The World Poker Tour (WPT) is coming to the African continent. On Wednesday, the tournament series announced that it has inked a sponsorship arrangement with Chili Poker to bring the game to Marrakech, Morocco. A WPT poker tournament is slated to be held at the Casino de Marrakech in October, although an official schedule has not yet been released.
Chili Poker makes its home on the iPoker Network, the largest group of sites that does not accept players from the United States. Other sites on the massive network include CD Poker, Expekt Poker, Mansion Poker, Noble Poker, Nuts Poker, Titan Poker, and VC Poker. The Network’s parent company and software developer, Playtech, is a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange, where it can be found under the symbol “PTEC.” The online poker room will begin running satellites to the inaugural WPT Marrakech on April 9th.
Alexandre Dreyfus, Chief Executive Officer of Chili Poker, commented in a press release distributed by the WPT, “Chili Poker is delighted to be associated with a world-renowned brand like the World Poker Tour in the creation of this unique and attractive event. With the creation of WPT Marrakech, Chili Poker also intends to emphasize Marrakech’s attributes as a highly-desirable destination for European and African poker players.” The country of Morocco is located on the northwest coast of Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The Casino runs 10 cash game poker tables on the weekends and is currently the home of the Marrakech Poker Open.
The first WPT Main Event in Morocco is scheduled to occur sometime in October. Television coverage of the tournament is also expected. In the United States, the seventh season of the WPT airs on Fox Sports Net, which recently announced that it has negotiated a deal to show Season 8. New WPT episodes air on Sunday nights and their presenting sponsor in the United States is FullTiltPoker.net, the educational offshoot of Full Tilt. As part of its sponsorship agreement, FullTiltPoker.net receives on-felt logo placement as well as an extensive amount of on-screen presence. The agreement was inked in November.
In addition to the featured WPT tournament, a Ladies-only event is expected to occur in Marrakech and its organizers are anticipating “dozens” of journalists to be on hand. The 2008 Marrakech Poker Open was held in December. At the conclusion of the $5,744 buy-in tournament, Thierry Smadga emerged victorious from the pack of 64 players, taking home $104,000. Taking second place was Coco Tigroudja, who earned $69,000. The top 10 players finished in the money. The tournament series featured four events, including a $574 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha contest.
WPT Founder, President, and CEO Steve Lipscomb commented, “We’re very glad to be partnering with our friends at Chili Poker—a poker room that is steadily growing in importance on the international scene—to offer WPT tournaments in Morocco. Our goal is to bring value to our partners and WPTE shareholders as we expand our global footprint.” WPTE, the stock symbol for WPT Enterprises, can be found on the NASDAQ. At the time of writing on Thursday, it was up $0.02 to $0.45. It has rebounded off its 52 week low of $0.15, but is still well below its high of $1.82. The WPT is fresh off the conclusion of its L.A. Poker Classic and Celebrity Invitational, both held at the Commerce Casino. Poker pro Freddy Deeb took down the Celebrity Invitational, which raised $112,000 for The Vine Group.
Playtech closed trading on Thursday in London up ₤7.25 to ₤349.50. It has traded in the last 52 weeks in a range of ₤292.25 to ₤558.00. As recently as the beginning of September, the stock had traded above ₤500 before collapsing with the rest of the worldwide economy.
