A year after the World Poker Tour dipped into the vibrant Texas social-poker scene to sign prominent poker vloggers Brad Owen and Andrew Neeme to a brand-ambassador deal, the WPT has returned to the Lone Star State for another group signing. This time it's WPT Global, which has inked a deal with the rising trio of Dallas-based players, Jack, Frank, and Rosey, otherwise known as the founders of Next Gen Poker.
Next Gen Poker was created in the summer of 2021 by Frank Cucchiarra, Jack Aiello, and Matthew Rosenfield. The three were poker-loving students on a Dallas university campus who felt limited at the time by the casino and cardroom closures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The three were enthusiastic followers of several prominent vlogs, including those of Owen and Neeme and another WPT brand rep, Ethan "Rampage" Yau, and the trio created Next Gen Poker and began offering their own short-form videos on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and elsewhere.
With a keen eye toward brand awareness, and marketing -- Next Gen Poker has its own merchandise line, as an example -- the trio quickly garnered an online following and a measure of fame in the Texas poker scene. That eventually led WPT Global to sign Next Gen to a series of collaborative content projects, especially on the social platforms where the trio has already demonstrated success.
"LET'S GO," the trio Tweeted when WPT Global announced the deal. "So excited and honored to have this opportunity. Let's do some big things." Specific details regarding the WPT Global / Next Gen Poker collaboration are expected in the coming weeks.
