Alex Weldon is an online gambling industry analyst with nearly ten years of experience. He currently serves as Casino News Managing Editor for Bonus.com, part of the Catena Media Network. Other gambling news sites he has contributed to include PlayUSA and Online Poker Report, and his writing has been cited in The Atlantic.
Those tuned into the online poker world will almost certainly remember the 100% rakeback offer from WPT Global this past March. If you’re one of those players, we’ve got good news – rake-free MTTs have made their return to WPT Global through April 28. Let’s take a closer look at how their 100% rake-free MTTs in April will work.
Previously, in March 2024, the rake was simply returned via three freeroll tournaments. Now, it’s been eliminated entirely. So, for example, if you enter a tournament with a $100 buy-in, that entire $100 will go to the prize pool. That means there’s no rake and no deductions, period.
Keep in mind that although this applies to the vast majority of April’s MTTs, a small number of tournaments, such as qualifiers for live events or affiliate-organized tournaments, may still include a rake. Don’t worry, though – if this is the case, it will be clearly noted in the tournament lobby.
WPT Global Warm Up Festival
If you thought things couldn’t get even better, think again. From April 19 to 28, WPT Global will be hosting its Warm Up Festival, which will also operate under the rake-free model. This creates even more opportunities for players to participate in high-stakes games that will hold even larger prize pools thanks to the omission of rake.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this is an excellent opportunity for players of all skill levels to get in on MTTs with no rake and higher prize pools. The continuing offers of excellent rakeback and rake-free promotions continue to affirm that WPT Global has made a strong commitment to offering more value to its players than many other online poker options available today. In the end, it should go without saying that players looking to dive into MTTs would do well to take advantage of the month of April at WPT Global.
Want to get in the action at WPT Global? Click here for a complete site review and exclusive PokerScout bonus offers.
WPT Global has become the third-largest poker site in the world, showing consistent growth as it continues to be a leader in the online poker landscape. Both the intrigue and the excitement around WPT Global are palpable, particularly off the heels of its recent 100% rakeback promotion, which featured over $600,000 in prize money.
We sat down with the president of WPT Global, Alex Scott, to dive deeper into the success of the company and what we can expect to see in the near future.
PokerScout Q&A with Alex Scott
What is your proudest accomplishment thus far during your tenure with WPT Global?
It’s a toss-up. If you’re reading this, you might know that PokerScout has now confirmed that we’re the third-largest online poker site in the world. Seeing that on PokerScout for the first time, after we had suspected it for so long, was a really proud moment for me and the team. Of course, we remain ambitious, and I expect you’ll see us in second place before too long, and eventually first!
The other accomplishment I’m very proud of is the launch of Global Spins, our unique take on the jackpot Sit & Go. This was a format I created years ago and brought with me to WPT Global. It has a progressive jackpot, which means that the top prize keeps getting bigger with every game that’s played until the jackpot is hit. It’s easily the best version of the game available anywhere online, with the lowest rake going out of all our competitors. If you’re a fan of the format, you will love Global Spins.
Obviously, you work with WPT, being WPT Global. Does this benefit your business in terms of brand recognition and being able to offer an online poker product that stands out from others, based on having the backing of such a prestigious name?
Yes, absolutely. We’re really proud to be part of the WPT family and to work with the team behind some of the live poker scene’s very best events, like the WPT World Championship.
How does WPT Global live up to a name like the World Poker Tour?
This is something that we take very seriously. I’ve always been a huge fan of the World Poker Tour. In my early days playing poker, I watched and rewatched the show over and over and dreamed of attending the events. Over twenty years later, the WPT has an unblemished reputation and is beloved by players. We have a lot to live up to.
Every new employee at WPT Global reads my introductory message (below), which explains how important it is that we live up to the standards of WPT, a loved and respected brand, and how to do it justice, we must become an online poker site that is the most player-friendly in the world.
Alex’s Introductory Message to New Employees
The amount of poker expertise on your team is clearly depicted through the quality of WPT Global. Do you find benefits to hiring from other backgrounds, such as Silicon Valley tech workers, scientists, and engineers, for example? Or do you prefer leaning toward a passion for poker?
It depends on the role. Our founders are entrepreneurial, Silicon Valley types, and they bring a culture of agile working and startups to our business, which helps us to work smarter and move quickly. They are also passionate poker players like me, and that knowledge of what it’s like to actually play the game is absolutely crucial.
