Everest Poker celebrates WSOP success

LONDON, England –- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Everest Poker is celebrating a record number of entrants during the first year of its sponsorship of the Annual World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

On March 5th 2008, Everest Poker and Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. signed a multi-year agreement which included satellite tournament rights and strategic brand placement at the WSOP. This year's event saw a record breaking 58,720 people participate in the richest WSOP in history, with a prize pool reaching $180,676,248, making the Everest Poker sponsored WSOP the richest event in all of sports.

The new alliance between Everest Poker and Harrah's sealed the deal for the WSOP to attract a record number of non-American players by associating itself with a prominent European poker room. Players from 24 European countries attended this year's event and Everest Poker provided its largely European player base with satellites to 28 side events and seats to the Main Event. There was a 36% increase year on year of the number of the number of countries participating and for the first time ever, four of the nine players in the Final Table of the WSOP are from outside the U.S.

A record 130 Everest Poker players attended the WSOP this year with four of them hitting the money. Voitto Rintalla, a rock star from Finland and Team Everest member, made the final table of Event 39 and took $57,000 back to Scandinavia. Daan Slutter, from Enchlade in Holland, managed to cash twice making the last 600 of the 6,800 entrants for the Main Event and taking home $31,000. Wooka Kim, Team Everest's Japanese player also made the money at the Main Event coming 530th and winning $25,000.

However, the star of the Everest Poker players was Sylvain Coeur (which means 'heart' in French) who made it all the way to 140th in the Main Event, his first ever live tournament which he qualified for at the Everest Gaming poker tournament page, and cashed in $41,816.

Another highlight of this year's WSOP was the opening of the Everest Poker Hospitality Lounge, an exclusive area for press and players. A fully equipped press corner was made available to over 80 journalists who conducted interviews in the Lounge and welcomed 1,000 players between June 19th and July 12th. The classy and elegant suite was also used by such famous faces as Daniel Negreanu, Marcel Luske and Doyle Brunson for photo shoots, interviews or just to relax as the Everest Poker Lounge provided an escape from the hustle and bustle of the WSOP offering snacks, beverages and entertainment to all guests.

"Being sponsor of the WSOP further underlines Everest Poker's weight as a key influencer of the poker industry" commented Jennifer Joyce, Chief Marketing Officer for Everest Poker. "By making poker accessible to amateurs and experienced players from across the globe, we are changing the face of the poker industry."

Everest Poker is now building-up to the Finale of the WSOP which takes place on November 9th, and will be broadcast on ESPN to reach an estimated global audience of 370 million worldwide. Everest Poker's logo will appear on the inner rung of the WSOP feature table during all broadcasting, a first for a WSOP sponsor.