It’s no secret that Twitch has become a major part of the online poker world. Poker operators have also made efforts at reaching the growing number of esports players.
On Saturday, partypoker offers a unique event featuring both. Famous faces from the worlds of poker and gaming square off in The Big Deal. The 48-player invitational freeroll features a $50,000 prize pool.
During the event players will be streaming the action to their own unique audiences. The goal is to reach more Twitch viewers and esports players who might be interested in poker. Party officials hope to continue the effort with other events, including the upcoming Caribbean Poker Party.
“This is an experiment for us, and we are essentially exposing our brand to a wider audience, while also bringing an exciting new concept for our current players to watch and enjoy,” partypoker marketing director Vadim Soloveychik told PokerScout.
“Additionally, we want to showcase our streaming capabilities, as we have done with previous well-developed series on partypokertv; most notably the WPT World Online Championships earlier this year.”
Massive online poker streaming experience
Twitch allows operators to spotlight events during major tournament series. Along with some big poker and streaming fun, partypoker has more plans.
The company is hoping to break the record for the number of concurrent viewers for a poker stream. Some of the players involved include:
- Jeff Gross – partypoker Twitch team
- Matt Staples – partypoker Twitch team
- Benjamin Rolle – RaiseYourEdge poker trainer
- Jaime Staples – poker pro
- Troels “SyndereN” Nielsen and Ted J. Forsyth (aka “Pyrion Flax“) – Dota 2 players
- Jeffrey “SjoW” Brusi – a former professional poker player who later became known for his StarCraft II skills
- “Quill18” – a strategy game streamer
Big Deal shows how important Twitch can be to bring more players into the game. Educating others via the platform is a major aspect of the event.
“Twitch is the leading gaming content platform, so it’s very important for us,” Soloveychik said. “It’s a platform that has been used by us for many tournaments in the past and several Team partypoker pros use Twitch to stream their content.
“We expect to continue to use Twitch so long as we feel it is a great platform for our content.”
Showing off the partypoker platform, adding some new wrinkles
During the freeroll action, streamers will discuss their play with viewers on their own channels. Players will have an added incentive to eliminate opponents, with a unique twist to a traditional tournament.
All players must be knocked out three times before they exit the tournament. The player making the elimination then “raids” the other player’s viewers. Raids help streamers send viewers to another channel at the end of their stream.
“This is a unique feature for this event to allow the poker action to continue longer,” Soloveychik said. “We have experimented with the format to tailor our content specifically to the Twitch audience.
“Things like three knockouts and raiding audiences as a bounty are among a number of things we would like to test out with Twitch. This is a show for Twitch viewers first and foremost, so we hope they will like it.”
Esports production company Beyond the Summit will provide hero content for partypokerTV throughout the tournament. This includes feature tables with notable players as well as highlights from others.
The company has gone the extra mile to make it a special event. Viewers will see cards-up coverage and the final table will be streamed live.
Poker pro and commentator Maria Ho, along with poker streamer Joey Ingram, will provide commentary.
“We are excited to host The Big Deal,” Soloveychik added. “I’m sure it will be fun to watch.”
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