Collecting memorabilia is normally associated with sports like baseball, football, and basketball. However, very rarely has poker gear been one that collectors look for. Officials from the World Series of Poker are looking to change that trend by holding the first ever WSOP auction featuring items from the final table of the 2008 Main Event.
Ty Stewart, Director of Marketing and Corporate Alliances for the World Series of Poker, stated in a press release, “This is the first time that the public has had the opportunity to bid on authentic items from the World Series of Poker Main Event, and the centerpiece of the auction will be the Final Table itself. We have very passionate fans and we expect this auction to generate a lot of interest.”
The auction, which is being conducted on eBay and facilitated by WSOP merchandising partner XP Events, has a variety of items available, from the actual table that was used by the November Nine at the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio to playing cards that were dealt during the two day finale held earlier this month. At the time of writing, here were some of the auction items up for grabs along with their current bids:
WSOP Final Table and Felt – $25,100
WSOP Final Table Dealer Button – $152.50
WSOP Final Table Deck of Cards – $100
Milwaukee’s Best Light WSOP Neon Sign – $305
Smaller Milwaukee’s Best Light WSOP Neon Sign – $150
There are 16 items available through the WSOP auction in total. Bidding is scheduled to end on November 24th, although many of the items have closing dates that are five days from now. The WSOP Store also has a variety of items available for purchase, including hats, t-shirts, and autographed photos. If poker fans are looking for gear for their home games without forking over $100 for a deck of cards, the WSOP Store offers chip reloaders, 200 piece chip sets, a casino calculator, electric shuffler, a high-tech dealer button with built-in timer, and branded chips. Plastic playing cards are available for $30 per set and come complete with a case and WSOP logo.
Announcing the WSOP auction earlier in the week, Alan Fey, President of XP Events, commented, “The Final Table is one of the most highly-anticipated sports events of the year. Fans will be able to log onto the WSOP online store the evening of the ESPN broadcast and begin bidding on memorabilia as well as browse the wide range of other WSOP-branded items available through WSOPshop.com.” The final table gained additional notoriety in 2008 after its conclusion was pushed back for 117 days. In July, the tournament played down to the final nine players, who were dubbed the “November Nine” because their return to the Rio would be delayed until that month.
When the nine finalists headed back to Las Vegas, Danish poker pro Peter Eastgate shattered Phil Hellmuth’s standing record to become the youngest Main Event champion in World Series of Poker history. Eastgate is 22; Hellmuth was 24 when he accomplished the feat in 1989. As a result, interest in poker was renewed, as ratings for the final two-hour episode, which aired on cable station ESPN, were up 46% over last year, when Jerry Yang claimed poker’s biggest title. The show’s 1.9 rating meant that 1.9 million homes and 2.4 million viewers were tuned in during the average minute.
It remains to be seen if the WSOP’s auction can capitalize on the revitalized interest in poker. Plans for the timeline of the 2009 WSOP Main Event have not yet been announced.
