Ronaldo at PokerStars Live Macau
With their live poker room in Macau set to host the upcoming ACOP, PokerStars have made plans to try and drum up extra publicity and participants for the event. Their key initiative has been unveiled recently, and involves players being given the chance to play against Brazilian footballer Ronaldo, and potentially win a package to ACOP in the process. This is only open to Asian players. The policy of bringing world renowned sports stars into the team of PokerStars pros is an interesting one, with PokerStars clearly hoping to harness the star power of these athletes to further their brand. Whether players who love poker would be excited about the prospect of meeting the star of an altogether different sport, in this type of promotion, remains to be seen.
For those who do have an interest in that prize, there are freerolls going on between October 15th – 24th on PokerStars, with the possibility of getting to the grand final and winning that package for the ACOP, which takes place in Macau between October 30th and November 15th.
Ronaldo (Photo PokerStars)
Fun and Games to encourage brand loyality
There are of course other initiatives which aim to expand APPT events in Asia, with the idea of community being at the forefront of their thoughts. With this in mind, APPT organise a pool party at every ACOP event, and they also put together activities like beer pong contests, dice competitions and darts. Honorific trophies are even awarded for these activities.
Liv Boeree at last year’s Beer Pong competition (Photo PokerStars)
To give credit where it is due, holding parties where people can drink, socialise, play games and enjoy themselves seems a like a good way to keep people coming back who might otherwise have had a bad experience by busting out of tournaments early. It is not a new idea though, as the APT and APPT have been competing with each other in similar ways for quite some time.
In the modern day live poker scene, tours benefit greatly from attracting a loyal core group of players who travel to all the events. The tours look to encourage a sense of community to then encourage brand loyalty, and for the most part, it works well.
Article by Craig B.
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