Celebrity Backed Poker Room to Launch

Celebrities have long been endorsers of poker, and just about any product that pays them enough to do so. It's not uncommon to see famous movie stars, sports figure or other personas sitting at a poker table, or casino game. Even Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft is known to be a regular at the $10/$20 in California. A new poker group is looking to bring celebrities and gambling together with a new social gaming platform that will let you play with the stars. The company – World Poker Funds Holdings, already has their hands in the poker and gambling world, owning 49% of a small Indian Tribes online platform in Oklahoma. This Tribal casino wall granted the right to deliver their online product to overseas customers based on a federal courts decision earlier this year. This is small time when compared to other gaming funds, but WPFH is looking to grab a bigger slice of the pie with their latest endeavor. Already online, Celebrity World.com will be a place where celebrities, and the rest of us insignificant people can play gambling games alongside one another. A few big names have already jumped on board with the idea as endorsers/investors. Solja Boy, an American rapper and self-proclaimed investor announced on Twitter of all places that he signed a $400 million deal with WPFH. This number caused a lot of buzz, especially over at WPFH. While technically the deal could be worth $400 million – with “Could” being the key word. Solja Boy is more of an investor at this point and the deal mostly contains stock options and revenue sharing. If the company explodes and makes a few billion in revenue, then sure, Solja Boy may make $400 million. This is not actually a farfetched scenario as some may first think. Social gambling on sites like Facebook has exploded into $3.4 billion market in 2016. Analysts expect that number to grow by 25% in 2017. Other celebs already on board with Celebrity World include Justin Bieber and Floyd Mayweather. Two heavy hitters with big name branding power that could propel the site to success right out of the gate. Justin Bieber alone has an army of “Beliebers” who do anything to interact with one of the world's largest pop stars. Will this be a success? Only time will tell, but if the past is any indication – it doesn't look good. If you are old enough to remember a site called Hollywood Poker, you know what I'm talking about. The now bankrupt poker room was the first of its kind in the late 90's and offered the same allure of being able to play poker with celebrities. Actors such as James Woods and Scott Baio were the regulars on the site and could actually be spotted playing almost daily. However, the site failed to gain much traction and didn't last very long. Granted, James Woods and Scott Baio don't have the name power as Bieber, Solja Boy and Mayweather; but people still want a product they can use.