Weekly Flop: WSOP Goes Biannual, Gus Finally Wins, and Beckham is back

The WSOP Europe and WSOP Asia-Pacific are now running on alternate years - does this mean that the WSOP expansion is slowing down?..... Gus Hansen seems to keep losing over and over again in online poker, but he supposedly booked a multi-million dollar backgammon win. David Beckham has landed yet another huge sponsorship deal, this time as the face of a big Asian gambling push. Here's a closer look at these stories in the Weekly Flop.

WSOPE and WSOP APAC will alternative Years
Ever since 2007, the WSOP Europe has run on an annual basis. And that continued in 2013, with the WSOP Asia-Pacific also being introduced this year. However, the poker world recently found out that the master plan is to alternate these two events on a biannual basis, rather than have them run separately each year. So the WSOP APAC will run in 2014 at Australia's Crown Casino, while the WSOPE won't happen until 2015.

After they rolled out the APAC last year, many people wondered how far WSOP organizers were going to keep taking the expansion. Furthermore, the pros were getting annoyed at how the accomplishment of winning a gold bracelet was being diluted. It appears as if the WSOP has finally heard players' requests and decided to stop handing out bracelets like free candy. Furthermore, this move should allow the WSOP to create bigger and better international events in the future.

Gus Hansen: The High Stakes Backgammon King?
It's becoming a tired story now...Gus Hansen plays online poker, Gus Hansen loses. The Great Dane is now down around $11 million since Full Tilt Poker began offering games again in November of 2012. So where does this guy get all of his money from? Well, according to retired French footballer Jean-Philippe Rohr, a good portion of Hansen's money came from a high stakes backgammon game.

Rohr, who's a backgammon/poker pro himself, recently told PokerListings that Hansen won $2.5 million while playing backgammon. Apparently, the high stakes game took place in the three-time WPT champion's Monaco hotel room last year. Hansen was doing so well in this game that he actually skipped Day 2 of the EPT High Roller, despite being the chip leader. Of course, this $2.5 million profit doesn't even begin to cover the massive online poker losses. But it's nice to hear that Hansen is at least doing well somewhere.

Beckham to promote Las Vegas Sands in Asia

David Beckham already has lucrative sponsorship deals with companies like Coca-Cola and IBM. And now, you can add one more big sponsor to the list since the recently retired footballer has inked a deal to represent Las Vegas Sands.
The plan is for Beckham to increase the Sands' presence in China since direct casino advertising is illegal in the world's largest country. Given that the former Manchester United star is already promoting youth football (soccer) in China, it only makes sense that he could also push gambling too - just not to the same age demographic hopefully. With Beckham's instantly recognizable face and marketability, he should definitely give the Sands a boost in Macau.