Ourgame International, a China-based developer of online games, has signed a seven-year deal with The World Poker Tour (WPT), which will definitely strengthen the bond between the two firms while giving Ourgame an opportunity to use the WPT brand and logo in more than 12 Asian countries.
The deal gives Ourgame the exclusive right to the WPT brand and logo in 14 countries, including Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, and Macau. It also gives the company the non-exclusive rights to the same in Japan.
Thanks to the collaboration between Ourgame and WPT, tournament poker could be brought to mainland China as the WPT National China. The event is being held in China for the past three years. The latest deal now enables the WPT to live stream some of its events throughout mainland China from 2015 besides enabling Ourgame to bring social and free online casino games bearing the WPT brand to Asia.
Adam Pliska, the president of the WPT, said:
The World Poker Tour has worked hard to expand its footprint throughout Asian territories over the last few years with much success. A big part of this success was based on our strong working partnership with Ourgame, who established WPT National China at MGM Grand Sanya.
Referring to Ourgame as the WPT’s valuable partner in Asia, he said that the firm has been a business partner the WPT really needs as it is
credible group of visionaries with incredible strategic leverage and a true commitment to the long-term growth of poker.
He said that the deal will serve the purpose of expanding WPT in Asia and ensure that its growth in the continent will continue for several years into the future.
Despite the ban imposed on gambling in China, Ourgame and WPT could bring a WPT poker tournament into the country. The popularity of Tractor Poker in China has a role to play in the arrival of the WPT in China. The WPT obtained the rights to televise the National Tractor Poker Tournament in 2007. When Chinese players became interested in traditional variants of poker such as Hold’em, the WPT was able to convince the Chinese government to convert the National Tractor Poker Tournament into the National No Limit Hold’em tournament in 2012.
Frank Ng, CEO for Ourgame, said that the company has
found a great global partner in the World Poker Tour, as we start to expand from China to Asia.
