Last week, word broke that the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Texas Hold’em Poker on Facebook had launched a promotion to give players seats to the WPT Boot Camp. The promotion runs through Wednesday and Poker News Daily caught up with David McCaman, Senior Director of Marketing for Hands-On Entertainment, to break down the unique opportunity. Remember, you only have a few days left to win your way in by purchasing Texas Hold’em Poker chip packs.
Before we get to the interview, you should know that users of WPT Texas Hold’em Poker will soon be able to take advantage of live chat, buddy lists, private tables, and sleek avatars as part of a new software update. The game has also made its way to the Nintendo DSi and is available for 500 points in the Nintendo DSi Shop. The developers behind the software are quickly growing its player base, which has cemented WPT Texas Hold’em Poker as one of the top free programs in the industry.
Poker News Daily: Talk about where the idea for the WPT Boot Camp promotion came from and what’s involved for WPT Texas Hold’em Poker Facebook players.
David McCaman: The game that we’re doing on Facebook has been tremendous. We’ve seen steady growth and a lot of returning users.
Since the WPT is a trusted and inspirational brand for players, having that same type of inspiration through a Facebook game is where we were going to separate ourselves from some of our competitors initially. We’ve had a long history as a licensee of the WPT and doing the mobile game for them. We had the first Web-to-wireless experience in 2005. We worked with the WPT Boot Camp in past promotions and thought it’d be a great way to bring it into the Facebook game. We can give people a chance to up their own poker games in the process as well.
The promotion has been received really well so far and the players are excited. We ask people to buy a chip pack, which runs from $1.99 to $20, to get a chance to win. In all of our press about it, we also let people know that you don’t necessarily have to purchase anything to qualify. If you want to send in a postcard to enter, you can do that too.
PND: Explain the allure of playing poker on Facebook.
David McCaman: When you’re playing on Facebook, it’s exciting because you can practice your poker skills and gamble without real money. We offer an avatar system, which has been received well, where people can design their own poker persona and come to the table. Facebook is social and poker is also social, so it’s a great complement to the experience.
PND: What stats can you share regarding the use of the WPT’s Facebook interface?
David McCaman: We’re at nearly 40,000 daily users, so there are a lot of people coming back every day. We also have 300,000 monthly users. The thing about Facebook games is that they’re services; every day we work with our engineers to come up with new items and get feedback from our users.
PND: Explain how Hands-On became involved with the WPT initially.
David McCaman: We started working with them when they first came onboard and were looking at a mobile poker game. We worked with them to brand it and worked with the big cell phone carriers to implement it. Poker is a great game to play on the go and it’s a great social experience, so it made sense.
PND: How can users take part in the WPT Texas Hold’em Poker promotion?
David McCaman: Go to Facebook and search “WPT” to find us. You’ll see the game pop up and there’s a picture of Alison Waite there with some cards. It’s a free program that takes a minute or two to load. You get 20,000 in chips for free.
PND: How challenging is it to survive in the competitive Facebook game market?
David McCaman: Ninety percent of these games are free, so you’re relying on a small percentage of people to make money. It’s definitely challenging and the environment rewards companies that can figure out the best ways to do that. There are lots of ways to get people to enjoy the experience and want to pay for aspects of your product.
