Gibraltar-licensed poker provider 888poker, which is also known to power the Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc. sites operating on the territory of New Jersey, Nevada, and the United Kingdom, inked a sponsorship and content deal with the World Series of Poker.
Under the new agreement, 888poker will become one of the leading sponsors of the 2015 WSOP, which will be held in Las Vegas, as well as of the 2015 WSOP Europe. Thus, the poker provider will have the exclusive rights to organize and run online events such as the official satellite qualifiers and certain WSOP-related promotions outside particular countries and territories (the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Quebec, the United States, Mexico, Italy, etc.).
In other words, 888poker is the only provider that has been authorized to allow players to enter official online WSOP tournaments. The company has informed customers that they will be able to take part in satellites 24/7 and the buy-in fees will start from one cent. Furthermore, it seems that under the aforementioned agreement, 888poker will qualify players to this year’s edition of WSOP Europe.
It has also become clear that the poker provider will place a syndicated WSOP chip counts feed on all its gaming sites. Thus, players will not need to leave their game so as to check for real-time WSOP tournament data.
Under the agreement, the 888poker brand will be exposed on ESPN during the WSOP Main Event. For instance, branding boards will be placed where the final tables are to be hosted. The poker provider has also promised that it will support the further introduction of WSOP and WSOP Europe-related programs on European televisions.
Itai Pazner, Senior Vice President of 888 Holdings and Head of the company’s business-to-consumer operations, commented on the deal as a logical move. 888poker and the WSOP have been working together for quite some time now, as the poker provider powers the popular brand’s real-money gaming on the territory of the United States.
Mr. Pazner also shared that now, 888poker will be able to introduce the WSOP to its players from all other major markets it operates on and they will be given the opportunity to win tickets for WSOP events.
It is important to note that WSOP.com will remain the only site where players will be able to qualify online for land-based events of the poker brand.
Ty Stewart, Executive Director of the WSOP, shared that the expanded sponsorship and content deal with 888poker will give players who are based outside the United States the unique opportunity to enter major poker events. Furthermore, this will “bring additional money to the tournaments”.
