Poker's Gambit – Can Chess Help Spark Another Boom? | PokerNews Podcast #1,009

In the 1,009th episode of the PokerNews Podcast, which is sponsored by 888poker, Chad Holloway sits down with Albert Cheng, the Chief Growth Officer of Chess.com.

Poker may experience a boom among chess players as a popular chess website with millions of daily users launched a poker site and training program. Gambit, launched by Chess.com, is a free-to-use poker software where players can play against bots, friends, and other online users. They can also be walked through the basics of the game, take poker strategy lessons, and track their poker stats.

Gambit is specifically aimed at helping new players become introduced to the game without having to lose money or be pushed in-app purchases.

"Here's what it is: a poker site built for learning," Chess.com Chief Growth Officer Albert Cheng said in a May blog post. "No real-money gambling. No rake. Just the parts of the chess playbook that have made it work for millions of people, applied to poker."

Gambit, which is available on desktop as well as iOS and Android, will be immediately familiar to Chess.com users as the two share the same interface and graphics.

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Time Stamps
*Time Topic*
00:00 | Welcome to the show
00:30 | Albert Cheng joins the show
01:11 | Who is Albert Cheng?
03:00 | Parallels between poker & chess
04:57 | How did you learn poker?
06:41 | How did Gambit come about?
10:10 | Not real money
16:30 | Getting new people into the game
19:09 | Alexandra Botez & the Gambit Cup
23:20 | Might other games be coming to Gambit?
25:30 | Quick hitter questions
27:00 | What can we do to grow poker?
28:25 | Grandmasters movie
29:40 | Hellmuth book giveaway