As the first live poker tournament series ever, European Poker Tour will provide free, wireless charging of the mobile devices to players in Season 10. The technology is provided by Duracell Powermat.
The European Poker Tour, as the first of the major live poker tournaments around, introduces the Duracell Powermat charging hotspots to the tables in Season 10. Players will therefore be provided free, wireless charging opportunity for their mobile devices. The company installs the devices into the customized poker tables, giving access for players to the mats, next to their drink holders. Those who already own the corresponding phone case can use them and those who do not, will be provided a connector. Using it, they will only have to put their device on the mats and have them fully charged throughout the festival.
"Smart phones are an essential part of a live tournament player’s kit, and a dead battery can be a disaster if you’re seated for hours at a poker table. The EPT prides itself on offering the best player experience of any poker tour, so providing individual wireless charging for each player at the table is a natural progression to free Wi-Fi, which we introduced in Season 9," EPT president Edgar Stuchly said.
"Wireless charging technology is becoming mainstream and people are beginning to expect it everywhere, just like Wi-Fi. Expanding our wireless charging technology to the EPT will prevent players from losing mobile power as they play poker for hours each day. We are pleased to be adding the EPT to our list of partners that includes AT&T, Starbucks and many others," Powermat Technologies CEO Ran Poliakine commented.
What is more, the company will be giving out all Main Event qualifiers free products, with which players will be able to charge their smart phones and tablets anywhere, anytime, without the restraints of cables.
In essence, the Powermat produces an electromagnetic field, which the connector part uses to transfer energy from to the connected mobile device. Powermat Technologies pioneered the technology and it was adopted by Duracell, distributing the state-of-the-art solution in the field of energy transfer.
