GGPoker’s World Series of Poker online for international players begins on August 1 and will feature 33 WSOP bracelet events. Poker players in the United States that are interested in playing in these events will need to travel outside of the country to do so. But on August 2, GGPoker will be launching a new poker platform specifically catered to U.S. players called ClubGG.
ClubGG will follow a similar business model to the one made popular by ClubWPT. In exchange for a paid monthly subscription, ClubGG members will have unlimited access to the poker tournaments running on the platform. These tournament entries are included in your monthly membership and come at no additional cost.
Details are still limited on what types of prizes players will be competing for. One clear area of focus in the early stages of ClubGG’s launch is on satellites into live events. According to ClubGG.net, a $49.99 per month platinum membership will give you the following perks:
- Over $100,000 worth of Live Event Prizes every month
- More ways to win your way to Live Events all over the world
- Cheaper way to participate in real live tournaments
- With unlimited access, practice for the real thing
- Free access to GGClass (a $49.99 retail value)
- 20% Discount at GGStore
The $100,000 of live event prizes will be distributed in the form of ten $10,000 WSOP Main Event seats in August.
Players will have the chance to win a $10,000 WSOP Main Event seat
GGPoker recently announced a ‘Road to Vegas’ promotion that would be available to international players. As an official partner of the WSOP, GGPoker is formally authorized to run main-event qualifiers. Through ClubGG, players in the United States will have the opportunity to play their way into a Main Event seat as well.
The promotion is broken down into three stages:
- Stage 1: Starting on August 2, a ‘Stage 1’ tournament will run every hour. The top 20% of finishers in each of these tournaments will receive a ticket into the ‘Stage 2’ event of their choice.
- Stage 2: Sit-n-Go tournaments will be available to ‘Stage 1’ ticket holders and will be launched as soon as they are full. These ‘Stage 2’ sit-n-go’s range from nine players to 180 players. One in nine players in these events will earn a ‘Final Stage’ ticket; so for example, one ticket will be awarded in the 9-max events, two tickets will be awarded in the 18-max, and so on.
- ‘Final Stage’: Players who have earned ‘Final Stage’ tickets will be eligible to enter the ‘Final Stage’ tournaments that will be held on August 8, August 15, and August 22. The top three finishers on August 8 and August 15 and the top four finishers on August 22 will be awarded seats in the 2021 WSOP Main Event.
ClubGG will help GGPoker to expand brand awareness in the United States
Only time will tell how successful ClubGG will be in the United States. The allure of having multiple chances to win a seat into the WSOP Main Event for as little as $50 may entice poker players to give the platform a try, but that steep monthly price tag could be a hard sell long term depending on the prizes that follow.
Regardless of how popular ClubGG ends up being, the real value for GGPoker could be giving the company a chance to advertise a legal poker site to casual fans in the United States. Serious poker fans and poker players already know about GGPoker after the site made huge splashes in 2019 with the acquisition of Daniel Negreanu as a brand ambassador and in 2020 with its partnership with the WSOP.
Casual poker players on the other hand are not as familiar with the international brand. Television, magazine, and radio advertising of ClubGG could help GGPoker build brand awareness in key markets ahead of its eventual entry into the United States with its real-money platform.
Featured Image Credit: Twitter
