World Poker Tour Launches WPT Wildcard: A Creator-Focused Poker Experiment

WPT Wildcard: It’s Also About Content

WPT Wildcard was developed with two basic ideas in mind: streamability and audience engagement. So think of it like this, rather than revamping the entire WPT brand from the ground up, this is going to be a side project designed for a different kind of poker experience.

The first two debut Wildcard events are scheduled for early October, with the premiere on October 8 featuring Heart Attack Poker, a livestreamed cash game where players are hooked up to heart rate monitors. WPT ambassadors and other content creators will take part, while viewers follow the action (and the biometric data) in real time.

Four days later, on October 12, the second event, Mystery Bounty Wildcard Chaos, opens for a $300 buy-in. While it features a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool, that’s only part of the story. The event also introduces “power-ups” and “penalties” that affect how the tournament unfolds.

A Little Strategic Disruptions

The Wildcard Chaos event takes on the Mystery Bounty format but in its own way. Basically, it’s all but designed to produce moments worth watching and sharing. These include:

• Respawn: you can bust and still re-enter with an average stack
• Table Swap: you can switch tables or seats mid-game
• New River: you can replace the river card before it’s shown
• Bounty Forfeit: you can lose all collected bounties
• Button Ban: you can forfeit the button for a full level

Each of these mechanics has a purpose. They’re there to challenge players and get them to make tough (and possibly viral) decisions in front of the cameras

WPT Wildcard Was Built for Expansion

While we’ve talked about WPT Wildcard in terms of WPT Prime Lodge, the brand isn’t limited to the Austin stop. It’s going to accompany the main WPT tour at future events around the world.

As the WPT CEO Adam Pliska called the new format:

As far as PokerListings is concerned, we can’t wait to see how WPT Wildcard stacks up in this poker climate.