The World Poker Tour (WPT) gaming and entertainment brand is to soon enter the real-money sweepstakes poker market of the United States and Canada via the launch of its new ClubWPT Gold platform. 

Established in 2002, the WPT is responsible for organising and operating a series of lucrative land-based poker tournaments, including the WPT Australia Championship, the WPT Montreal Championship and the upcoming WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas. The enterprise debuted its subscription-based ClubWPT online poker service in 2008 before premiering its PlayWPT social casino advance some eight years later.  

Familiar Facility 

The WPT stated its ClubWPT Gold platform will be going live for punters across a multitude of North American jurisdictions ‘in early 2025’ and be run in a similar way to its more established ClubWPT platform, but without a subscription requirement. 

The operator also stated that the coming innovation will give aficionados in every American state except Washington, Idaho, Michigan, and Montana the opportunity to remotely compete against others via an extensive assortment of legal poker games. 

Sweepstakes gambling has recently grown in popularity across the United States and Canada as participants use virtual in-house currencies with no real-world value to enjoy casino entertainment, including slots, blackjack, roulette, and poker. 

This scene is perhaps best exemplified by the Global Poker brand from Australian operator VGW Holdings Limited, which premiered in February of 2016 and has since gone on to attract a loyal community of more than 250,000 players. 

Coin Convenience 

In the case of ClubWPT Gold, punters are to be offered the opportunity to buy Gold Coins before being gifted an identical number of Sweeps Coins. Participants will then be able to utilise this former virtual currency to enter a range of social competitions, while the latter may be redeemed in-game for cash prizes.  

The WPT is obviously hoping the provision of Sweeps Coins only after the purchase of free-play Gold Coins will be enough to assuage any potential allegations of its ClubWPT Gold being an unlicensed gambling domain. 

This comes after Perth-headquartered VGW Holdings Limited was named as the defendant in a federal class-action lawsuit in May over allegations its Global Poker platform is breaching local gambling laws. 

Definitive Detractor 

Furthermore, the American Gaming Association (AGA) lobby group recently called for increased oversight of sweepstakes gaming due to a perceived "lack of regulatory oversight." The representative for the United States’ land-based casino industry went on to assert such platforms could harm consumers as well as ‘the integrity and economic benefits’ its membership provides through ‘investment and tax contributions’. 

“These sweepstakes-based operators have weak, if any, responsible gaming protocols and few, if any, self-exclusion processes,” read a statement from the ASA. 

“There is no independent product testing to ensure basic fairness to players and, although many claim players must be 18+, age verification procedures, if they exist, are often questionable. The opaque nature of these operations also presents a prime opportunity for illegal activity and enriching bad actors.” 

Regulatory Rebuke 

All of this came after the Executive Director for the Michigan Gaming Control Board, Henry Williams, sent a cease-and-desist letter to VGW Holdings Limited amid a claim its sites had been ‘conducting illegal gambling’ by featuring entertainment ‘in which a player wagers something of monetary value for the opportunity to win something of monetary value’. 

The operator reacted to the January communication by putting measures in place to exclude players from ‘The Wolverine State,’ although uncertainty remains as to whether or how other jurisdictions may now act. 

“Gambling regulations are in place for a reason and illegal gambling operations are not welcome in Michigan,” read a statement from Williams. 

“We do not want businesses that skirt the law having access to Michigan citizens and leaving them vulnerable because they are playing on unregulated sites that leave them with no recourse and that syphon funds away from communities because they are not paying taxes like a regulated and legal gambling establishment would.” 

Operator Optimism  

Despite all of this, the WPT remains confident in the legality of its coming ClubWPT Gold platform, which will also be available to aficionados in all Canadian territories except Quebec. 

The firm's Chief Executive Officer, Adam Pliska, revealed that December's WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas is to celebrate the forthcoming launch of the new service by running a special freeroll event complete with a $5 million pot and a guaranteed $1 million first-place prize. 

“Our return to Wynn Las Vegas this December is equipped with another monumental investment into the development and growth of not only the WPT World Championship but the poker industry as a whole,” read a statement from Pliska. 

“In celebration of the launch of ClubWPT Gold, we’re aiming for another first for the poker world with the largest freeroll ever offered.”