PartyPoker Sponsorship Deal

PartyPoker.com is pleased to announce that it has signed a sponsorship deal with UK player Ian Frazer to become an ambassador and sponsored player for the leading online poker room.

Ian is the first cog in a new strategy from PartyPoker.com, which has previously stayed out of the player sponsorship market with the exception of main site ambassador Mike Sexton. PartyPoker.com will now be sponsoring players as it seeks to create a grassroots team. The emphasis is on VIPs, player loyalty and historic links to PartyPoker.com. More members of the team will be announced in the near future and more details on the team concept will follow as the team is shaped.

Ian ‘The Raiser’ Frazer is a very successful 50-year-old building contractor from London with live tournament winnings of over $ 1.3 million. The link to his success and Party is strong as he started playing online at the site in 2004 and has finished on the final table of five offline Party tournaments. He is a valued member of Party’s VIP club Palladium Lounge. His biggest live successes are scooping $ 500,000 by taking down the UK Open in 2005 and winning the first prize of $ 125,000 at the PartyPoker.com European Open II in 2006. Ian has cashed three times in six handed events at the WSOP and is known and feared as a specialist in that format.

Ian will be hosting his own invite only private tournaments on PartyPoker.com and only last Sunday won a package online for the Asian Poker Tour Macau event where he will join a large group of online qualifiers. He will be representing PartyPoker.com at a number of events at the WSOP in Las Vegas and he has already started blogging about life on and off the felt in Vegas on the PartyPoker.com Blog http://blog.partypoker.com/.

Ian said: “I am delighted to have got a deal with PartyPoker.com – it allows me to focus more on my poker than my everyday job. I have been involved with Party since the early Poker Den days so it is a deal that makes sense and is based on a strong relationship over a number of years. I left Party for a while as I felt the software got dated and the VIP service dropped from the original top level but since the October re-launch, the software is second to none and I’ve seen a massive amount of extra value given back through the new VIP system which puts Party back at the top. I’m looking forward to finding out who will join me.”

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “The sponsored player and grassroots team initiative will continue to grow with all VIPs reviewed for suitability. We have seen growth in VIPs coming back to Party since our launch of the new software and continued huge strides in the VIP programme which culminated in the launch of the new PartyPoints Store this week.”

“We are looking for players that have shown themselves to have star quality in their play but who are also fun, humorous and possess a strong character and willingness to co-operate. Our extensive international television distribution gives players the chance of brilliant exposure.”