There’s no question that the World Series of Poker (WSOP) is poker’s biggest event, online or offline. Covering months of play, high-profile media and TV coverage, and scores of online tournaments, the WSOP is talked about constantly, whether it’s actually being played at the moment or not.
But, as the Fox Sports website has recently pointed out, some online-only poker tournaments are often just as good as the WSOP, and, in some ways, better.
So, since we at CAP have, in the past, advocated promoting the WSOP and its many online qualifiers as an effective poker affiliate marketing tool, it’s only fair to pay attention to what Fox Sports has to say about some of the slightly lesser-known (at least to the general public) online poker tournaments, too.
The article cites popular online tournaments like the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) and the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), stating that these tournaments “pay just as much prize money and carry just as much prestige as the top live tournaments, and the standard of play is often much tougher.”
That last part will be of interest to poker affiliates looking to court more serious players. Veteran online poker players will already know, of course, what online tournaments offer legitimate challenges, and which are more media-oriented affairs.
So, promoting online poker tournaments on your site is a way to distinguish your traffic. Newbies are more likely to look for WSOP qualifiers; expert players may be more interested in online-only tournaments where the game is the main attraction, not the media coverage.
“The big online events attract the game’s elite players to do battle, accompanied by flocks of railbirds who log on to watch these high-octane tournaments played out on the virtual felt,” the Fox Sports article continues. “The buy-ins are often pretty steep too, meaning only the big shots can play.”
The rest of the article amounts to little more than an advertisement for SCOOP, but it’s still highly informative reading for poker affiliates looking to better understand their potential audience. Check it out here.