Playboy Enters Online Poker Market With Cryptologic-Designed Site
PlayboyGaming.com is the new home of Playboy's online casino offerings, including a poker room that opened on January 22nd as part of the Cryptologic Network. The poker room also includes blackjack, and a separate casino module will launch in the next few months, though as one would expect, the real-cash offerings are not available to U.S. residents, despite Playboy's American roots.
PlayboyGaming spokesperson Lee Knott hinted at the promotional opportunities likely to be offered through the new poker site, saying this: "We're delighted to deliver the unique Playboy brand to an online gaming audience. Not only will players experience a quality poker offering, but they will also have the opportunity to win once-in-a-lifetime, priceless experiences that no other online gaming site can offer."
Among those experiences are likely to be trips to upcoming editions of the Playboy Poker Camp, which made its own debut last month with five days of festivities, featuring instruction from Chris Moneymaker and a phalanx of other well-known pros, including David Williams, Layne Flack, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak and Jim 'Krazy Kanuck' Worth, all surrounded by the expected Playboy appeal and glamour. That camp included a trip to the Playboy Mansion and a night on the town, L.A. and Playboy style, and a second camp is tentatively scheduled to take place this coming fall. Campers anted up $5,000 for the right to attend, with additional seats given away through other channels, such as a drawing at the host Morongo Casino. The camp wrapped with a poker tourney with a $100,000 grand prize and other Playboy merchandise and prizes up for grabs.
The Playboy Poker Camp also marked the next step in the growing business relationship between Playboy and Moneymaker's own licensing arm, Moneymaker Gaming, following the launch of a line of high-end, co-branded products such as poker chips, chip sets, tables and other accessories. Future joint efforts may also involve selected NASCAR drivers and the WWE.
