Modern poker strategy has become so refined that today’s amateur players stand little chance when pitted against a table full of calculating professional grinders. The disparity in skill level is so pronounced that many of the industry’s leading operators have turned their focus to attracting and nurturing casual users in the hopes of keeping the online poker economy healthy.

888, the world’s second-largest real-money online poker site, is one such company, and recently kicked off a marketing blitz called “Live the Game” with that goal in mind.

As part of the campaign, 888poker produced a series of well-made television ads that feature three poker-playing buddies who can’t stop one-upping each other, at or away from the poker table. In one spot, the men try to impress by doing increasingly difficult high dives, while in another, they take to the dance floor at a jazz club. Indeed, the 888 ads do a nice job of capturing the competitive nature of poker players in an entertaining and relatable way.

How to earn tickets

The ‘Live the Game’ promo runs until March 14 and gives players the opportunity to win a piece of $1 million in cash through a series of special tournaments and “missions.”

888 is continuously running $2,000, $5,000 and $10,000 guaranteed events which players can enter by collecting “tickets.” These can be acquired in several ways. Existing customers who signed up prior to the start of the promo, but have not yet made a deposit, will be emailed a special offer with the opportunity to win tickets. Members who have made at least one deposit will automatically receive three free tickets.

Additional entries can be won by completing any of the following daily missions:

• Smooth Player Mission – wins a $2,000 Smooth Call Tournament ticket
• Big Raiser Mission – wins a $5,000 Raise the Stakes Tournament ticket
• All Action Mission – wins a $10,000 Action Hero Tournament ticket

The requirements for each “mission” are emailed to players on a daily basis and can change from day-to-day. For the overachievers who complete three or more of those missions each week, 888 will award bonus cash prizes, extra tickets or casino FreePlays.

More Goodies

Users will have the opportunity to win even more prizes with the site’s ever popular prize wheel bonus feature. Depositing members are granted two spins per day and have a choice between two types of spinners. A “Smooth Spinner” will always award a small prize, while a “Wild Spinner” awards bigger prizes, but only 30% of the time. Up for grabs are cash bonuses, casino FreePlays, Sports Free Bets, Step Satellite Tournament tickets and Live the Game Tournament tickets.

Sign-up for 888 Poker here and take advantage of the ‘Live the Game’ promotions going on now.