WSOP.com Reverses Sponsored Pro Policy And Signs Greg Merson

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Friday, September 19th, 2014 | Written by Stephen Smith

One year after launching its product in Nevada, online poker site WSOP.com has reversed its previous position and signed a high profile figure from the poker world to become its first ever brand ambassador. The 2012 WSOP Main Event champion, Greg Merson, will now help the company “promote online poker back to its full potential.” Following announcement of the deal, Bill Rini, WSOP.com’s Head of Online Poker, commented:

“Greg is a terrific ambassador for the game of poker. He loves the game, is passionate and opinionated about its future, and he will help us spread the word about our offerings and ensure the poker playing community has a respected, experienced voice to help shape WSOP.com moving forward.”

WSOP.com reverses its sponsored pro policy

Back in June, the 26 year-old pro left Ivey Poker and soon after was seen wearing a WSOP.com patch sparking rumours of his imminent signing with the Nevada and New Jersey based site. However, Greg Merson’s appointment has still come as somewhat of a surprise considering the position WSOP.com had previously stated on the subject of sponsored pros.

Unlike its main Nevada online poker rival, Ultimate Poker, which has a full roster of pros including brand ambassador Antonio Esfandiari, WSOP.com had already stated it would let the respected brand name it had built over 43 years do the talking. As Ty Stewart, Executive Director of WSOP, explained at the time:

“On the land based side of the WSOP, we’ve always shied away from signing personal endorsements with individual players. As an organizer who has a key role in.. the outcome of the game we see ourselves in the league function, aimed to be impartial and to have maximum trust and integrity.”

With WSOP.com ready to celebrate its one-year anniversary on September 19th, however, Greg Merson now becomes the front facing poker pro promoting WSOP.com and will soon be seen competing on the site from his residence in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Greg Merson a natural choice

Greg Merson has amassed $361,374 from online tournaments playing under the screen name “gregy20723,” in addition to the $10,962,188 he has won in the live arena, $8,531,853 of which came courtesy of his 2012 WSOP Main Event win.

Unlike many of his fellow WSOP ME winning counterparts, who have largely kept their heads down and disappeared off the radar following their victories, Greg Merson has continued to remain visible in the poker community and help promote the game. Past winners who also fall into this category include Phil Hellmuth (1989), Chris Moneymaker (2003), Greg Raymer (2004), Joe Hachem (2005), and Jonathan Duhamel (2010).

WSOP.com gains ground

WSOP.com first entered Nevada’s online poker market in September 2014, almost 6 months after Ultimate Poker became the country’s first regulated iPoker room. Up until then, Ultimate Poker had enjoyed a monopoly in Nevada‘s nascent iPoker market and boasted around 220 cash game players over a seven-day period, but since WSOP.com’s launch, Ultimate Poker traffic has fallen to just 65 cash game players, according to PokerScout. Meanwhile, during the recent 2014 World Series Of Poker, WSOP.com saw its traffic increase to as many as 150 cash game players and 400 players at peak times, although since the tournament’s conclusion numbers have subsequently subsided to their present level of 90 cash players.

WSOP.com also operates in New Jersey‘s regulated iPoker market, where it enjoys a partnership with Caesars Entertainment and its online gaming partner 888. Similar to its Nevada operation, WSOP NJ has now risen to become one of the the state’s biggest sites, and generated $1,060,855 in revenues last month, second only to Borgata (bwin.party) with $1,167,963.

Overall, bwin.party and WSOP.com dominate New Jersey’s online poker industry commanding a 52.13% to 45.71% split of the market for the year so far.

WSOP online poker anniversary

On September 19th, WSOP.com will be celebrating one year since the website went live in Nevada, during which time $363 million has been wagered. To help celebrate its anniversary, the Caesars Entertainment owned site has organized a number of exciting promotions, including a 100% reload bonus for account holders up to $400, double APPs, and a Tournament Ticket Sale promotion which allows a 50% reduction on a number of specific tournaments with buy-in fees ranging from $1 up to $200.

Perhaps the most popular promotion, however, will be the Anniversary Tournament Series, which will run towards the end of September, and host nine events with a total guaranteed prize money of $70,000, and buy-ins ranging from $5 to $200.