Now that we know the composition of the November Nine for the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, much of the attention of the poker community will shift from what has gone on in the tournament to what will happen during the three and a half month layoff. One of the biggest opportunities for players since the November Nine concept was created has been the ability to make sponsorship deals. Sure, the money they are going to win is really, really nice, but the extra money from sponsors, primarily online poker rooms, is welcomed, especially if it comes with ongoing tournament buy-ins.
With the troubles that the usual sponsorship suspects have been having in the United States, there was a distinct lack of online poker logo patches on the clothing of the final group of players last night. But one online poker room in particular was on display: 888poker.com. 888Poker already has not one, but two players wearing its logo at the Main Event final table.
The first, Anton Makievskyi, got a lot of camera time during ESPN’s Day 8 telecast. From Dnipropetrousk, Ukraine, Makievskyi’s attire was the subject of complements by the broadcast team. Donned in the same blue and yellow “Ukraine” jacket as Event #26 winner, Oleksii Kovalchuk, Makievskyi entered play on Tuesday as the chip leader, with just over 21 million chips. And, of course, the 888 poker logo was right there over his left collarbone. Makievskyi didn’t have the greatest day, falling below 14 million chips, but he’s still in the hunt for the Main Event bracelet, and that’s what matters. When play resumes in November, Anton Makievskyi will be 8th in chips. Being 21-years old, this is only his first time playing in the WSOP in Las Vegas. Should he win, he would become the youngest Main Event winner of all-time, beating Joe Cada by about three months.
The other 888poker representative is the lone Englander still remaining, Samuel Holden. A quiet player, the 22-year-old was the epitome of calm, cool, and collected on Tuesday. Nothing seemed to rattle him. And while he wasn’t splashing around chips like a couple of his competitors, when he did commit chips to the pot, he made great reads, making sure his bets counted. He’s not in the greatest of shape going into final table play, as he’s the short stack with 12,375,000 chips, but with blinds and ates at 250,000/500,000/50,000, he still has a couple orbits before he’ll be in desperation mode.
It will be interesting to watch what will happen with sponsorships in the days leading up to the final table. According to WSOP rules, no more than three players can wear logos for the same entity at a televised final tables. Normally that’s a problem for the likes of Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, who usually have their hands on huge portions of the field, but this year, with both having pulled out of the U.S. and Full Tilt having licensing issues, the door looks to be wide open for poker rooms such as 888poker who have focused on the non-U.S. market for the last several years. 888 Poker has room for one more November Niner, so we’ll see what develops.