On May 27th, the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) will kick off from the Rio in Las Vegas with a $500 buy-in Casino Employees event. The very next day, the brand new $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament will begin, attracting the very best that the poker world has to offer to celebrate the 40th running of the WSOP. Among its presenting sponsors will once again be Milwaukee’s Best Light, Harrah’s officials announced this week.
Chad Dern, Marketing Director for the popular beer brand, commented in a press release distributed by Harrah’s, “Poker continues to enjoy growth both as a leisure activity and as a televised sporting event, so we want to make sure Milwaukee’s Best Light is the beer of choice whether fans are playing or watching at home.” Milwaukee’s Best Light is the official beer of the WSOP, a distinction it will hold in 2009 and 2010. As part of its two-year sponsorship extension, the beverage can use the official WSOP logo on its packaging and in promotions. Leading up to the 2008 WSOP, Phil Hellmuth’s face appeared on cans of Milwaukee’s Best Light and Milwaukee’s Best Ice, accompanied by a variety of poker quotes.
In addition, the tournament series’ Player of the Year award is sponsored by Milwaukee’s Best Light. Last year, that distinction went to Full Tilt Poker pro Erick Lindgren, who won his first bracelet by taking down a $5,000 buy-in Mixed Hold’em (Limit and No Limit) tournament for $374,000. That tournament featured one of the toughest final tables in WSOP history. Lindgren defeated Bodog pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo heads-up. The final table also included Roland de Wolfe, “November Nine” member David “Chino” Rheem, Howard Lederer, and David Williams.
WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack added, “We’re excited to have Milwaukee’s Best Light continuing on as the tournament’s official beer sponsor and we look forward to building on this successful relationship as the tournament kicks off its 40th year.” The beer will have signage throughout the massive Amazon Room at the Rio. In the past, it has received on-air mentions on ESPN, which holds the rights to broadcast the WSOP.
This weekend marks the conclusion of the WSOP Europe Main Event on ESPN2. On Sunday night, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Scott Fischman, Ivan Demidov, Stanislav Alekhin, Bengt Sonnert, Toni Hiltunen, Robin Keston, and Christopher Elliott will appear on the two hour finale. The group hails from six different countries (the United States, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland, and the United Kingdom). The WSOP Europe tournament series is sponsored by Betfair. Its official airline was Amsair Executive Aviation.
This is the fourth year that Milwaukee’s Best Light will serve as the sponsor of the WSOP. Terms of the agreement between the two companies were not disclosed. In December, All In Energy Drink re-upped its commitment as the Official Energy Drink and Bottled Water Supplier of the WSOP. The water is hawked by a variety of poker pros including 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Johnny Chan, Hellmuth, and 2008 HORSE Championship winner Scotty Nguyen.
The decision by Milwaukee’s Best Light to become a part of the WSOP festivities once again likely was due to the record-smashing turnouts last year. Harrah’s officials announced just prior to the start of the 2008 WSOP that the final table of its prestigious $10,000 buy-in Main Event would be pushed back 117 days until November in order to create additional buzz. The result was one of the most successful WSOP events ever. Ratings for the finale of the Main Event were up 50% in 2008 in comparison to 2007.
The 2008 WSOP drew the most total number of entrants ever at 58,720, the most number of countries ever represented (124), and the largest overall prize pool on record ($180 million). In the end, Danish pro Peter Eastgate took down the Main Event title, besting Ivan Demidov heads-up. Eastgate became the youngest WSOP Main Event winner at age 22. Demidov also reached the final table of the WSOP Europe Main Event, the first time a player had ever made both final tables in the same year.
The 2009 Main Event kicks off on July 3rd and features four starting days. The tournament will play down to its final nine players on July 14th. Four months later (sometime between November 7th and November 10th), the survivors will return to the Rio to determine a winner.
