Maria Ho joins Amazon as the ambassador of their esports initiative including hosting the Mobile Masters Invitational in New Jersey, and Poker Night in America launch a new app giving players an avenue to the live TV cash game.
Maria Ho is taking a break from the poker amusement park that is the World Series of Poker (WSOP) to earn a few bucks on the Amazon payroll.
The Poker Central Ambassador is currently at New Jersey’s Prudential Centre where she is acting as on screen host for Amazon’s Mobile Masters Invitational.
Amazon’s esports initiative is a stray dog of an event, focusing on mobile devices instead of a desktop, meaning players will hunch over mobile phones and tablets, instead of the usual mouse and keyboard configuration.
The event consists of three mobile friendly games: Vainglory, Hearthstone, and Summoner’s War, with the winners picking up a check for $65,000.
It’s not the first time that Ho has worked with Jeff Bezos’s team. In May 2016, Ho teamed up with Doug Polk and Scott Ball to take on a team representing Amazon in an event called World’s Collide streamed live on the Poker Central Twitch channel.
Ho’s debut impressed Amazon officials so much they hired her to host the first casual mobile gaming tournament Champions of Fire in December. The event bombed, but esports media outlets seem to be more enthusiastic about the Mobile Masters Invitational.
In an exclusive interview with PokerNews, Ho explained how she’s been an avid video game player ever since her father bought her a FamiCon during a business trip to Japan when she was 7-years-old, and how she fills up some of her valuable chilling time with a game of Hearthstone.
Ho is also the official ambassador of Amazon’s esports initiative.
If you want to check her out, or the event itself, then here is the link to the Twitch coverage.
Poker Night in America Launch New App
Another of Maria Ho’s many business partners is Poker Night in America (PNIA), and as the weekend broke the NBC Sports Network poker show announced the launch of a new app.
The Poker Night in America: Be on TV! app is a free-to-play social poker app that gives players two opportunities to compete with the stars in a series of weekly sweepstakes.
The first prize is participation in a star-studded poker game streamed live on Twitch. The second involves a flight to a US casino where you will take part in live cash games filmed for TV. The package includes flights, accommodation, a $5k buy-in for the cash game, and a private poker lesson from one of the attending pros.
KamaGamesGroup developed the app, and it’s available in the Apple Store and Google Play.