We’ve hired a mix of skills. Working for our tech supplier, we have AI experts and data scientists who have helped us build the very best platform for Game Integrity and Fairness. The systems that they have built based on modern AI tech have helped us to have incredibly high proactive detection rates for cheating, and also form the foundations of our Ecology Management System, which balances games by limiting the number of highly skilled professionals that can sit at each table (more about this later).
Some roles absolutely require poker experience. The product and promotions teams, for example, couldn’t build compelling offers if they didn’t understand poker. Similarly, how could we offer a good tournament schedule if the poker room managers didn’t ‘get’ poker? Every customer support employee is screened for poker knowledge and competence before they are hired to ensure that they can fully understand any issue or concern from a poker player’s perspective.
What’s your favorite offering that WPT Global features in terms of tournaments, promotions, cash games, etc.?
One of my favorite offerings is the ‘Bump it Up’ promotion for our big Sunday tournaments. We’re investing in the growth of our MTT schedule, so every time one of our Sunday majors hits its guarantee, we increase it by at least 10% for the following week! The guarantees have hit for the last two weeks in a row, and if it keeps going at this pace, we’ll have a weekly $100k in just a few weeks’ time.
Where did the idea to offer 100% rake-free MTTs throughout the month of March come from? Do you have any future plans to offer similarly generous promotions?
It came from a team get-together, from some brainstorming around how we can grow our tournaments as quickly as possible and give something back to the players who have supported us so far.
Throughout this year we have lots more ideas for generous promotions that will make us the very best value place to play on the internet. Just wait until you see what we have planned for April!
Can you give us some insight into future plans for WPT Global that we, as players, can get excited about?
The thing I get asked about the most is when we will enter new countries – regulated markets like the UK. This year, we will start to make real progress on this, beginning with an imminent relaunch in Mexico, followed by other new markets in the coming months.
Besides new markets, we also have plenty of exciting new software features to look forward to this year. Our roadmap is a combination of popular and much-requested features that have been very successful elsewhere, along with some things that will be completely unique to WPT Global. The common theme running through everything is that we’re focusing mainly on our core market of recreational players, so expect to see developments that reinforce WPT Global as the most fun place to play poker.
What are some upcoming tournaments or series that players can expect?
This year, we’ll run at least six tournament series, one each season (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter), plus at least a couple of others like February’s KO Series. Our goal is to grow each one of these series to be bigger, better, and more exciting than the last!
What are some unique features on WPT Global that aren’t commonly found elsewhere in the online poker world?
Probably the most important, unique feature is our Ecology Management System. This feature, grounded in our AI technology, predicts the win rate of every player within a relatively small sample of hands – essentially, measuring their skill level.
We then use that information to curate the games, just like the host of a private game would. If you were running a private game, you wouldn’t invite only pros – you’d instinctively recognise that the game would only work if there was a sensible balance of pros and casual players. Pros are needed to start the game and keep it running, but the game won’t last without casual players bringing action.
We do the same. At an eight-handed table, we reserve six of the seats for recreational players. A maximum of two seats at the table can be occupied by highly skilled professionals. This makes the game much more fun, beatable, and sustainable, without having to segregate players from each other like some sites have tried in the past – and it allows everybody to achieve a higher win rate than they otherwise would. As a result, the typical win rate of a successful player at WPT Global is five or ten times higher than on competing sites – and this is a very powerful retention tool.
Have you received any interesting player feedback that you’d consider implementing?
One of the reasons I’m out here engaging with the community is because we want to understand what our players think, what they care about most, and where we should focus our efforts to make them as happy as possible.
A great example of this was when we reduced our rake in Global Spins. As previously mentioned, our version of the game has a progressive jackpot, so the top prize is constantly increasing until it’s won. Thanks to player feedback, we were able to optimise the pay table for this game – and now, we offer the lowest rake in the industry, combined with the unique ever-growing jackpot, which makes for the best possible experience.
Cheating has been a huge topic in online poker over the past few years. What does WPT Global have in place to prevent wrongdoing in online poker?
WPT Global has the best anti-cheating tech I’ve seen in my nearly 20 years in the poker business, and it’s because the platform has been built with Game Integrity in mind from the very beginning. The foundations are in big data, machine learning and AI – in fact, our technology supplier was working with AI long before it was fashionable.
Within WPT Global, we have a team of data analysts, poker experts, and former professional players whose sole responsibility is to detect and, more importantly, prevent cheating of all kinds. There are around 50 people in this team working to monitor the alert and reporting system 24/7.
