The Importance Of Being Sponsored Pro Poker Player

Better connectivity enabled by high-technology strengthens the interaction with players Brian Balsbaugh in his blog this week gave some insight into the benefits of having top poker names fronting for your brand and ROI of high profile front men. He suggests that the poker business is to a great extent dependent on a constant flow of new depositing players, and the most successful strategy for attracting them has always been the engagement of respected poker professionals in fronting the brand. As an example in attracting new customers he pointed to Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars, which between them captured roughly 75 percent of the online poker market, and to their strategy of employing pro poker players for interaction, publicity and reputation. In Balsbaugh blog we could read that: "High profile pro players create content, which is then broadly distributed and becomes a successful new player acquisition strategy. For example, PokerStars hired a team of poker players, purchased television time and paid for the production of its poker television shows. The show generates sign ups, site analytics allow them to identify a positive ROI and the project gets funded over and over. It worked in 2004 and it has worked every year since. That is the tried and true, time tested method of delivering that consistent influx of new depositing players." On the other hand, Party Poker is creating poker content for attracting new customers so that they can avoid hiring the team of pro poker players. The similar strategy consists of allocating the budget to team pros - Party acquired the World Poker Tour in 2009 for over twelve million dollars and successfully gets high profile players to participate in its popular Party Poker Premier League. In addition, Balsbaugh observes that thanks to developments in technology, and popular networks - blogs, tweets, web and pod casts, message boards, Youtube and Facebook - the value of professional players has been significantly increased by multiplying the opportunities to communicate and impart knowledge to players, and therefore enhancing the reputation of companies sponsoring the professionals involved. One who is not afraid of controversy or speaking his mind, and at the same time a very successful exponent regarding the area, is Balsbaugh's most prolific client in this matter Daniel Negreanu.