Poker operators across the world are beginning to accept and implement crypto-currency options in their online poker offerings as digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to gain popularity across the world. Virtue Poker is the latest online poker site to hit the market and has been created using blockchain technology. The online poker website will use the Ethereum cryptocurrency as a standard platform for all of its offerings.
What makes Virtue Poker unique when compared to some of the other blockchain based poker rooms is the company’s ties to well respected individuals in the poker community as well as the digital currency market. Virtue Poker recently announced that it has hired poker pros Dan Colman And Brian Rast to serve as advisors.
Dan Colman: Dan Colman is just 27 years old and hasn’t been playing poker for a very long period of time but has had massive success in the few years that he has been on the circuit. Colman has won more than $28 million in career prize money and is ranked number 2 on the Hendon Mob’s all time money list. His recent wins came at the PokerStars Championship Barcelona when he had two 6 figure cashouts. Colman stated that he was happy to join Virtue Poker as an advisor and believes the company has the opportunity to make a huge contribution to the game of poker.
Brian Rast: Brian Rast is very well known in the poker community as he is one of the few poker players to have consistent success at the poker tables. The Californian poker pro has won over $20 million in career prize money and takes the 10^th spot on the Hendon Mob’s all time money list. Rast stated that he became interested in the cryptocurrency market at the start of 2017 and was excited to be a part of the Virtue Poker advisory team and looked forward to introducing this new poker platform to the global poker market.
Joseph Lubin: Virtue Poker has also brought on Joseph Lubin as one of its strategic advisors. Lubin is not a professional poker player but an entrepreneur who has worked very closely in developing and promoting the Ethereum cryptocurrency. Lubin is Canadian and served as the COO for Ethereum Switzerland GmbH in 2014. He is also the founder of ConsenSys – a blockchain technology enterprise that develops software which operates on the Ethereum platform.
Virtue Poker – Unique Features
Blockchain based poker rooms which use cryptocurrency have grown in popularity during the last couple of years because they offer poker players a safer and secure option of playing online poker. Virtue Poker will capitalize on the blockchain Ethereum platform to offer its players a exceptionally high levels of fund protection, a guarantee on software integrity and fraud protection from the poker operator.
Online poker sites have always been on the radar of hackers and cybercriminals. This is because online poker players deposit their money directly into these online poker websites which also store player financial and personal information. As a result, poker players are often left vulnerable when these poker sites are breached. There have also been numerous instances when unscrupulous poker operators have shutdown the online poker website without any warning, taking millions of dollars in player deposits and disappeared.
Virtue Poker – Fund Protection
Virtue Poker will prevent this from happening because the online poker website will not collect any money directly from the players as it will rely on the Ethereum cryptocurrency.
An FAQ on the Virtue Poker website explains it clearly. “Virtue Poker will not store any player funds. Instead, users will fund a wallet that will always be under their control. In order to join games on the platform, users will send their buy-in to a table contract which will escrow all participants buy-ins, and will autonomously payout players based on game outcomes, directly back into their digital wallet. The funds under escrow will be controlled the blockchain contract, and not by Virtue Poker or any other single entity.”
Virtue Poker founders have spent the last 24 months developing the online poker platform and expect real money poker services to be launched sometime in 2018.