Sports channel ESPN is going into the poker business in a big way,
judging by a long and unwieldy press release doing the rounds this
week. The channel will be offering free online poker play through
Micropower software on a site that will provide information ranging
from a poker book, through wireless poker play and DVDs to a range
of poker consumer products. And backing it up is an 11 week All-In
Poker Challenge online tournament culminating in a free seat at the
Harrah's 2005 World Series of Poker.
The multi-faceted poker initiative will reach across many divisions
including ESPN.com, ESPN Wireless, ESPN Books and ESPN Enterprises,
the company's brand extension and new business development arm. The
new ESPN Poker Club launched this week on ESPN.com, and includes the
site's new free online poker game.
The first 11 weeks of play on ESPN.com will be exclusively devoted
to the Degree All-In Poker Challenge, with the tournament winner earning
a seat in the Harrah's 2005 World Series of Poker courtesy of Degree.
In coming months the initiative will also launch a wireless poker
game; a poker-related book from ESPN Books by syndicated poker columnist
Steve Rosenbloom; DVD's of the 2004 World Series of Poker and the
ESPN Original Entertainment series TILT; and a line of high-end poker-related
consumer products.
Created by game developer Micropower, the on-site game allows poker
aficionados of every skill level to choose from six different games:
Texas Hold'Em, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Hi/Lo, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo and 5
Card Stud. After an initial software download, ESPN.com users can
compete against other ESPN Poker Club players at online poker tables
in single- and multi-table tournaments.
Extensive editorial content including "How To Play" information
is available on each of the games offered, tips for playing winning
poker, answers to frequently asked poker questions, and exclusive
columns from ESPN's "Jackpot" Jay Lovinger, poker guru Phil
Gordon and more.
On the tournament front, each Sunday at 2 p.m. ET for 10 weeks, ESPN.com
will hold a Sunday Qualifying Tournament for the Degree All-In Poker
Challenge that will include all players that qualified in the week
prior. The top 50 players each Sunday will earn a seat in the Finals
tournament beginning May 15 at 2 p.m. ET. The winner of the Finals
tournament will earn the seat in the World Series of Poker in Las
Vegas in June.
Each week, players will have four ways to earn a spot into the weekly
Sunday Qualifying tournament:
- Play 750 hands during the week from any combination of the games offered;
- Win five single-table tournaments (10 players, available at any time);
- Win one multi-table tournament (30 players, start every 20 minutes);
- Finish high enough in the rankings of a Big Play tournament (one per day, 8 p.m. ET ).
Late March 2005 will see the advent of Poker Hold'em Tournament. The
single-player wireless game will give players an opportunity to play
against up to nine computer opponents in a no-limit Hold'Em tournament.
Players will not play for real money and will be able to choose from
a number of different avatars, with each computer opponent having their
own unique and consistent style of play, leaving it up to the player
to learn to "read" their opponents. The game will be available
via several major mobile service providers between its March launch
and early summer.
In addition to ESPN Poker Club, ESPN's television networks will bring
poker fans 38 original hours of professional poker beginning with the
U.S. Poker Championships on March 24 and 26 on ESPN (six hours total),
and continuing with 32 hours of exclusive coverage of the 2005 Harrah's
World Series of Poker from July through November on ESPN and ESPN2.