After several weeks of confusion and conjecture, ClubWPT Gold has announced the new system designed to replace the Gold Coins/Sweeps Coins dual currency model.
Up until today, players at ClubWPT Gold could buy Gold Coins — play money currency with no exchange value — and would receive ‘free’ Sweeps Coins with each purchase. The value of Sweeps Coins was linked to USD$, and Sweeps Coins could be withdrawn for their cash value.
As we reported last week, the September 17 deadline announced by ClubWPT Gold for the retirement of Gold Coins on the site came and went, with a new date set for September 24.
This time, the news was announced with the removal of both Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins from the site and the launch of Hand Analysis credits and Chips, which many may view as a de facto replacement.
At time of writing, the site is down for maintenance — the new system will presumably be in place when it returns to action.
What are Hand Analyses, and how does the new system work?
The Hand Analysis tool at ClubWPT Gold reviews the way you have played a hand, comparing it with game theory optimal (GTO) play, as defined by a solver. The Hand Analysis kicks in automatically for every hand in which you voluntarily play, assuming you have a positive balance of Hand Analysis credits.
Here’s the key: the tool isn’t free. Packages of Hand Analysis credits must be bought from ClubWPT Gold, and each purchase comes with an amount of Chips — presumably equal to the purchase value of the Hand Analyses.
The value of Chips appears to be equivalent to the value of Sweeps Coins — existing Sweeps Coins balances have been replaced like-for-like with Chips — and therefore USD$. Chips may be used to play poker and can be cashed out, functioning identically to Sweeps Coins.
If you run out of Hand Analysis credits, you can continue to play using your Chips. If you run out of Chips, you can reload by purchasing Hand Analyses or by mailing in a free postcard request, with other promotional means yet to be announced.
With the site currently down and the new system still to officially launch, it's unclear whether the cost of Hand Analysis will be the same across all stakes. All other pricing info is also still to be confirmed.
Doug Polk has recently added a WPTClub Gold patch to his shirts, selling Upswing Poker and joining as an ambassador.
Does this system mean ClubWPT Gold is no longer a Sweeps site?
The site will certainly be hoping lawmakers see it that way.
On one hand, they have arguably removed the dual currency model which has seen similar sites incur closures and legal penalties. Packages of Hand Analysis credits do confer an actual product which users may find useful, and ClubWPT Gold’s close relationship with the training site Upswing Poker — founded by its ambassador Doug Polk — may come more to the fore as the former leans on the latter for credibility in the poker training space (ClubWPT Gold now describes itself as ‘a cutting-edge poker training and playing site’). Further training options, including customized drills and stats aggregators, have also been promised.
For its part, ClubWPT Gold has been upfront that the move is related to the 'recent changes in the legal landscape of the U.S. poker industry', and is an effort to adhere to industry regulations. It will be interesting to see if the faith the site places in the new system is strong enough for it to relaunch in regions from which it's previously withdrawn.
Viewed another way, it can be argued that little has changed, and that the unregulated, US-facing site is still effectively accepting deposits, distributing chips and processing withdrawals. For Gold Coins read Hand Analysis credits, and for Sweeps Coins read Chips.
In the short term, at least, it seems to be good news for the players on the site who can continue to play. In the longer term, it may be even better news for the lawyers.
Additional image courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO.
