I-play Signs Exclusive Mobile Entertainment Partnership with 3-time World Series of Poker Champion Daniel Negreanu
I-play goes all in with Poker mobile video and game
San Mateo, CA / London, U.K. - April 23, 2007 - I-play, the mobile entertainment company, today took another significant step in its strategic move into the broader mobile entertainment space by signing Daniel Negreanu, arguably the most successful tournament player in poker history, as the face of its suite of mobile entertainment poker products. I-play's diversification into mobile video capitalizes on the huge opportunity this space presents while leveraging the company's partnerships and proprietary technology strengths.
I-play's poker products will build on the success of what is now the world's fastest growing game. According to Nielsen Research, 44% of poker players are aged between 21-49 years old, an age profile that provides a perfect fit with the mobile gaming demographic. Nielsen also shows there has been a 370% increase in tournament play and a 60% increase in live poker action over the past year. On the back of this huge growth, I-play is bringing to market what will be the most innovative and compelling streaming video poker application and poker mobile game available in the mobile space.
In line with the company's strategic move into the broader mobile entertainment space, I-play and Daniel are creating 'made for mobile' streaming video clips which will unleash the potential Texas Hold'em champion that lies in every player. Shot at the Venetian Hotel & Resort in Las Vegas, over 100 clips spanning the basic fundamentals of the game right through to more advanced topics such as tournament play, no-limit strategy, tells/bluffs to Hot Tips are presented by Daniel himself.
I-play and Daniel are also creating a next generation mobile poker game, the Artificial Intelligence behind which is being tested against Daniel himself, and will therefore be the most sophisticated AI available on the market. The game will visually be the strongest on the market when it launches later this year. Daniel's enthusiasm for poker is insatiable, and having him by your side as your personal tutor, providing intelligent and in-depth analysis at each stage of the game is sure to make you winner.
Daniel Negreanu has been consistently winning poker tournaments since the age of 23 and has accumulated over 36 world-wide poker victories along the way. He has also been one of the most highly visible young poker stars appearing regularly on the Travel Channel, Fox Sports Network, Game Show Network and ESPN. In addition, he writes a nationally syndicated newspaper column, authored the book Hold'em Wisdom for All Players, was a contributing author for Doyle Brunson's book Super System 2, and appears as a regular poker columnist in Card Player Magazine.
In 1998, he earned the title of "youngest World Series of Poker (WSOP) champion," a designation he held until 2004. That same year, Negreanu made 11 final tournament tables, won two World Poker Tour (WPT) events, and won his third World Series of Poker bracelet in Limit Hold'em all in 2004. His career tournament winnings top $9.6 million dollars, which puts him in the top three poker players worldwide in terms of earnings. Daniel's professional accolades include being named the 2004 Card Player Magazine Player of the Year, 2004 ESPN World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year, and 2004-05 World Poker Tour (WPT) Player of the Year.
Daniel Negreanu commented: "Poker is a game that everyone should be able to enjoy whenever and wherever they are, so launching a mobile game is a dream come true. I hope that poker players everywhere will be able to share my passion, get more from their experience of poker from my hot tips on the poker mobile video, as well as improve their game on the poker mobile game."
Leighton Webb, SVP of Content Strategy and Licensing commented: "First of all, we are thrilled to be working with someone as accomplished and well-respected on the poker circuit as Daniel. I-play's streaming mobile video application and mobile game will be the ultimate poker products available on the market. The mobile video signals a ground-breaking new product and an industry first, offering bite sized chunks of entertainment to develop the Texas Hold'em aficionado in us all. I-play lays a royal flush with this next generation suite of poker entertainment products."
About I-play
I-play brings the best in mobile entertainment to an audience of over one billion people via a network of over 120 carriers worldwide, including Sprint (NYSE:S), Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ), Cingular, Vodafone (LSE: VOD.L) and Telefonica Moviles (NYSE: TEM), amongst others and online portals including http://www.iplay.com/. I-play has been creating mobile games since 1998 and continues to spearhead the creation of mobile entertainment for the next generation. As one of the world's longest established and respected creators of mobile entertainment, the I-play brand stands for quality and the best in mobile development.
I-play's investors are Apax Partners and Argo Global Capital. I-play is headquartered in London, with North American Regional HQ in San Mateo, California and European Regional HQ in Dunfermline, Scotland; a publishing studio in Macclesfield as well as sales offices in Paris, Hamburg, Madrid, New York and Singapore.
For more information, please call +44 (0) 20 7901 1760 or visit us at http://www.iplay.com/ I-play is a trademark and trading name of Digital Bridges Limited.
Contact:
Annabel Brog
I-play
+ 44 (0) 20 7031 8165
anna.brog@iplay.com