In just a few short weeks, Everest Poker will return as the presenting sponsor of the World Series of Poker (WSOP). When the tournament series kicks off on May 26th from the Rio in Las Vegas, Everest Poker qualifiers will see their winnings in the Main Event matched up to $1 million and then distributed evenly among qualifiers.
Peter Eastgate, the champion of the 2008 WSOP Main Event, banked $9.1 million for his efforts. His win in November capped off the 55 event Las Vegas installment of the WSOP. In 2008, Everest Poker, which was in its first year as presenting sponsor of the WSOP, sent 62 qualifiers to Sin City. Together, they earned $1.2 million in the Main Event. This year, Everest Poker is giving its online qualifiers an extra incentive to become the next World Champion.
Everest Poker spokesperson Ed Pownall commented in a press release distributed by the independent online poker room, “Our aim last year, our first as sponsor, was to encourage more European players than ever before to go to the WSOP, which we did. This year, we want to reward that loyalty by offering a knock-out reason to qualify with us. This bonus gives everybody hope of winning something even of they are out early on and it will also give an added sense of camaraderie to all those qualified with us.” Betfair served as the official sponsor of the 2008 WSOP Europe festivities, which were held in London in September.
Everest Poker will match Main Event winnings by its members up to a combined total of $1 million. Then, it will divide the sum equally among all of its online qualifiers, regardless of whether or not they cashed. Last year, each player would have taken home $20,000. This unique promotion allows players who fail to cash in the WSOP Main Event the chance to boost their bankrolls. Although Everest Poker is qualifying its members for both the WSOP Main Event and the final $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament, its match bonus only applies to the prestigious $10,000 contest.
The online poker site offers a series of Step Sit and Go Tournaments in order to win entry into the Main Event. The first step has a buy-in of $3 or 750 Summit Points. Players who take first or second in the event move onto Step 2, an $11 or 3,000 Summit Point tournament. The winner and runner up in that event move onto Step 3, a $40 or 10,000 Summit Point affair. The last two survivors enter Step 4, a $134 or 33,500 Summit Point tournament.
Players who take first and second in Step 4 then have an important decision to make. They can elect to compete for a seat into the $1,500 buy-in event by playing in a $500 or 127,750 Summit Point buy-in qualifier. They could also play on to Step 5 for the Main Event, which also boasts a buy-in of $500 or 127,750 Summit Points. First and second place in that event move onto Step 6, a $1,728 or 432,000 Summit Point buy-in tournament. Its winner takes home a $13,000 WSOP Main Event prize package. Second place in Step 6 will receive $1,500, third place grabs $1,000, and fourth and fifth places pocket $500.
Jumpers and other routes to qualifying for the WSOP Main Event are also available. WSOP side event tokens expire on June 7th, while the Main Event tokens disappear one week later. Each Main Event winner receives $1,000 in spending money to bring a friend with them, entry into the Everest Poker Lounge at the Rio, and an invitation to a special VIP party at the Pure Nightclub.
According to traffic ranking site PokerScout.com, Everest Poker is the sixth largest site worldwide, offering a seven day running average of 2,450 real money ring game players. Its 24 hour peak is 4,541. It is the fourth largest site or network that does not accept players from the United States. The site is a licensee of GigaMedia, which is traded on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the symbol “GIGM.”