On Monday, two prominent organizations in the online poker world – Players Network and the National League of Poker – entered into an agreement to create an online poker room for Players Network that will be accessible to the American consumer.
Players Network has been a home for informative videos over the past decade that focus on the Las Vegas scene, including the electric party scene, gaming and lifestyle. To attempt to drive more people to their site, Players Network entered into the agreement with the NLOP to have a “skin” of the free-of-charge NLOP site, allowing the Players Network branded room to play on the same platform as the NLOP and offer its players the same opportunities at prizes that NLOP players have ($50,000 a month in cash and prizes).
Players Network, in getting the branded platform in their partnership with the NLOP, is getting a very good deal. They will receive a percentage of all ad space on the site, a monthly fee for each player that plays for free and a significant percentage of the subscription revenue for each player that joins the VIP area of the site, paying for premium content and services. Players Network will also have access to everyone in its and the NLOP’s registration database.
“I play on the NLOP poker site and it definitely satisfies my desire to play competitive, legal online poker against other players from around the world without risking my money, while still getting the rush and having the ability to actually win money,” said Michael Berk, Players Network’s President of Programming.
“NLOP’s graphics and player-friendly environment makes it the ideal free/subscription poker technology for us to offer consumers under the Players Network brand. NLOP has an interactive social network for poker players and provides the perfect demographic for Players Network to market our services to. With our unparalleled ability to run ads for ‘Players Network’s Poker Club’ on our proprietary programming in over 22 million TV homes in the US, 121 million TV homes in Europe, and on our Broadband and Mobile platforms, Players Network has the ability to reach more potential members than any other poker site out there.”
The partnership between Players Network and the NLOP comes at a time when many of the free or subscription based sites are closing their doors. The end of 2008 saw such rooms as Duplicate Poker, Fleet Street Games and Zosoz end their runs in the online poker world due to the financial downturn that has affected companies worldwide. Even with this said, there seems to be a market for players who want the ability to play online without wagering vast amounts of money.
ClubWPT is one that has been able to withstand many of the problems that face other subscription online poker rooms. Earlier this month, ClubWPT awarded its $2 millionth dollar of prize money to players on its site and also offers a monthly $20,000 tournament. The site is the home for satellites to World Poker Tour events across the United States as well as seats at the World Series of Poker for its players, all at a low monthly subscription price.
There is no word at this time when the Players Network online poker room will be live and ready for action. Poker News Daily will monitor the situation and have full details of the Players Network’s poker room status as it comes available.
Bugsys did not fall to the hard economic times – if you were a regular there and had been for years, you would know that it was management that destroyed a good place – and a lot of us departed before they ever thought we would.
Good Riddance Brian