Poker, News and random rants about me, life in general and ... did I mention poker already?

Feb 15, 2013

FantasyPoker Manager - the next big thing?!

Friday, February 15, 2013 Posted by Unknown , , No comments
The vast majority of poker enthusiasts that share the passion for this card game would consider poker as a game of skill and chance. You cannot completely remove luck as one of the key components, however the influence can be minimized with the right strategy, experience and using the accumulated knowledge to your own advantage. Many people use this in other areas of the daily routine as well, be it as part of the job or to make money on the stock market for example. It is not uncommon in the gaming industry either and many hobby managers guide their teams in sports managers from title to title. Now, wouldn't that be cool if it was available for poker as well?

 
Fantasy Sports sites already give you the opportunity to make money by betting on the outcome of matches and Zokay Entertainment has taken the opportunity to offer this service to poker players and fans as well. The company, led by Alexandre Dreyfus and in cooperation with the Global Poker Index, has launched its FantasyPoker Manager when EPT Deauville kicked off and already gathered quite some attention in the online poker world. The GPI itself has risen to one of the most important lead roles in poker these days, highlighting its innovative approach to give the popular card game an urgently needed injection of fresh air.



So what exactly is the FantasyPoker Manager?

It is a Facebook application that does not require any payment, though you can also buy credits to unlock gadgets and Points if you experience a virtual downswing not only at the poker tables. Your team consists of up to 12 players and you start with a budget of 1,000,000´credits. The value of each player is determined upon the ranking system of the GPI and gets updated every Thursday at 5am CET to cover the latest results of all major tournaments. So far the WPT and EPT is covered, likely many more major tournament series will follow. Zokay provides the Chip Counts of all remaining players when the registration is closed (typically before the start of Day 2) and you have to select your squad until the deadline runs out.

The more players end up in the money, the more Points you will score and can trade in later for credits to afford the who is who in poker. How good to you know the Pros, amateurs and even enemies on the felt to make a deep run judging by their Chip Count of the first day in a major tournament? You can obviously see the strategic aspect and also the Bank Roll Management, two important key skills in poker, portrayed - however there is much more to the application than just "clicking buttons".

You can invite your friends and even challenge them to get more players in the money or achieve a higher score for a tournament and increase your credits bankroll and bragging rights. Up to 52 challenges are there to give all participants plenty of incentives to keep on playing, an additional quiz with up to 10 questions per 24 hours will test your poker knowledge. The faster you select the correct answer, the more Points you will add to your wallet up to 500 Points ... but be careful, 100 Points will get deducted should you be wrong. 


Similar to the stock market you can also gamble and if you follow the poker news and results closely, you can actually make big virtual bucks. Given the time of the weekly updates and the fact that you lose 5% in value for each player that you trade off your team after the end of a tournament, you can overcome the "rake" with a rather simple trick. A rather unknown or low ranked (and thus less expensive player) just scored big? Drop one of your current squad before the next update and bring him in to benefit from the increased value once the GPI and FantasyPoker Manager rankings are up to date.

One thing is for sure. This latest addition by Zokay Entertainment provides plenty of fun and competition for everyone that shares the passion for poker and I am quite sure that there are many more things to come in order to make the experience even more entertaining. One thing that comes to mind is for example a mobile app or challenges during live events where you can win real money. You thought poker was dead? For sure not!

Wanna give it a try? The deadline to select your team for WPT National Brussels runs out in less than 24 hours and WPT Baden follows next week. Shuffle up and manage!

0 comments: