Who will share this $100 billion deal?

Author: Guatian Laboratory

[Editor's note]: In order to write this case study, I was deeply experiencing the product strength of Coinpoker and MTT Sports, and took the opportunity to participate in the first week of MTT Sports. As a result, I was so lucky that I won the first week of the competition! And I received the first week's championship reward of 0.5 BTC and 6946 MTT tokens on October 8! I took advantage of the excitement in the past two days and finished the next article as soon as possible for more melon friends to refer to.

Who will share this $100 billion deal? ——Revisiting the combination of blockchain and Texas Hold'em (Part 1)

The previous article saidBlockchainTechnology can be combined with online Texas Hold'em in some aspects. In the next article, we will use cases to analyze which pioneers have appeared in the market. In recent years, many projects have entered the online Texas Hold'em on WEB3. Guatian friends have studied and experienced more than a dozen of them: Coinpoker, W3poker, NUTSDAO, GalaGame PokerGO, XCard 7Deuce, zkHoldem, PokerDAO(Mental Poker), InPoker, Web3 Poker Club, DreamPokerClub, Macondo, CCpoker, ChipChip, MTT Sports…

Many projects have disappeared as of today, and some are still operating at a low cost, but the daily activity data is very pitiful. To be honest, some teams just packaged a set of online Texas Hold'em code with the concept of WEB3, issued NFTs and then issued coins, collected some money and ran away, but this is also the basic operation of WEB3. So far, there are really not many that can persist in operation and whose business models can still turn on their own. In the WEB3 world, we have selected the most influential cases of two types of Texas Hold'em cash tables and tournaments to analyze.

Case 1: Coinpoker, the representative of cash tables

Coinpoker is an evergreen in the WEB3 online Texas Hold'em. I have had no choice but to play Coinpoker in recent years. To be honest, it is a helpless move, because most WEB3 online Texas Hold'em games basically shut down within a year. Coinpoker has been operating since 2017 and is relatively stable.

One point that Coinpoker emphasizes in its publicity is the transparency and fairness of the card dealing, and the RNG random numbers it uses have also been notarized. The game mode is still mainly cash tables, and users can play by depositing USDT. There are about 500 players online every day.

The project issued a CHP Token (trend chart is as follows), but did not list anyexchange, only placing orders on decentralized DEX, and the design of token empowerment and output is even more ordinary. We feel that because cash table games will be classified as gambling tracks, investment institutions andexchangeNo one dares to have any relationship with such project parties.

As far as the product experience is concerned, I really want to complain a lot, so I took two pictures for you to see:

The interface at the table: players did not return to the center position; and there was only one shortcut key for raising the bet to 3 times; there was no shortcut key for Check/Call...

Main interface: It seems to have many functions, but only the cash table is popular, and it is hard to find a table...

The above bad productsXiaobai NavigationThe experience made me, who was used to playing WEB2 online Texas Hold'em such as Pokerstars a few years ago, really uncomfortable. It was like suddenly switching to 2G after getting used to 4G network. Even the most important recharge step was confusing. There was no user guidance. I tried to transfer a small amount carefully and successfully before I was sure that my exploration was correct. The reason why Coinpoker currently dominates the cash table online Texas Hold'em in WEB3 is not because it is so good, but because its competitors are so bad. After two or three years, they basically died, not to mention comparing product user experience. No wonder so many WEB2 investment institutions think WEB3 products are a big Ponzi scam. After so many years, the product experience has not been improved, and they only do CX and issue coins every day.

Of course, there are still two points worth praising about Coinpoker: first, withdrawals are almost instant; second, user registration only requires an email and a mobile phone, making it convenient for WEB2 users to enter.

Case 2: Tournament representative MTT Sports

When we first came into contact with this product, we found that its white paper clearly stated the mission of the MTT Sports Foundation: to use decentralized technology to create the world's most successful multi-table e-sports brand and promote the MTT model of e-sports into the Olympics. This ambition is very impressive. Although e-sports has become a major event in some major sports events, such as the 2023 Asian Games, seven e-sports games such as "League of Legends" have become new events in the Asian Games. However, if e-sports games can really enter the Olympics, it will undoubtedly be a huge improvement for the image of the entire industry, and it can also popularize the consensus that poker tournaments are not gambling.

In terms of the current product experience, MTT Sports is not only a top-tier product in WEB3 online poker, but also a top-tier product in WEB2. You can experience it yourself:

https://sports.mtt.xyz/?i=30d8b409

When I first started playing MTT Sports, I clearly felt that it had several significant features:

1. This is a web-based product. You can play it by clicking on the URL link on your computer or mobile phone (the mobile phone can directly use the link to generate an APP icon, which is very convenient to enter), which reduces the difficulty of user access. Many online Texas Hold'em games require downloading an APP, which actually increases the difficulty of user access.

2. Students who have played it should be able to experience the smoothness of MTT. For a web game to achieve the same response and speed as an APP, the technical level of the project team must be quite strong.

3. The login account is fully compatible with three modes: Google account, email + password, and encryptionwallet.

4. Comfortable game interface, this is the interface on the computer:

The mobile experience is the best:

Because of the amazing product experience above, we began to track and investigate the MTT Sports project, hoping to ambush opportunities early on.

The following are some analyses after the survey:

• First, product positioning.

MTT Sports is not just online Texas Hold'em. As its full English name Multiple Table Tournament Sports suggests, it aims to create aBlockchainMTT is an "online multi-table competition" based on technology. Texas Hold'em is the first game of MTT. It has also developed an EVM public chain based on Cosmos.Let me make it clear here that currently MTT can only play tournaments, no cash tables! MTT Sports is positioned as an e-sports WEB3 project.

Is there a future for this kind of online poker e-sports project? Let me give you an example. The most influential WEB2 Texas Hold'em event in the world is WSOP. Last year, the number of applicants for its offline main event exceeded 10,000, with a total prize pool of up to 93 million US dollars, and the champion could receive 12 million US dollars.

The economic model of the tournament is simple and effective. Most of the prize pool comes from the ticket revenue of the registrants, and a small part comes from peripheral income such as advertising. In other words, the players' income comes from individuals who are truly willing to pay, rather than the principal invested by old users similar to the Ponzi model, and the income comes from the principal of subsequent players. Therefore, the economic model of the tournament type is healthy and sustainable in the long run. You can make a profit because you are confident in the transparency and fairness of the game rules + you are confident in your competitive ability. The Ponzi competitive model can make a profit mainly by "entering early + running fast".

• Second, the project background.

On MTT’s Twitter account @mtt_sports, we did not find any description about the background of the project, nor did we see any relevant information in the three current versions of the white papers. We only know that it is operated by an overseas team.
Before Singapore token2049 in September 2024, MTT Sports basically maintained a low-key testing image. But after the competition started in the first week of October, all data began to soar: the current Twitter followers are 16,000, DC Community305 people, Telegram Community 34,000 people. However, there are about 600-700 people playing mining games and daily games online every day. This should be the project with the highest daily activity in the WEB3 poker track. And those who have done KYC know that it is very strict, and basically all of them are real users.
瓜田Community的一些小伙伴们在 10 月之前就开始玩 MTT 的测试版了，当时主要是因为官方的这条推特

https://x.com/mtt_sports/status/1835142937140748674

It's very simple: the official competition will start on October 5th, with one BTC reward per week until 100 BTC is distributed!make moneySome of my friends just started to learn Texas Hold'em at that time, so don't compare your learning ability with WEB3 users, hahaha! Recently, some friends sent me private messages asking me if this project is reliable? Is it worth following in the long run? I can only reply with my personal judgment: it is definitely worth it! Because we found some clues about the main investors of this project, they have strong industry experience and technical background, which also explains why the product experience of MTT Sports can be so good.

• Third, project planning

MTT Sports has three sets of white papers, one for the public chain MTT Network, one for MTT Tournament, and one forTokenEconomics. In order to promote MTT Sports,The project adopts a free entry model for users, which is the most popular freebie for WEB3 users.As long as you think you are good at playing cards, you can get rewards if you rank high. There are several levels of online events currently, and the details of how to play will be introduced later in this article.

There are some things in the white paper that particularly caught my attention:

– There will be large offline competitions every year, which are likely to compete with WSOP;

- Allow qualified individuals to open and manage clubs, and Guatian Community strives to become one of the first club operators;

- Very strict identity verification mechanism, the highest level requires face verification;

- The RNG card distribution mechanism has been described at great length, but the current white paper does not yet show how to verify whether this mechanism is transparent and fair, and whether blockchain technology has been integrated into the card distribution mechanism.

• Fourth, economic model.

Currently, the main rewards for players participating in mining competitions, daily competitions and weekly competitions are MTT Tokens (there are also BTC rewards for weekly competitions). This is the only type of MTT Sports.TokenThe total number is 2.1 billion, and it is not currently listed on CEX and DEX. The distribution chart is as follows (see the white paper for detailed explanation):

It can be found that the main output comes from event rewards, accounting for 40%. This version of the white paper gives a detailed description of the output of MTT tokens, which we summarize and list in the figure below, but the white paper mentions very little about the consumption scenarios of MTT, so we can only write based on the current product experience.

