The World Series of Poker will expand their brand further than ever before, by extending their World Series of Poker Circuit series to strategic locations around the world.
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has taken a leaf out of the PokerStars playbook by creating strategic partnerships with land-based casinos from around the world.
In a press release received from the poker powerhouse, the WSOP have revealed that they have entered into international partnerships with casinos from three countries that love their poker.
A few weeks ago, I brought you news of the WSOP’s plans to host their first-ever European WSOPC event in Italy, and their first-ever international event being held in Morocco. Mexico have also been added to that impressive list.
The partnerships allow the recipients of the handshake to license the WSOP brand to specifically selected poker rooms, host WSOPC events, and create a satellite platform for the WSOP and WSOPE series.
“It’s time to emphasize the “World” in World Series of Poker and more aggressively partner with leading casino operators at the regional level,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “We know players crave a WSOP-like experience in their home market and believe our organizational expertise and unique tournament formats will bring a winning formula.”
The first event is on the horizon. The Casino de Marrakech Es Saadi will host the first international event March 7-15. There will be eight official gold ring events, including a €1,350 Main Event, and special WSOP & WSOPE satellites will also be running.
The second event will be held sometime in September. Italy’s Casino di Campione will host it. There are no specific details at the time of writing but it will be used as a springboard to push more people into the October WSOPE series in Berlin.
The third agreement sees The Casino Jubilee de Monterrey, Mexico, become the first poker room, outside of the U.S, to be branded as a WSOP signature room. There are no plans to hold a WSOPC at the time of writing, but one assumes this will happen as par for the course.
The move into international waters means a change to the existing WSOP National Championships. From 2016 the event will be rebranded as the WSOP International Championships. The winners of the WSOPC Marrakech Casino Championships, and the Main Event, will both gain access to this incredible $1m free roll. In 2014, the German Dominik Nitsche won the WSOP National Championships.
“One thing that was clear to me from my time spent in the poker industry is that the passion for poker is ever-present, but players crave value, excitement and superior organization,” said WSOP Director Gregory Chochon. “These new agreements will allow us to offer meaningful year-round benefits to our casino partners while giving poker players a more direct path to reach the ultimate WSOP dream.”
The WSOPC event is currently a 20-stop tour, confined to the U.S. Branching out to other parts of the world is a bold move, but a wise one. The WSOP will have learned from their WSOPE and WSOP-APAC experiences and will no doubt deliver the quality that is expected from the brand.
