The appeal of crypto poker is not exactly new. As early as 2020, Americas Cardroom was reporting on a huge volume of Bitcoin moved in and out of the website. Some $160 million worth of Bitcoin monthly in fact. In the past years, new blockchain cardrooms have come into play.
One such is CoinPoker, which uses Tether (USDT) as its main currency. The stablecoin has incentivized a fairly decent-sized crowd to join the cardroom and call it home, or at least one of the available options.
Now, the website seems to have attracted a player by the name of Benjamin Travesty who was seen sitting atop a $2.46 million stack during a recent cash game at the website. The pot size is significant as it may be the biggest that has ever been seen in online poker history.
The USDT translates into the exact real money value as the stablecoin is pegged to the value of the US dollar. The news was quickly spread by various poker personalities, one of whom was Patrick Leonard, who questioned whether that was one of the biggest pots anyone had ever amassed on an online poker platform.
The question is reasonable given that most poker players would much rather cash out their winnings, especially if it offers the added comfort of blockchain payments.
Crypto Poker, Lockdowns and Social Distancing
The idea of locking millions worth of your bankroll in an online poker platform is perhaps a bit scary. Winning millions out of a platform, sure that is easy. After all, the platform is obligated to pay you out, but rumors about dishonest operators have left some poker players skittish.
The addition of crypto and blockchain to the space has seemingly brought a new level of transparency that allows players such as Benjamin Travesty (most likely not his real name) to benefit from this new emerging scene for high stakes players who wish to compete and still retain a bit of anonymity about themselves.
The pandemic and suspension of live events, the traveling restrictions, and the ever-lurking threat of a highly-infectious and dangerous virus have made many players realize the simple joy of playing away from your home’s screen.
CoinPoker is more of a niche website presently rather than a mainstream cardroom where the world’s high-stake players meet. PokerScout, a data analytics and affiliate website focused on the poker industry, has registered a 168-player 24-hour peak at the time of reporting. CoinPoker was established in 2017 and has had five years to build its footprint.
Americas Cardroom, though, still remains the more peopled option of the two, owing to its Winning Poker Network affiliation. Regardless of player count, though, CoinPoker evidently has its appeal for those crypto-loving high-stake players.