We measure this team’s success a little differently from the other places I’ve worked in the past. Instead of incentivising the team based on how much money they seize, accounts they close, or cheaters they detect – we measure the team based on how successful cheaters are on WPT Global. Can cheaters sustain a positive win rate? If they do win, can they get that illicitly-gained money out of the system? Our goal is for our prevention techniques to be so good that anybody attempting to cheat loses money.
Do you foresee an entry into the US online poker market any time soon? Are you bullish on the future of online poker in the US?
To be honest, I’m very disappointed with how the US online poker market has developed over the past few years. The US is the home of poker – the game is part of America’s cultural fabric. There is such potential in the US market, but nowadays, it’s mainly served by illegal operators.
I think US lawmakers sometimes think that they are protecting their citizens by making online gambling illegal and not regulating it. But the truth is, online gambling is already there – it is inevitable and unavoidable, and without regulation, the void is filled by illegal black market operators. Regulating it in a smart and sensible way is the only real way to protect players.
It’s akin to the music, TV, and movie industry’s piracy problem. It wasn’t solved by laws making piracy illegal. It was solved by the advent of streaming services like Spotify and Netflix that made access to digital music much easier and more convenient for everyone. If online poker has a convenient, legal option, players will flock to it over the awkward illegal choice.
In the near future, there’s limited opportunity in the US market. We will definitely be looking to enter in the future, however, when regulations have improved, and we’re ready to make that leap.
Seemingly out of nowhere, December has become perhaps the most competitive month for live poker tournament series. Before 2020, the European Poker Tour’s stop in Prague was the marquee event for the month. However, things have heated up since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the industry to press pause and make a fresh start.
Last year, the World Poker Tour introduced its new World Championship at the Wynn Las Vegas. That inaugural event was an explosive success, with the main event receiving nearly double the guaranteed turnout and most side events outperforming expectations by similar or greater margins.
This year, the WPT World Championship is back and bigger than ever. However, it faces a new challenger in the World Series of Poker’s WSOP Paradise. This new tournament series will take place at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, the former home of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
All three occupy a similar part of the calendar, running in the first half of the month and wrapping up before Christmas:
WPT World Championship: Dec. 12 to Dec. 21
WSOP Paradise: Dec. 3 to Dec. 14
EPT Prague: Dec. 6 to Dec. 17
Given that overlap and the thousands of miles separating the three events, most players will have to pick just one to attend.
How to choose between them? Here’s a look at what each has to offer.
WPT World Championship
The World Poker Tour is a long-running brand in the live poker world, dating back to the poker boom years. The timing of its first season seemed prescient in retrospect, wrapping up in 2003 just as poker was about to break into the mainstream.
However, until recently, it didn’t have a singular flagship event. Each stop was on roughly equal footing until it introduced the World Championship in 2022. This new stop takes place each December at the Wynn, whose poker room is considered one of the nicest in Las Vegas.
The idea proved to be a hit. The Championship event itself guaranteed $15 million in prizes, implying an expected field of a little over 1,500 players. Instead, 2,960 showed up, making it the biggest WPT event in history by a wide margin.
WPT anticipates that the second run of the series will do better still. It has upped the Championship event guarantee to $40 million and crafted an extensive and varied schedule of side events. Many of these also feature aggressive guarantees.
To ensure the sort of turnout it wants, WPT has provided numerous paths for players to qualify, regardless of their budget. Many of these are through WPT Global, a WPT-affiliated online poker site that debuted in April 2022. Sadly, it hasn’t launched in the US yet but has plans to do so in the future.
Pros
Building off of break-out success in 2022.
Longest schedule of the three series, with 25 days of events.
Huge guarantees for most events, including the $40 million Championship.
Multiple online promotions and tournaments offering qualification.
Las Vegas provides world-class entertainment away from the tables.
Cons
Online qualification currently unavailable to US players.
Las Vegas weather in December is okay but not great (highs of around 60 F/15 C, dipping below freezing at night).
Las Vegas has become significantly more expensive in recent years, though room rates in December are reasonable.
WSOP Paradise
While the WPT is a year-round series of stops, the World Series of Poker is best known for its eponymous two-month series over the summer in Las Vegas.
It is now attempting to establish a wintertime counterpoint in the Bahamas with the WSOP Paradise. However, the new series has been attracting controversy before it has even begun. Some objections relate to the venue, others to its online partner, GGPoker.
