Software developer Gamesys has entered the real money online poker market for the first time after creating and launching Wild Seat Poker via their Virgin Games platform.
PokerStars, et al., needn’t worry quite yet, but software developer Gamesys have dipped their toe into the lukewarm waters of real money online poker with the creation of Wild Seat Poker.
Gamesys acquired Virgin Games in January 2013 with a clear indication that they would use the platform to move into the real money gambling arena, and it’s this platform Gamesys have chosen to launch Wild Seat Poker. Virgin Games was born in 2003, as part of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.
The new game is a hybrid of Texas No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE), Spin & Go and Endemol UK’s Deal or No Deal. It’s not a game that will be taken too seriously by no-nonsense grinders, but I can see the appeal for the recreational gamblers looking for a spot of poker fun.
The buy-in levels are £1 or £4. Each game is four-max, and it’s a winner takes all format. This is where things get a little interesting. The four players are pre-designated mystery prizes selected at random should they win similar to the box style of Deal or New Deal. The winning prize only revealed once the last hand is played out. Player’s can win up to 10,000x their original buy-in.
Harking back to the good old days of the classic UK game show Bullseye, players who do get eliminated will have their potential prizes announced on screen. I can almost hear Jim Bowen saying, “come and have a look at what you could have won,” before showing a couple from a council estate in Birmingham how unfortunate they were because they didn’t win a speedboat.
The games will also contain some ‘hosts’. If the ‘hosts’ win the tournament, then any prize money won will be handed back to the players in a special weekly tournament. The new game is available to players residing in the UK.
Simon Mizzi (no relation to Sorel), Marketing Director, Gamesys believes the key to this game is the richness of the ‘social interaction,’ something that online poker organisers have lacked in favour of ‘financial motivations.’
