World Poker Tour partners with Theta for real-time NFT marketplace

Fans can take part in live auctions and buy exclusive WPT NFT packs during each WPT episode

The World Poker Tour (WPT) brings together some of the best poker players from across the globe to showcase their skills and compete for a share of a prize pool worth millions of dollars. As well as the cream of the poker-playing crop, WPT also attracts a lot of viewers, as more than 140 million people from over 150 different countries tune in to follow the action.

This year though, as WPT gears up for season XVIII, things will be a little different. WPT has teamed up with Theta Network, and fans will be directed during each episode to take part in live auctions for exclusive WPT packs on a brand new NFT marketplace.

WPT CEO, Adam Pliska, said, “Our exclusive NFT launch with Theta Network is one of our biggest digital initiatives to-date and for the first time ever we’re combining our global reach of live televised poker with an NFT marketplace, giving our fans an interactive, real-time opportunity to collect a piece of the WPT poker action. We are thrilled to bring some of our top Poker pros, players and celebrities to the NFT world, featuring rare and legendary WPT packs in weekly drops and running exclusive one of a kind auctions for super rare poker moments.”

Theta Network is a blockchain-powered video delivery network which hosts the decentralised live streaming platform THETA.tv. The network processes transactions 100 times faster than Ethereum and NFTs can be minted on it for as little as $0.00001.

Theta Labs CEO, Mitch Liu, added, “We’re excited to launch the next-generation NFT marketplace with WPT, a unique opportunity to bring digital collectibles synchronized to live TV and cable broadcast to an audience of millions worldwide. ThetaDrop maximizes earnings to brand partners and creators by bringing the interactivity, real-time engagement and personality possible only through a livestream when doing NFT drops and auctions. Theta’s proof-of-stake native blockchain means creators can be assured that minting and transacting NFTs are 100% eco-friendly, fast and inexpensive.”

The price of the THETA token hasn’t made any gains since the announcement, and has in fact been consolidating since reaching an all-time high of about $15 on March 24 this year. However, THETA appears to be forming a bullish pennant on the daily chart so we could see the token reach new highs in the near future.

Theta also revealed that their Head of Strategy, Wes Levitt, will be speaking at Blockdown 4.0 this week, along with dozens of others including ChainLink’s Sergey Nazarov and pop star Akon.