The Atlantis is either the biggest selling point for the series or a deal-breaker, depending on who you ask. On the one hand, it’s a physically beautiful resort, and there are few places you’d rather be in December than the Bahamas.
However, poker players encountered many problems during the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure’s run at the Atlantis. That may be why it canceled the series in 2019 and chose a different venue—the Baha Mar Nassau—when rebooting it this year.
Complaints about the resort itself include its high prices and reportedly poor customer service. More importantly, winning players need to be careful leaving the Bahamas. Local customs agents are notorious for harassing those traveling with large sums of cash, sometimes even confiscating the money.
Meanwhile, GGPoker’s involvement has come under fire after poker player David Lappin noticed fine print stating that online qualifiers’ hotel stays will be paid for out of the tournament prize pool and could result in it being smaller than the advertised $15 million guarantee.
Still, it is the Bahamas in December and a chance to win WSOP Gold Bracelets. That combination may be enough to draw a crowd despite these concerns.
Pros
Tournaments award coveted WSOP Gold Bracelets.
$15 million guaranteed Main Event.
Beautiful weather in December, with highs in the 80s F (mid-20s C).
Online qualification available to US residents through WSOP.com and internationally through GGPoker.
Cons
Untested series.
Atlantis Resort is expensive and has been unpopular with poker players in the past.
Controversial fine print regarding guarantees and prize pool deductions.
Players need to be very careful if taking their winnings in cash as they leave the Bahamas.
EPT Prague
Like the WPT, the EPT has a long history and is structured as a series of stops rather than centering itself on one big annual festival. However, it debuted two years later, in 2004, and is operated by PokerStars, whereas the WPT is an independent brand.
Because PokerStars organizes the series, it also offers online qualifiers. However, there isn’t sufficient interest in the US for these to run on its sites in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Michigan.
Prague has been an EPT stop since 2007 and has grown to be one of the most popular on the tour, up there with Barcelona and Monte Carlo. It takes place in King’s Casino at the Hilton Hotel.
Despite having been disrupted by the pandemic, EPT Prague bounced back in 2022. In total, 1,267 players turned out, setting a new record for the stop.
There are no guaranteed prize pools for EPT events, but turnout has been consistent through the years. The series, though short, also has a densely packed side event schedule, so it’s good for players looking to put in as much volume of play as they can.
Pros
Long track record for EPT, Prague as a stop on the tour, and King’s Casino as the venue.
Jam-packed side event schedule.
Prague has an extremely rich history and offers a different sort of tourist experience than Las Vegas or the Bahamas.
Cons
Lower expected turnout and Main Event buy-in than the other series, equating to a smaller probable prize pool.
No guaranteed prize pools.
EPT tournament fields are typically considered to be tougher than equivalents on other tours.
Lousy weather for Prague in December—typically near-freezing and overcast.
Online qualifiers unavailable in the US despite PokerStars’ presence.
Sponsored post—This article was paid for by WPT Global, though the opinions expressed are those of the author.
Summer’s no longer the only time for huge poker tournament series in Las Vegas, as the WPT World Championship is coming back to the Wynn for its second year this December. The World Poker Tour and its online partner WPT Global are aiming to make this series one of the biggest annual events in poker.
The inaugural WPT World Championship guaranteed $15 million and nearly doubled that with a final prize pool of over $29 million.
This year, WPT is setting its sights even higher with a $40 million guarantee. Hitting that lofty target is going to require almost 4,100 entries.
Finding that many players willing to pony up the tournament’s $10,400 buy-in might be difficult. To draw the sort of field they’re looking for, WPT and WPT Global have concocted a wide variety of ways for players to try to win their way into the World Championship through satellites and promotions.
Although it’s only in its second year, the WPT World Championship is already in rare company. Typical WPT events in the $10,000 price range rarely draw much more than 1,000 players. Assuming the World Championship makes its guarantee this year, it will exceed any WPT or EPT field on record and enter territory previously only occupied by the WSOP Main Event.
The World Championship will play out over seven tournament days, culminating in a televised final table on Dec. 21 with what should be at least a $5 million top prize. Starting flights run from Dec. 12-15.
How to Win WPT World Championship Entries
The World Championship caps off a four-week festival at the Wynn, running from Nov. 29 through Dec. 23. Satellites to the Championship will be available throughout.
