In this column, we deliver you the latest and most interesting online poker industry news from across the world and all platforms.
NFT Poker Club launches in partnership with World Poker Tour
As blockchain technology increases in popularity, so has the use of digital items such as non-fungible tokens whose value is greatly impacted by its popularity and demand, most recently. The crossover of this budding asset to the poker industry is taking the community by storm as the world’s first NFT Poker Club celebrates its launch this February 2022. Dubbed as the Poker Heroes Club, poker players all over the world can prepare for their awaited entrance to the Metaverse available exclusively within the World Poker Tour global platform.
The debut stands to be in collaboration with blockchain developer GAMAVRS and will serve to welcome its members with the ability “to use their Poker Heroes as in-client avatars with special abilities such as access to freeroll tournaments, exclusive celebrity tables, and access to WPT live VIP events.” Regular players may be lucky enough to encounter celebrities including Steve Aoki, Vince Van Patten, Lynn Gilmartin, Tony Dunst, and other WPT ambassadors across the virtual felt along with access to multiple $100,000 freeroll tournaments throughout the year.
Also mentioned in WPT’s announcement, the entire collection boasts of 9,999 NFT avatars, majority of which will be made available in three separate phases beginning March 1, 2022. With the Club’s membership limited to 9,999 members, interested buyers can secure the rarest and most valuable Gods avatars in next Tuesday’s official market release.
The 9,999 Poker Heroes are divided into three rarity groups:
Humans (60% of total supply)
Cyborgs (30%)
Gods (10%)
“GAMAVRS is helping us integrate Poker Heroes into the entire WPT experience,” said Adam Pliska, CEO of World Poker Tour. “We are confident that players who mint or purchase Poker Heroes will appreciate the wide range of benefits afforded to them.”
We’re back with behind the scenes of the Poker Heroes collection!
“OH! MY! GOOOOD!”. That’s what you’ll scream if you get to mint this one.
This outfit is inspired by Pocket Kings (KK), and players often refer to it as “King Kong.”#gamavrs #pokerheroes pic.twitter.com/KJiaavvsgB
— GAMAVRS (NFT Poker Club) (@gamavrs) February 22, 2022
€500,000 GTD Unibet Online Series XV
Success after success, Unibet Poker is back again this February for the fifteenth edition of its popular online series with this time, over €500,000 in prizes to be won across 105 events. The festivities running through March 7, caters to all levels of bankrolls with games well-distributed throughout four buy-in categories: Nano (€0.5, €1), Low (€5, €10), Mid (€25, €50), and High (€100+). While only those in the high level group carries prize pool guarantees over the €15,000 mark, the €1,100 Main Event remains to be the awaited tournament on everyone’s schedule.
The E101 UOS Unibet Open Online High scheduled for March 6-7, features an exciting €125,000 guarantee to wrap up the series. Additionally, a total of four leaderboards: Low, Mid, High, and Overall, and the newly introduced Nano Winners Showdown is set to award a combined €21,000 in prizes with each winner claiming a €1,000 voucher to be used for any of Upswing Poker’s educational courses.
Natural8 – GGNet celebrates with $5M GTD GGMasters Overlay Edition
A tournament no poker player would want to miss, Natural8 – GGNet is offering its solid user base a great value event like no other. In celebration of its iconic GGMasters tournament series’ second anniversary, the network is showing its gratitude by offering a massive $5,000,000 guaranteed GGMasters Overlay Edition through March 20 – 21, 2022. The usual $150 buy-in event will allow runners to enter only once given the tournament’s Freezeout format.
For those who are still growing their bankrolls however, will still have a chance to hit the whopping top prize with qualifiers as low as $2 running on the client multiple times a day. Three starting flights covering varying regions and timezones complete the schedule with Day 2 set on March 21st for the crowning day.
GGMasters Overlay Edition Full Event Schedule
| Date | Day | Time (UTC) | Event | Buy-in |
| March 20, 2022 | Sunday | 12:00 | GGMasters Overlay Edition $150, $5M GTD [Asia Flight] | $150 |
| March 20, 2022 | Sunday | 17:00 | GGMasters Overlay Edition $150, $5M GTD [Europe Flight] | $150 |
| March 20, 2022 | Sunday | 22:00 | GGMasters Overlay Edition $150, $5M GTD [Americas Flight] | $150 |
| March 21, 2022 | Monday | 17:00 | GGMasters Overlay Edition $150, $5M GTD [Day 2] |
I can't believe what @GGPoker is doing!!! Make sure you don't miss out on this one: pic.twitter.com/TsX1H9v9sh
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) February 14, 2022
Chico Poker Network brings $1M King of the Ring PKO Series 2
Making a return following its inaugural progressive knockout series last year, US-friendly Chico Poker Network is once again hosting its classic King of the Ring PKO festival covering $1,000,000 in guaranteed prizes. The new series extends until this coming March 6th and features a total of 120 events on schedule across four weight class categories. The lengthy lineup accordingly boasts four highlighting Main Events to conclude the series, each of which caters to a different buy-in level as seen below.
King of the Ring PKO Series 2 Main Event Schedule
| Date | Weight Class | Time (ET) | Round # | Tournament Name | Buy-in | KO | Fee | Total | Details |
| Sunday, March 6th, 2022 | LW | 12:00 PM | 111 | PRELIMINARY – $20,000 GTD | $2.50 | $2.50 | $0.50 | $5.50 | 8 Max |
| Sunday, March 6th, 2022 | LW | 1:00 PM | 112 | LW MAIN EVENT – $25,000 GTD | $5.00 | $5.00 | $1.00 | $11.00 | 8 Max |
| Sunday, March 6th, 2022 | MW | 1:30 PM | 113 | MW MAIN EVENT – $75,000 GTD | $25.00 | $25.00 | $5.00 | $55.00 | 8 Max |
| Sunday, March 6th, 2022 | HW | 2:00 PM | 114 | HW MAIN EVENT – $100,000 GTD | $100.00 | $100.00 | $15.00 | $215.00 | 8 Max |
| Sunday, March 6th, 2022 | FW | 3:00 PM | 115 | FW MAIN EVENT – $3,000 GTD | $1.00 | $1.00 | $0.20 | $2.20 | 8 Max |
A $10,000 King of the Ring Leaderboard spread out across the four different leaderboard categories will also be available throughout the festival with an additional bonus of $1,000 for the ultimate King of the Ring Title final event. To close in on the leaderboard race, the winners of each category will have the chance to battle each other for the overall crown and glory along with a $500 cash prize for the first place winner.
- $500 Featherweight ($0 – $4.99 buy-ins)
- $2,000 Lightweight ($5 – $19.99 buy-ins)
- $3,000 Middleweight ($20 – $99.99 buy-ins)
- $4,500 Heavyweight ($100+ buy-ins)
