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WPT Wildcard: Live Poker with Show Elements

Author
Vargoso
Published
9/12/2025
Updated
9/12/2025

How can we breathe new life into poker and make it more interesting for bloggers and streamers? The World Poker Tour brand has presented its answer to this question by launching a new format — WPT Wildcard. Its goal is to turn poker series into a brighter and more spectacular event. Special mechanics during hands give players various advantages or, conversely, complicate the game at the table.

Wpt Wildcard at World Poker Tour

WPT Breaks the Pattern: Why Was Wildcard Invented?

On September 9, 2025, the World Poker Tour introduced a new brand — WPT Wildcard. This is not just another live event, but a format that should combine classic poker and elements of a modern show.

The essence of WPT Wildcard is the use of special mechanic cards during hands: power-ups and penalties, which give players various advantages or complicate the game at the table.

The goal of the new product is to make the game more attractive to a young audience and content creators whose videos and broadcasts generate interest in poker.

The debut of the format will take place in October 2025 at the WPT Prime Lodge festival in Austin, Texas. The organizers promise that Wildcard will become a platform for experiments with “crazy” mechanics and create an atmosphere that is no less exciting than an eSports tournament.

What awaits players?

The Texas Series will feature two live-streamed WPT Wildcard events:

  1. Heart Attack Poker Cash Game (October 8). WPT ambassadors and well-known streamers will be seated at the table with heart rate monitors attached.
  2. $300 Mystery Bounty Wildcard (October 12).

Multiple Wildcards will be used during the games.

Power-Ups:

Mechanics nameEffect
📈 Stack BoostAdd the average stack to yours.
🔄 Table SwapMove to another table.
🛡️ImmunityVoid any hand you're in.
♻️ RespawnBusted? Come back with the average stack.
🎯Steal the ButtonTake the button after the hand.
🌊 New RiverReplace the river card before the action.
🚫 No Small BlindNever post the small blind again.
👑 Win the ButtonThe winner of the pot gets the button.
🎲 7-2 BonusWin with 7-2 - get 1 BB from each player.
✌️ Run It TwiceDeal the board twice.
🎟️ Ticket to the Final Table9+ players: go straight to the final table with the average stack. Under 9 players: add the average stack to yours.

Penalties:

Mechanics nameEffect
💸 Nit TaxPay 3 rounds of blinds/antes into the pot.
🔒 Button BanPass the button for one round.
✂️ Halve Your StackLose half your stack.
🙊 No Raise for an OrbitYou can only call or fold for the entire round.
🪙 Bounty ForfeitLose all bounties.
🔄 Stack SwapSwap stacks with another player.
🤝 Forced Tag TeamCombine your stack with your partner, split the prizes.

The details of the implementation of mechanics in cash games and tournaments are still unknown.

Yet another show or the future of poker?

WPT Wildcard is an obvious step towards turning poker games into a show. The organizers want to attract a new audience that is accustomed to TikTok, streams and dynamic formats. And this idea has every chance of success: poker with unexpected twists fits perfectly into short videos and can go viral.

Of course, the format will have many opponents who will believe that the mechanics of WPT Wildcard contradict the essence of poker as a game of skill and are needed only for the sake of “cheap” action.

WPT CEO Adam Pliska has already called WPT Wildcard “revolutionary”, emphasizing that the new mechanics break the usual framework and mix competition with entertainment. If the project lives up to expectations, we may witness the birth of a new direction in the industry. Also, nothing prevents the implementation of WPT Wildcard in online poker.

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