World Poker Tour® and ELC Gaming have announced a multi-day event to take place in Netherlands that will see a collaboration between esports and poker The event will take place at Holland Casino, in Valkenburg, Netherlands between October 9th-15th.
The partnership will come to fruition at the WPTDeepStacks™ poker series at Holland Casino, which features a €1,100 Main Event taking place October 12-15. During the festival, ELC Gaming’s “Big Betty,” the 18-wheel mobile esports arena, will host an “esports festival” featuring casual and professional events and tournaments, including the finale of the “ELC Legend Series”.
The release states that a number of integrated poker and esports events will be held during the six day festival, both inside the Casino and on Big Betty, with opportunities to win entry into the poker tournament and esports competitions. Additionally, attendees can try out VR, relax in a “casual gaming lounge” and win prizes through playing.
“This is an inspiring time in both poker and esports, the two mindsports that have only begun to realize their enormous collaboration potential,” said Frank Ng, CEO of Ourgame International, parent company of both WPT® and Allied Esports. “With prominent businesses in poker and esports, Ourgame is uniquely positioned to raise the bar with a new breed of events across the globe to give all of our players more of what they want.”
“The World Poker Tour is proud to partner with ELC Gaming for this first international poker and esports venture,” said Adam Pliska, CEO of the World Poker Tour. “The crossover between the poker and esports communities is undeniable, and the addition of a live esports event to one of the WPT’s live poker festivals is a perfect fit to provide an even greater experience for our players. Backed by the support of Ourgame, the WPT looks forward to this being the first of many collaborations between the World Poker Tour and ELC Gaming.”
Leon Groenewoud, COO of ELC Gaming, added: “We are delighted to be working with our sister company, the World Poker Tour, and Holland Casino to create the first-ever crossover experience between poker and esports. We have seen firsthand the popularity in both industries grow exponentially, and I’m confident this partnership is a natural next step for players, fans, and business partners alike.”
Esports Insider says: Interesting collaboration between the WPT and ELC as two very different worlds merge together. This may not be the last collaboration we see between Poker & esports either, considering the hype around esports in Vegas and casinos.