World Series of Poker Launches Facebook App

The World Series of Poker staked its claim to the Facebook poker scene by launching an application that will allow people to play free poker against their friends and others on the social networking site. The World Series of Poker app is actually a rebranded version of the program known as Poker Palace, designed by Playdom Games.

In the game, players can play in five or ten-handed “cash games,” though no actual cash is involved. Players begin with 6,000 in chips, and can buy into ring games for anywhere from 400 to 8 million chips. They can also play sit-and-go tournaments and other events, which have buy-ins ranging from 2,000 to 100,000 chips.

The program is also designed to take advantage of the social networking capabilities inherent in Facebook. Players can see where they stack up on leaderboards, both among their friends and within the greater Facebook community. During game play, players can earn 75 achievements that they can show off on their Facebook pages.

The World Series of Poker has recently taken great strides to expand their brand beyond the yearly poker event in Las Vegas. The last decade has seen the rise of the World Series of Poker Circuit, as well as the World Series of Poker – Europe. Harrah’s Entertainment, which now owns the World Series of Poker, has been rumored to want to create a larger online presence for the series. The Facebook application may be one part of that effort; there are also rumors that a fully functional online poker site may be in the works.

The 2010 World Series of Poker is almost completed, with only the final table of the Main Event remaining to be played. The so-called “November Nine” will return to the table on November 6^th, for the chance to win a first prize of $8.94 million.