Poker players’ fascination for NFTs has hit record highs over the past few months, with several leading pro players like Bill Perkins, Jeff Gross and Mike McDonald all using NFTs as their profile pictures on social media.
The phenomenon coincides with a stage in online poker where the skill gap is tightening between professionals and amateurs.
An excess of online training and professional streamers means that casual players now have a level of poker knowledge that exceeds that of five or 10 years ago.
As a result, professional poker players are grinding harder than ever to extract a higher percentage of yearly ROI and expected value.
One way professionals have extended yearly profits is by purchasing NFTs like CryptoPunks and Bored Apes.
Who owns this? #Worldofwomen pic.twitter.com/Cyq1VxM8Xl
— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) November 15, 2021
These two projects in particular are viewed as status symbols, with one Bored Ape being valued at well above $200,000 in Ethereum.
Digital collectibles are rapidly becoming the new Audemars Piguet or Rolex watches. They are known to increase in value due to limited supply while also showing others that the owner possesses a certain level of wealth.
Now, instead of multi-tabling 12 or 24 tournaments, professional poker players can reduce their game time and allocate more effort to finding the next Bored Ape or CryptoPunk.
A mere $5,000 investment in Bored Apes less than one year ago is now worth almost $500,000 as the gains reach astonishing heights. In poker, meanwhile, turning $5,000 into $500,000 is something that very few players could achieve – let alone in less than 12 months.
For more iGaming news, click here.
To see Coin Rivet’s NFT minting calendar, click here.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author should not be considered as financial advice. We do not give advice on financial products.