Sports. “We feel we have brought a new level of engagement opportunity to our online audience by providing them an opportunity to enjoy free poker, connect with our on-air programming and interactively engage with our sponsors and advertisers.”

NBCSports.com believes that an online poker room is a natural extension of some its best viewed shows on air, including Poker After Dark and Face the Ace.

Poker Productions, which produces these shows for NBC Sports, chose Zen Gaming as a software platform for the new online poker room, which promises to provide hours of fun to players across the board. The poker room will bring with it single and multi table Texas Hold ‘em tournaments that will run around the clock at half hour intervals, with regular competitions also dominating the scene.

Play will be open to poker fans of 21 years and over.

“We are happy to add NBC Sports as a partner,” said Mark Brown, the Chief Executive Officer for Zen Gaming. “Our team will provide all the logistical support for the promotion, including site development, hosting and tournament overview and administration. We look forward to bringing NBCSports.com, its advertisers, sponsors and, of course, its online constituency an immersive and compelling online contest.”

Poker Productions also provides production services for the HeadsUp Poker Championships, the next one which will be held in March 2010 at Caesar’s Palace Hotel and Casino.

It was Brian “SNoooWAN” Hawkins all the way. The finale was his day as he walked away with a cool $25,000 in one month with a meager bankroll of just $200. Cruising ahead of the next finisher on the leader board by $20,000, Brian’s feat was mind boggling.

When Poker News Daily got Bluff magazine’s Editor in Chief Matt Parvis talking about the extraordinary display, he gushed about the domination of just a single player. He thought there would only be three to four horses in a very similar spot with their bankrolls but the decimation act by Hawkins on the field went on to show just how big and fascinating it was to watch him win. Parvis was convinced that much more than half would be eliminated within the week and expected the trend to follow.

Each of the top online poker players totaling 25 received $200 as bankroll on Lock Poker at the Cafe Poker network in the US. To determine the top player in the Online Poker Challenge, tournaments and sit and gos were allowed only. In the end, Hawkin’s minted over $25,000 from his seed money of $200. At the end of the competition that was underway for a month, Garret Beckman finished second. He had already won the $150 rebuy on Full Tilt Poker for $57,000 last October. At the Online Poker Challenge, he ended up with $4,800 in the till. Bluff Magazine did a cover story on that.

Virtual felts of Lock Poker were taken by players using different strategies. While some went for the $3 and $5 multi-table tournaments, others straightaway had a go at the big score in the weekend majors of Café Poker Network. But Hawkins was a different kettle of fish. He cleverly built his bankroll pulling down weaker opponents in heads-up sit and gos. Bluff Magazine is a reservoir of players’ experiences as they blogged about it at their website.

Speaking after his grand victory, Hawkins testified on video that he was terribly excited at being featured in a top drawer gaming magazine like Bluff. He was pleased and contented with the progress of the competition and the way it was held and couldn’t wait for the next Bluff magazine to hit the stands. Both Hawkins and Beckman got entries to the Dream Team Poker event scheduled shortly with the most recent one being held at Las Vegas.

The action kept the online poker community on tenterhooks while Bluff magazine got great feedbacks. According to Parvis, both players and supporters reveled during the challenge. It was a stupendous success with live scoreboards and feedbacks flooding the video blogs.