It was refreshing to read about a new approach to charity tournament
marketing from VIP Management Services, where a linked land and online
gaming initiative for charity has been formed this week.
Through its VIPpoker.com brand, VIP has partnered with the Normandie
Casino in Los Angeles to create a $25,000 cash-guaranteed poker tournament
with proceeds benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
The May 15th tournament will be hosted by ESPN radio personalities
Mason & Ireland, who host the number one sports talk show in Southern
California. Called the "Big Show Tournament", the event
will feature free food, free beer, playboy models and celebrity players.
Mike Jamerson, the event coordinator for the project, said, "We
had to convince the Normandie management that there were synergies
from working with an online company. People play online to hone their
skills in privacy until they have the confidence to actually go play
in the more aggressive games in the casino. It is a natural progression."
"This is a win/win for everybody involved. The key point
to this project is running satellite tournaments online where Normandie
players can go to VIPpoker.com and win their seat -- a $230 buy-in
-- for free. That's value added for the Normandie customer and creates
a new customer for VIPpoker.com. Additionally, the VIP customer is
exposed to a quality land-based poker room."
The online satellite tournaments will run daily on VIPpoker.com and
Southern California players can log on and play to win their seat
in the Big Show Tournament. VIPpoker.com has been encouraging players
to participate in the free satellite tournaments.
Alistair Assheton, CEO of VIP Management Services, said, "We
believe the idea of bringing card club players into cyber space to
qualify for land based games is an exciting and new concept."