In fact, there are many scenarios for the consumption of MTT Token. After internal brainstorming, W Labs lists several for the project team’s reference:

1. Low-level events are free to participate in, and high-level events and offline events can use MTT tokens as admission tickets;

2. Players need to pledge MTT tokens to establish and operate clubs. After the game becomes popular, club seats can be auctioned with MTT tokens as the bidding subject.

3. During offline events and activities, some peripheral sales and sales of partners can be paid with MTT;

所以就经济模型上看，MTT Sports 没有其他 WEB3 项目那么多的花活，无 NFT，单代币，比较符合竞技比赛的商业逻辑：想要make moneyThe current tournament mode can be used as the basic scenario of MTT Sports. Subsequent extended scenarios can include club competitions, or the MTT brothers and sisters of Texas Hold'em celebrity idols who have overcome difficulties, etc. Hahaha, by then, there will be more application scenarios for MTT Token.

• Fifth, how to get started

Let's take the computer web page as an example to briefly explain:
After a new user enters the website, he/she must first register an account, and then undergo KYC certification at different levels. Then, select Tourney in the left column of the main interface to enter.

There are currently three types of events in Tourney, and you can register and enter the event at the designated time:

Mining competitions every hour (purple icons):

The top 20-40 players (money circle) will receive 10-15 MTT Tokens each based on the number of participants. The game ends when the number of players eliminated reaches the money circle. Before October, the first place winner will also be called the champion. The reward is small, but the honor is great! The mining competition is for everyone to practice.

Daily competitions (blue icons) start at 20:00 (UTC+8) every day:

After entering the money circle, the first place will be decided. The rewards for different rankings are also different. For example, the first place in the daily competition will receive about 800 MTT Tokens as a reward.

Weekly races every weekend (green icons):

The tournament with the highest rewards currently has a total weekly prize pool of 1 BTC + 100,000 MTT tokens. The 9 players at the final table share 1 BTC, and the top 200 players share 100,000 MTT tokens. The weekly tournament has the most participants, with nearly a thousand participants in the first week.

There are multiple qualifying matches (Seat to DAY1) from Tuesday to Friday, and the top dozens of players will be rewarded with a ticket to the weekly competition. On Saturday, users who get the ticket can participate in the 20:00 DAY1A competition or the 24:00 DAY1B competition. If you accidentally lose all your money in the middle, you can buy in again, but you must spend 110 MTT tokens. The top DAY1 players can enter the DAY2 competition at 8 pm on Sunday, and the chips from the previous DAY1 can be brought into the DAY2 competition. DAY2 is a bloody elimination competition, which is the most torturous. In the end, only 9 people will enter the final table at 8 pm next Monday.

After registering for the event, click My Games under Tourney to see how many events you are going to participate in. It also thoughtfully adds a countdown to remind you when you need to enter.

The Rank, Shop and other function columns are now open, and everyone can explore and familiarize themselves with them.

• Sixth, Future Outlook

MTT Sports is a product with a very unique position in the WEB3 track. It is the only product we have seen so far that only has tournaments and no cash tables, while other online poker games all have cash table gameplay. This has given the green light to MTT token to many investment institutions and exchanges that are optimistic about Texas Hold'em and e-sports: MTT Sports does not involve sensitive gambling, so cooperation is possible.

Currently, MTT Sports’ profit model is very clear. As long as the revenue from ticket sales is greater than the revenue from the prize pool, this is a profitable business model. In addition, the 100 BTC invested by powerful shareholders can ensure the long-term operation of the project.

Currently, users can obtain MTT tokens by participating in various competitions. They can hold on to them and wait for their value to be realized. We believe that MTT tokens may bring greater surprises to everyone.

Finally, let me summarize this article. W Labs has been in the WEB3 application track for more than three years. Its research categories cover blockchain games, social networking, RWA, etc. It is constantly exploring what kind of projects can attract real users and establish long-term business models.

There are two points that have gained consensus among some friends:

• First, blockchain technology can be used to make up for the shortcomings of WEB2 products, or to upgrade the product to achieve a better user experience. For example, online Texas Hold'em card dealing, anti-cheating and asset storage can all be improved with blockchain technology.

• Second, the product quality itself should at least be polished to a normal level. It doesn’t have to be “Black Myth: Wukong”, but at least it shouldn’t look so fake.

This article is finished.

The article comes from the Internet:Who will share this $100 billion deal?

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