Deputy Editor
Starting on Jan. 1, California residents playing on ClubWPT Gold will have to work around some bizarre rules that the operator has enacted in hopes of remaining compliant with changing California gambling law.
The main new restriction delineates nine days per month as essentially normal operating days. During these nine days, players can win and redeem Chips, cashing out as normal. During the rest of the days in a given month, players may not redeem chips for cash. They can still win Chips — A.K.A. site currency — but they can’t cash out.
Instead, they’ll have to wait for one of their redeeming days in a subsequent month, then “play through” the chips to turn them into redeemable ones. The mechanic is similar to that of many online bonuses in various gambling verticals, including casino and sports.
Low-volume players who play fewer than 10 days per month will experience no change. The redeeming days don’t have to be consecutive. They’re simply the first nine days in a given calendar month in which the player logs in and plays at least one cash or tournament hand.
It’s not clear what the play through requirement is on unredeemable chips won in previous months outside of the nine-day window. The running theory on Reddit seems to be that it will be 1x. In other words, a player with 500 in unredeemable chips would have to put 500 in play via either tournaments or cash games to “unlock” those chips into redeemable ones. At 2x, that requirement would be 1,000, etc.
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Making ClubWPT Gold Available on a ‘Limited and Occasional’ Basis
In October, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill banning online sweepstakes gambling sites. It specifically targets the “dual-currency” model of online games and takes effect Jan. 1.
In response, ClubWPT Gold switched to a business model based on framing the site as a poker training product. It acquired Doug Polk’s Upswing Poker product, moved away from its dual-currency model, and began awarding site credit in return for paying for AI hand reviews.
From the site’s official release on its updated rules for California residents:
ClubWPT Gold is a platform for poker education and training and does not feature a dual-currency system. ClubWPT Gold is committed to operating a legal platform that complies with the laws of every jurisdiction in which it is available.
ClubWPT Gold is taking additional steps to support the platform’s primary training features while still allowing players to test their skills in games for redeemable Chips on a limited and occasional basis. These updates will provide a best-in-class poker training experience while maintaining a legally compliant platform for Users.
One sticking point that may explain the switch to the nine-day window may be the requirement that a sweepstakes product be offered on a “limited and occasional basis.” Such language exists in AB 831. It’s meant in part to distinguish online sweepstakes gambling sites from traditional sweepstakes promotions. California law aims to keep those promotions legal.
By keeping ClubWPT Gold redemptions available only on a limited and occasional basis, WPT may feel it has successfully complied with that language.
ClubWPT Gold ‘Committed to Staying’ in California
ClubWPT Gold signaled some kind of coming change when it released a notice to players, following the California ban, that it planned to continue operating legally there.
It reiterated that stance with its latest release detailing the new changes.
We’re committed to staying in California and look forward to continuing to provide a world-class poker platform for our players when they play from California.
The new restrictions could prove onerous for certain players, particularly tournament players who hit a big score outside of the nine-day redeeming window. As users on Reddit pointed out, playing through a big tournament score in a shorter time frame would be difficult without jumping into high-stakes cash games. That’s especially true if the play-through is greater than 1x.
Aside from that, potential issues still remain with the business model. It isn’t clear whether ClubWPT Gold’s Hand Analysis Credits would constitute a form of currency, for example. Other sweepstakes gambling operators have begun experimenting with similar ideas, selling site-native products instead of “Coins” and proclaiming themselves single-currency.
Responding to users in the Reddit thread, Polk admitted the situation is “complicated.”
“Unfortunately, we have to play with the rules we are given,” he wrote.
Image credit: Benson Kua/Flickr (license)
