Alaska Man Wins First WSOP Seat in Milwaukee's Best/NLOP Giveaway
Tony Green, a 34-year old salesman from Anchorage, Alaska, earned a seat in the Main Event of the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) by winning the first of seven online poker tournaments in the Milwaukee's Best Light Texas Hold'em Challenge on Sunday night.
Green, who started playing poker five years ago, will be heading to Las Vegas next summer to play in a major live multi-table poker tournament for the first time.
"I couldn't stop shaking," Green said, describing his reaction to winning the WSOP entry. "It was a surreal moment and it's still kind of happening."
Milwaukee's Best Light, the official sponsor of the WSOP, has teamed up with the National League of Poker (NLOP) to give away seven seats in the 2007 WSOP in seven weeks. Each week one lucky player will win the $10,000 entry fee for the tournament to be held at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, plus airfare and accomodations.
Green earned a seat in the first weekly online tournament by making the top 500 on NLOP's weekly leader board. Players earn 1,000 points a day just for logging in and can use points to enter tournaments, with top performers increasing their point totals. Players can also earn bonus points by completing surveys or by entering bar codes from Milwaukee's Best Light cans.
Each tournament has a brief Milwaukee's Best Light ad prior to play, the tables are branded with the Milwaukee's Best Light logo, and when a player busts out of the tournament, a Milwaukee's Best Light beer can falls on their seat with a message that reads "Restore your Manhood, Time for a Best Light."
The tournament series gives players an opportunity to play in what will likely be the world's largest live poker tournament for free. The winner of the 2006 WSOP claimed a $12 million first prize. Green, who says he had thought about playing in a lower buy-in tournament next year, never dreamed of playing in the $10,000 Main Event.
"I would have to win the lottery or something major would have had to happen in my life for that to happen," Green said.
For more information on how to play or to register for the tournament series, visit http://poker.milbestlight.com.
