The game of poker has become a global phenomenon as both live poker and online poker events have increased in popularity with every passing year. The media has also played a key role in branding and increasing their coverage of poker events which has resulted in a growing fan following. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is arguably the biggest and most prestigious poker tournament in the world as poker professionals compete to win huge amounts of prize money and a coveted WSOP bracelet.
One of the reasons for the popularity of poker and the WSOP event is that it pays out huge cash prizes and can turn un-known poker players into overnight millionaires. The WSOP has been in operation for well over a decade and the company recently decided that it wanted to leverage the growing global interest in poker. The WSOP has announced that it will collaborate with a number of poker rooms across the globe and soon start hosting WSOP events outside the United States.
The WSOP has partnered with poker rooms in Morocco, Mexico and Italy who will license the WSOP brand. The first WSOP-C event is scheduled to take place on the 7th of March in Marrakesh, Morocco and is expected to generate a lot of buzz. There will be a few changes to the standard WSOP format and one of the most obviously ones will be the absence of a WSOP bracelet as the WSOP-C will present the winners with a ring and not a bracelet.
In a statement, Gregory Chochon, WSOP Director said
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. 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 WSOP-C events that take place outside the U.S. will also have smaller buy-ins when compared to the main WSOP series in the U.S. The WSOP will test international waters and see the initial response in a couple of countries before deciding on its global strategy. The company wants to emphasize “World” in World Series of Poker and permanently establish itself as the biggest and most popular poker brand in the world.