However, there are even more ways to win an entry on WPT Global. Unfortunately, WPT Global isn’t available to players in the US at the moment, though it may enter regulated states eventually. It does serve 25 countries, however, including Canada (outside Ontario), Ireland, South Africa, and New Zealand.
The WPT Global qualification paths run the gamut from longshot freerolls for casual players to guaranteed entries for the most dedicated players. All options award $12,400 Passports, which include a $2,000 travel allowance in addition to the $10,400 buy-in.
Here are the types of promotions available:
Conventional Online Qualifiers
Naturally, the first way to win your World Championship ticket is the traditional one, through online satellites.
There are direct qualifers running every Sunday with $220 and $1,060 buy-ins. For players on a budget, there are satellites throughout the week feeding into the qualifiers, with a range of buy-ins starting at $5.
First Deposit Offer for New WPT Global Players
New signups to WPT Global will get some free satellite tickets. How many and what kind depends on the amount of the player’s first deposit:
$20 to $299: 4 x $5 satellite tickets
$300 to $1,199: 1 x $22 satellite ticket, 4 x $5 satellite tickets,
$1,200+: 1 x $220 direct qualifier ticket, 1 x $22 satellite ticket, 4 x $5 satellite tickets,
Those tickets are in addition to WPT Global’s standard 100% first deposit match up to $1,200.
Tournament Leaderboards
Multi-table tournament players can win direct, qualifier or satellite entries for their performance. There are three different leaderboards to shoot for:
Weekly Tournaments: WPT Global’s regular tournament leaderboard is offering $220, $55, and $22 qualifier/satellite tickets to the top 100 players each week, in addition to the usual cash prizes.
Discord Tournaments: Members of the WPT Global Discord channel participate in weekly $10 tournaments each Sunday. The top player each month wins a $12,400 Passport.
Fall Festival: WPT’s Fall Festival is running now and continuing through Oct. 1. The leaderboard winner will claim a $12,400 Passport. Meanwhile, event winners and those making final table appearances earn entries to Champion of Champions and Second Chance freerolls for even more ways to win tickets.
Weekly Scavenger Hunt Missions
WPT Global’s Scavenger Hunt promotion offers a weekly freeroll with a $12,400 Passport for the winner. To earn an entry, players must complete all six missions during the week:
Deposit $20
Play 100 hands of Pot-Limit Omaha (“Low” stakes or higher)
Play 200 hands of No-Limit Hold’em (“Low” stakes or higher)
Play 20 hands of Poker Flips
Play two “Bump It Up” tournaments
Play two World Championship qualifiers or satellites
Kings of Cash Freerolls
WPT Global’s ongoing Kings of Cash promotion awards players draw tickets on a daily basis for every 100 hands played during the day.
Those who earn two or more tickets get a freeroll entry, and this is where you’ll find some World Championship qualifier and satellite tickets being awarded. The nice thing here is that by earning your tickets you’ll probably be ticking off at least one of the Scavenger Hunt missions in the process.
PLO Rakeback Offer
High-stakes, high-volume Pot-Limit Omaha players have a way to guarantee themselves a Passport. It’s not for the faint of heart, though, as it requires paying $25,000 in rake at Omaha tables by the end of the day on Nov. 26.
Since the Passport is worth $12,400, that works out to almost 50% in effective rakeback, in addition to the 10% those players will receive from WPT Global’s Milestone Rewards.
WPT World Championship Festival Side Events
Aside from the World Championship, there are almost 30 events on the Festival schedule, plus 20 in-person qualifiers.
Here are some of the most notable side events:
Mystery Bounty: WPT has jumped on board this recently popular format with a $1,600 buy-in and three starting flights from Dec. 4 to Dec. 6. It guarantees $2 million in bounties and prizes, and, assuming it receives the requisite entries, will have a top bounty of $100,000.
Prime World Championship: Last year, WPT introduced Prime, a lower-stakes version of the tour. It has its own World Championship, with a comparatively affordable $1,100 buy-in, $5 million guaranteed, and four starting flights from Dec. 7 to Dec. 10.
Dealer’s Choice: Mixed game players can rejoice at this opportunity to put all their skills to use in this $3,000 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed event beginning on Dec. 20.
The Big One for One Drop: This one’s more of a spectator sport for most of us, but if you want to see some of the biggest names—and biggest whales—in poker play for a million dollars apiece, head to the rail on Dec. 18.
Full Festival Schedule
Here’s the complete schedule of qualifiers and events at the WPT World Championship Festival (starting flights only).
