UB.com (formerly UltimateBet) has just announced two exciting upcoming events that sound like they’re a must for fans of online poker. The first of these events is a pair of $1,000 freeroll tournaments to promote the site’s new brand.

While the lure of a $1,000 prize pool won’t necessarily attract the heavy hitters, that’s only to the advantage of players that are interested in taking part, since they won’t be having to face off against the likes of Phil Helmuth.

If you’d like to take part in the freerolls (which, as their name suggests, cost nothing to enter), they will be taking place on the 13th and 27th of December. Be sure to sign up for a UB.com account ahead of time, though, because your account will need to be at least 24 hours old before you’ll be allowed to play. More details on the UB.com site.

The other major upcoming event is the UB Online Championships, which will be kicking off in January, and are set to be held from the 20th to the 31st. This is the event’s fourth year of operation, and in celebration of that achievement, UB.com are offering guaranteed tournament prize pools in excess of $4 million.

The big highlights of the Championship schedule are two $1 million guaranteed games hosted by UB.com’s very own Phil Helmuth and Annie Duke. Helmuth’s game is a $1,000 + $50 No Limit Hold’em event, while Duke’s is a $2,500 + $100 Deep Stack No Limit Hold’em Six Max game.

The CEREUS network, which houses the games played on both UB.com (formerly UltimateBet) and AbsolutePoker, has received certification from the e-Commerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance group (eCOGRA). The eCOGRA group is a standards authority and consumer rights group that monitors online gambling and poker sites and requires them to adhere to strict standards of practice.

That CEREUS has received an eCOGRA certification is significant on many levels. It’s sure to be a boost to its membership because the certification carries with it a high level of player trust: if a site carries the eCOGRA seal, you can be sure that it’s legitimate and above board. Additionally, in the unlikely event that you ever have any problems with the site, you can rest assured that eCOGRA will mediate the dispute.

It also means that UB.com and AbsolutePoker have completed their process of internal housekeeping following the cheating scandal that occurred two years ago. They’ve invested a huge amount of time and money into developing new safeguards to ensure that the exploit used can’t be redeployed, and that new measures are in place to safeguard players against online cheaters, such as pokerbot deployers.

The fact that eCOGRA has granted CEREUS certification means not only that they have managed to pass a gauntlet of some of the strictest tests and standards compliance in the industry, but that they will also have to submit themselves to regular auditing. The upside for players is that they will be able to enjoy renewed confidence playing online poker with real money at the CEREUS brand. And for AbsolutePoker and UB.com, that’s a major win.

As we head into December, most online poker sites are rolling out some sort of promotion to ring in the new year and reward their loyal players for all the support over the last year. But very few sites are investing as heavily in their players as PartyPoker.com is – more than a million dollars in promos are up for grabs this month.

First up is the Cash Game Race – as you know, every raked hand you play on Party Poker earns you PartyPoints. This is now being tracked on a leaderboard, with $50,000 in prize money up for grabs!

Players who prefer tournament action aren’t being left out, though. There’s a special edition of Jackpot Hunter on the go for the month of December, specifically targeted at players who prefer Sit And Go tournaments. Simply play and win five Sit And Go tournaments in a row, and you’ll win between $10,000 and $50,000 – the earnings scale based on what the buy-in values of your Sit And Go tournaments were.

As if that weren’t enough, the site is running a daily multi table tournament at 14:00 ET that costs only 20 PartyPoints to enter, with prize pools of $5,000. Finish in the top 200 at any one of these games, and you’ll be entered into a Grand Final game worth $250,000!

But it gets even better – if you win any 2 of these daily games, you’ll trigger an instant prize of $100,000. Win any 3, and you’ll win $1,000,000! Play at PartyPoker.com