By RP, February 27, 2014
The Lakeside, San Diego-based Barona land casino is leveraging internet action on its free-to-play Barona Online Poker.com website to run satellites featuring prizes that include seats to the next $10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker main event, which this year has a guaranteed prize pool of $10 million (see previous reports).
Taking a leaf from the internet gambling promotional book, the land operator is offering main event seats in the Las Vegas live tournament as prizes in online satellites.
Barona’s third annual Main Event Mania series allows poker players from all over California to play online for entries into the poker world’s most prestigious event.
Main Event Mania started in 2012 with just a handful of players, and has become so successful that the operator has more than doubled the prize pool for this year’s event.
It is a series of online poker tournaments that begins on Sunday, March 2 and culminates in a final online event on Saturday, May 17.
Players who make it through will play in the Main Event Mania Finals for over $50,000 in entry prizes, including three $10,000 Main Event seats. All final table players will win entries into either the Main Event or one of the preliminary events in the world’s best-known poker tournament, along with travel and expenses.
Rick Salinas, general manager of the Barona Resort and Casino said Wednesday:
“Barona Freeplay Online Poker has awarded our players over $500,000 in prizes since we launched the freeplay site over two years ago.”
Owned by the Barona Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians, Barona Online Poker.com is a free online poker site that anyone of legal age can join. The poker site runs daily and weekly tournaments for prizes, including weekend stays at the Barona Resort and Casino. The site is operated to promote the land-based Southern California resort, casino and poker room.