PartyPoker Live makes a statement by sponsoring the WSOP-C: Brazil.
In 2016, the 888 sponsored World Series Of Poker Circuit: Brazil attracted over 12,000 players and every poker media outlet in the region. The Main Event alone had a million dollar prize pool with over 1,000 entries.
It was a huge success for 888, no other event in the region attracts as much attention as the WSOP-C.
However, Brazil is going through a poker boom, reports claim it has over 8 million active players and counting. Add to that a movement to regulate online gambling and you get online poker sites fighting for every piece of the pie before it's too late.
This year, PartyPoker Live made its first move into the region and cut a sponsorship deal with the World Series Of Poker. They pushed 888 out of the way and are now the sole sponsor for the WSOP Brazil Circuit stop, the biggest event in Latin America.
This translates into hundreds, if not thousands, of people playing on PartyPoker for the first time, trying to satellite their way into the main event and its million dollar prize pool.
WSOP-C Brazil is the only 2017 WSOP event so far not sponsored by 888.
This might be one of the first shots fired in the war for the Brazilian poker market, which has been slowly growing for years and it's become too juicy to ignore. With the regulation clock ticking, we can expect more aggressive moves like this one in the future.