There is just one month to go before the November Nine return to Las Vegas to determine the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion and Full Tilt Poker is adding to the anticipation with a new promotion, Pieces of Ivey.
Considering that Phil Ivey has over $9 million in tournament poker winnings alone, the Main Event prize money is not exactly life-changing for him, but the promotion from Full Tilt allows players who could use an extra five-figure cash prize to take part in the action. In order for players to participate, they must opt-in by selecting “My Promotions” in the cashier section of the Full Tilt Poker client. Customers will see links directing them to the Piece of Ivey page, where they can officially register.
Once users are registered, they will earn tickets for the Piece of Ivey drawings based on not only how much they play on the site, but also how well they do. At the cash game tables, players will earn five tickets for every Full Tilt Point they earn in a winning hand. Players can also earn tickets in sit and gos and multi-table tournaments. In tournaments with fewer than 30 players, participants will earn five tickets for each Full Tilt Point earned if they are able to make the money. In tournaments with more than 30 players, players will earn 20 tickets per point, but those who finish in the money and make the final table earn a bonus of 50 tickets.
All of these tickets will be entered into a series of raffles. The richest raffle is for one of the nine seats in the 5% Piece of Ivey Sit and Go. The prize pool will consist of the cash equivalent of 5% of Ivey’s eventual Main Event winnings, which could range anywhere from $63,180.10 should Ivey go out in ninth place to $427,321.75 should he win the bracelet. The second raffle awards entry into a sit and go that will offer up a prize pool equivalent to 1% of Ivey’s winnings, which could range from $12,636.02 to $85,464.35. The third series of raffles will award $150,000 in cash prizes. The site will give away more than 600 cash prizes a day to raffle winners from October 8th until November 5th.
The drawings for the two sit and gos will take place at 10:00am ET on Friday, November 6th and play out at 2:00pm ET on Saturday, November 7th. That Saturday is also the same day that Ivey and the other eight players at this year’s final table will return the Rio Hotel and Casino to resume play in the WSOP Main Event.
Even though Ivey is seventh on the chip counts, odds makers and members of the poker community believe that the seven-time bracelet winner is the man to beat come November. Chip leader Darvin Moon has almost six times the number of chips Ivey owns, but the high-stakes pro still has room to maneuver with more than 20 big blinds to his name at the start of final table play.
