In what could prove to be a true test of whether their concept could actually work outside of a major gaming metropolis, the Global Poker League announced earlier this week that the inaugural season’s playoff schedule would take place during TwitchCon 2016, which will be held in San Diego, CA, between September 30 and October 2.
The focus of the stay on the shores of the Pacific Ocean will be the determination of the teams that will vie for the inaugural GPL World Championship. The top four teams from each conference, the GPL Americas and the GPL Eurasia, will play live in front of the TwitchCon audience inside the mysterious “Cube” that has been the topic of discussion for quite some time. Those four teams from each conference will be playing down to the two from each conference who will journey to London, the United Kingdom on November 22-23 to determine the champion at the SSE Arena at Wembley Stadium.
Because the GPL regular season matches are broadcast over Twitch, it seemed natural that they would partner for their playoffs, at least for the GPL’s founder. “The GPL and Twitch are expanding their partnership to promote poker as an e-sport,” stated Alexandre Dreyfus during the announcement. “We are thrilled to expose our League to the largest e-sport community and connect poker fans and GPL players. TwitchCon 2016 is the perfect spot to help make this happen.”
TwitchCon also seems to be excited about the partnership between the two entities. “Over the past year, poker has quickly grown into an immensely popular category on Twitch thanks to the game’s top stars engaging our community and being embraced in return,” said Scott Ball, the Community Development and Poker Manager with Twitch. “As a testament to its appeal, we are hosting the first Global Poker League playoffs at TwitchCon 2016, where it will be presented as an e-sport thanks to the innovations it brings via different formats and “The Cube,” its signature stage.”
Beyond the actual playoffs, the GPL is also going to look to turn Twitch denizens into actual poker fans through a myriad of poker-related activities. There are going to be demonstrations of the GPL’s latest poker development, HoldemX, as well as their 3V3 demonstrations. The players from the teams that make the playoffs will also be encourages to interact with the Twitch community through “meet and greets” and connect with other poker fans through what Dreyfus states might be a “few surprises.”
As noted previously, it is expected that TwitchCon 2016 will also mark the debut of “The Cube” on the poker scene. “The Cube” has been billed as an innovative device that will allow the players to be shielded from any artificial crowd influences (think being in a soundproof booth that you can’t see outside of) while they play their poker matches standing up at the table. This will allow the spectators to be as boisterous as they please in cheering for – or rooting against – the teams that they want to make it to the Championship Round in London.
Fans of the GPL aren’t being left out of the mix when it comes to the chance to see the GPL in action at TwitchCon 2016. The GPL is in the process of setting up online matches and giveaway options to make sure that fans have the chance to win a TwitchCon 2016 package to see the action go down live at the convention in style. Tickets to attend TwitchCon 2016 are also available at Twitchcon.com and fans can also win a select number of free tickets as part of GPL’s TwitchCon giveaway by following Twitch.tv/gpl.
The GPL is certainly pulling out all the stops for their inaugural season, bringing the show live to Las Vegas following the World Series of Poker, to San Diego and TwitchCon 2016 for the playoffs and to London to crown their first World Champion at the end of November. Will it be enough to drive the burgeoning professional poker league to success is the underlying question.