July 8: At the opening of the 48th annual World Series of Poker Tournament (WSOP), a statement was released on WSOP’s official website, announcing that WSOP had struck a multi-year agreement with Tencent. This partnership allows Tencent to obtain exclusive merchandise rights to the WSOP brand in the Asian market, and to organize events in China and Asia. 

Partnership plans include events such as WSOP China and WSOP Asia featuring the game’s most coveted trophies – WSOP gold bracelets.  In addition, WSOP China Circuit events awarding gold rings are also expected to be developed.  In terms of media distribution, any live events organized by Tencent and integrating the WSOP brand will involve media components with live event reporting, live streaming and potential television distribution to help spread awareness of poker in the region. 

Moreover, a WSOP branded game zone will be featured in Tencent Poker soon, which is the most popular play-for-fun social poker App in China.

WSOP will also develop a program for Tencent that will help to train and certify poker tournament staff and provide expertise on event structures, rules, equipment, procedures, etc., to ensure any live poker events in Asia use the globally-recognized standards of the World Series of Poker, the longest-running poker tournament series, dating back to 1970. 

Source: WSOP.com

Proofread by Linda Barouk