WPT Global: Changes For ‘Skilled Players’

WPT Global have announced some important changes coming up, being introduced August 1st.

There will be changes on cash games for No Limit Hold’em and Short Deck players, where if a player is classified as a ‘highly skilled professional player’, WPT Global will not grant them any rewards in the form of cashback or promotions.

For Example: If a player is categorised as a highly-skilled professional player at $1/$2, but is uncategorised or a novice player at $2/$4, WPT will not pay cashback on rake paid at $1/$2, but will pay cashback on rake paid at $2/$4

If you have any questions about this, please find an FAQ on the pro-labelling at the bottom of this article.

Do These Changes Effect My Affiliate Cashback?

If you are on Universal Poker’s WPT Global deal and labelled as a ‘skilled player’, we will not receive any payment over your play, therefore we cannot grant you any additional cashback from our promotions.

How is a Skilled Player Identified?

WPT Global uses FairGame AI technology which will identify if a player is classified as a highly skilled professional player.

Below you can visit WPT Global’s website, explaining how their AI technology works.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do WPT Global determine skill?

High skill players are labeled by a proprietary ML (machine learning) algorithm that utilises strategy & behaviour features to calculate skill classification. The model is trained by using gameplay data from top winners on our site with the goal to identify long term winners at an early stage 

How early is the skill classification applied?

The model produces a prediction in the first 300-500 hands with ~90% long term accuracy. The system continues to evaluate players as they play more hands to adjust the label accordingly. Precision increases as the player’s sample size increases

How do we deal with errors/edge cases?

The algorithm has a function to determine error rates and does not produce an early classification until a certain confidence level is reached. We have implemented an additional set of heuristics to protect recreational players & losing players from being mislabeled 

How is skill level determined at each stake?

The system classifies skill levels separately at each stake to take into consideration different skill & play styles in various player pools. This also prevents players from manipulating their play style at lower stakes to gain access to higher stakes games.

• If a player is labeled PRO/high skill at any stake, they will be automatically labeled high skill at all lower stakes
• If a player is labeled Pro/high skill at any stake, they will not automatically be labeled high skill at higher stakes
• It is possible for a player to be labeled PRO at at a given stake but labeled non-pro in stakes/games above their PRO label

How is the skill label applied to the seating mechanism?

Non-Pro View

Recreational players can view all tables in the lobby and have access to all available seats

PRO view

• Configurations are set which cap the number of PRO players that can join the table 
• PRO restrictions vary depending on the makeup of the player pool and are subject to change at our discretion
• When PRO seats are full/occupied at a given table, that table disappears from the lobby for other PRO’s 

Is there any player pool segmentation to separate Recreational’s from PRO’s?

No, the player pool is not “hard” segmented by skill. We only restrict seats for high skill players at each table, so recreational players can view and join all available seats on the network

Why can I not see more empty tables at a given stake?

Our goal is to prevent predatory game selection & to reward high skill players that contribute to liquidity. We do not spawn new tables until players start playing at the inactive table to prevent players from opening new tables and waiting for a recreational player to join.

If a high skill player is not willing to start a game they may lose the opportunity to join when the table fills up