Ladbrokes Investing Mucho Dollars in Poker MillionThe Site Will Try to Take Advantage of U.S. Law Change |
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Ladbrokes is investing major dollars in an attempt to make Europe's Poker Million tournament on par with the World Series of Poker. But unfortunately, Americans aren't invited to the party.
Ladbrokes, which runs one of the biggest sportsbooks in the U.K., is investing $3 million to expand its online qualifiers and general production of the Poker Million, which is aired on Europe's cable sports channel Sky Sports. The actions of the U.S. government have influenced Ladbrokes' decision on the matter.
"The Safe Port Act opens up a significant opportunity for an offline poker tournament to rival the World Series in Europe," said John O'Reilly, managing director, Ladbrokes eGaming commented. "Poker Million is already the biggest poker event in Europe and we believe that by investing in the tournament and changing the format London may rival the Vegas version."
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With PartyPoker and many others out of the picture, Ladbrokes believes that the number of entrants into next year's WSOP's main event will drop. More than half the entrants of the 2006 WSOP main event qualified online (120 even came from Ladbrokes), and although many sites are still accepting U.S. customers, players' options have gotten fewer.
Ladbrokes will have the inside track to get into the Poker Million. It's expanding its online qualifier system to accommodate the thousands of players the site expects to try to qualify for the event. Organizers estimate the prize pool will be worth more than $4 million. The online qualifiers will only be open to European players.
The current format of the Poker Million is more of a shootout tournament system where players play single-table tournaments to advance. The Poker Million in 2007 will be a multi-table freezeout.
The weeklong event will take place at the end of 2007 at a casino that has yet to be named.
Ladbrokes has never accepted players from the U.S. and now sees an opportunity to tighten its grip on the European poker market. The company has been in business since the early 1960s, and it had built a brand name by providing offtrack race books in the U.K. and beyond. Its stock was first traded on the London Stock Exchange in 1967.
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