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“I am honoured to accept the Gambling Online Magazine Readers' Choice Awards 2007 for Best Poker Software. For many years now Gambling Online Magazine has been a great source for CelebPoker to communicate our latest promotions to our customers. Indeed, its stylish appearance and strong editorial content aligns very well with our brand, so I am particularly pleased CelebPoker has won this award.”
What has been the highlight of 2007 for the company and why?
The highlight of 2007 for CelebPoker has to be our successful transition from a celebrity poker room, to a celebrity and lifestyle-focused brand.
Back in 2003, when I launched the company, we were the world’s first celebrity poker room where poker players could compete online against famous sports, television and music stars from around the world and win some great prizes along the way. In 2007, we felt it was time to utilise our knowledge of celebrity culture in other ways and, rather than focus on employing superstars already in the public eye, we decided it was time to provide our own poker players with the opportunity of becoming real-life celebrities themselves. Our shift in brand focus was reflected in our marketing strategy and we began by introducing a global search for poker players to represent CelebPoker at major televised European poker events. I don’t think anyone predicted just how popular this promotion was going to be. From day one, Team CelebPoker saw a flurry of activity on the site with thousands of online poker players heading straight for the tables from all over the globe, eager to win their place on the Team and demonstrate their ability at a live EPT event.
Not only did the success of Team CelebPoker prove that there’s still nothing quite like the thrill of testing your poker skills against other players in a live tournament and that players are hungrier than ever to play in live events, but also that our new celebrity-lifestyle approach had been successful.
As it stands, Team CelebPoker has been our most popular promotion to date, and we have sent players to compete live in more than seven countries—many players have even had big-money finishes and been interviewed on live television.
2007 will definitely be remembered for our marketing success and, although we still have a vast number of celebrities playing on the site, we are now dedicated to helping online poker players find fame and fortune by honing their skills on the site and providing them with the opportunity to become sponsored players at major live poker events.
What has been the worst moment of 2007 for the company and why?
The most challenging moments of 2007 were certainly felt at the beginning of the year as we began to see the true impact of the US decision to ban online gaming, enacted on October 13, 2006.
Over the years we had invested vast sums of money marketing in the US, including featuring regularly at the MTV Music Awards and sponsoring many live poker tournaments, and therefore had a large US customer base, so the ban was a real challenge to the business. Fortunately CelebPoker has a strong management team that was able to rise to the challenge and we set about broadening our international reach in Europe in order to minimise the impact of our withdrawal from the US market.
What has been the biggest tournament of the year on your site?
CelebPoker’s biggest tournament of 2007 was definitely our Team CelebPoker promotion where we gave away more than 30 sponsored seats to play at live EPT events. This year, in addition to Team CelebPoker, we are launching a brand new CelebPoker league. Players will have the chance to win a gargantuan total prize pool of €641,000 and it will be one of the biggest poker leagues online.
What makes your software stand out?
Our poker software provides a realistic feel that comes about as close as you can get to playing poker live in a casino. At CelebPoker however, it’s not just the great graphics and superb usability of our software that makes us stand out. We are always striving to introduce new promotions and solutions to help improve the players’ total online experience.
We believe in the ethos that a poker room should never ‘stand still’ and our mission is to provide customers with the ultimate online poker experience, which means we are constantly introducing new promotions and testing new systems behind the scenes.
For example, we are one of the only poker rooms in the world to have our own avatar system, which allows players to upload their own bespoke avatar. This has been a hugely popular introduction to the site.
We are also renowned for having great customer support and have recently introduced a new player support team that online poker players of all levels can contact directly (via messenger, email or on the phone), who’s task is to ensure that players are receiving the best promotions, that they are up-to-date with the latest offers and generally that they’re enjoying their experience on our site.
Also at CelebPoker we know that to become a celebrity you have to live like a celebrity; and this is reflected in our prizes and promotions where we offer more than any other partner in the industry. Our promotions include winning sponsored seats to major televised, live events (such as the WSOP or EPT Monaco Grand Final), lifetime rakeback (where players are reimbursed for playing on the site), huge deposit bonuses, monthly freerolls and other exclusive giveaways where players could even find themselves walking up the red carpet to a film premiere surrounded by superstars or sipping champagne at an exclusive celebrity party. We really do have a variety of promotions to suit every level of player.
How many staff does the company employ and where?
The company employs 25 staff and is based just outside of London. We are also supported by a team of territory managers, who look after player development and manage their respective countries across Europe.
What do you have planned for 2008? What sort of year is it going to be?
I know 2008 will be a very exciting year for CelebPoker as we have many exciting plans to introduce new games and promotions for our players. Team CelebPoker, our headline promotion, is set to continue, which will provide any CelebPoker player with the chance to win sponsored seats to major, televised poker tournaments around the world. We know that there is a great chance that we will unearth some of the best poker players in the world and continue to make our players famous, so I can’t wait for our next live event.
Our unique concept of turning online players into real, live celebrities will flourish this year as we introduce some great new incentives. Indeed, CelebPoker will be offering players the chance to compete for unique prizes that they will not be able to win anywhere else in the world.
CelebCasino, our new online casino, will also launch soon, which will offer players more chances to find their fame and fortune on our sites.
David Donovan, CEO, CelebPoker
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