Tournament poker players have long sold pieces of their action. This year more players are moving the practice to Twitter and Social Media.
WSOP Player Shares Goes Social, WSOP 5K 8 Max Draws Big Names
Tournament poker players have long sold pieces of their action. This year more players are moving the practice to Twitter and Social Media.
With the odds of cashing in a major poker tournament starting at roughly 10:1, the variants and drain on the player’s bankroll can be a concern. Players looking to play multiple events at the WSOP are looking at a healthy investment. The practice of selling shares of their play is a long standing practice of many pros. In the past the process has been mainly accomplished in person, with some backers finding horses on forums like Two Plus Two and dedicated staking sites.
This year more players are taking their action to Twitter and Facebook. Poker Pro Kim Shannon, fresh off a great run at the Delaware Park Poker Classic where she final tabled three and cashed in five of the six events she entered, is one of the latest to put her action on social media. Shannon listed all of her events at the WSOP and Venetian Deep Stack tournaments with action starting at 75.00 for 1% share on Twitter and her Facebook page.
Faraz Jaka is using Twitter to sell shares of his 111,111 buy in Little One for One Drop action. You’ll also find Dave Stann, David Plastik, Annie LePage and Xuan Liu among the well-known players using Twitter to bring in investors. You’ll also find lesser known grinders on Twitter, like Dylan who is offering three packages with one percent going for 86.00 in the Venetian Deep Stack, 277.00 at the WSOP and 140 for the Main Event.
You’ll even find players like Mike “The Mouth” Matasow endorsing players accepting backers.
Twitter has also proved to be the downfall of a couple of action seekers after the Twitterverse pointed out that one player selling action was selling 110% of herself. The player’s tweets were quickly deleted.
Poker Fans have long lived vicariously through their favorite players. Twitter and other social media are making it easier for players to be part of their major tournament action.
WSOP 5K 8 Max Event Draws Big Names
The newest addition to WSOP Schedule drew some of the biggest names in poker and one Gold Medalist, as Michael Phelps makes his WSOP debut.
The 5,000 8 Max No Limit Hold ‘em Tournament made its inaugural appearance as Event 2 in the 44th WSOP. The tournament’s first bracelet winner will be crowned on June 1st.
Michael Phelps, the Olympic Superstar entered the tournament ‘on a whim” and is looking for this first WSOP bracelet to add to his collection of eighteen Olympic Gold Medals. The leader of the all-time Gold Medal category is a friend of all time tournament money winner Antonio Esfandiari, and a long time poker fan. Last year, TMZ stated that Phelps was a 100K winner in a high stakes cash game, an allegation that Phelps denied. During the past year, Phelps has been seen at several smaller buy in events and final tabled a recent Caesars event.
Phelps quest for more gold will be a tough one. World class players will be found three or more deep at virtually every table. Among the four hundred sixty-two starting players in the event are current Player of the Year Leader Daniel Negreanu, Hall of Famer Mike Sexton, WPT analyst Tony Dunst, Phil Ivey, “Mad” Marvin Rettenmaier, November Niner Joseph Cheong, WSOP Main Event Champ Jonathan Duhamel, Tom Marchese, David Sands, Kathy Liebert, WPT Season XI player of the year Matt Salsberg and Phelps’s friend Antonio Esfandiari.