What could give poker a new surge in popularity? The developers of MTT Sports are betting on the development of poker as an Olympic sport. They decided not to spare any funds for this: the room regularly holds a freeroll with a prize pool of 1 BTC, while there is no cash game (and therefore no opportunity to earn on rake) in the room. Instead, the emphasis is on promoting their cryptocurrency, which is not even traded on exchanges yet, and supporting tournament series around the world.
We studied how exactly MTT Sports promotes poker and whether their unusual strategy can work.
What is MTT Sports?
MTT Sports is an unusual room and project where the game is played on an internal token with a memorable name MTT.
The main marketing gimmick is a weekly freeroll with a prize pool of 1 bitcoin. The room promised to hold such tournaments for 100 weeks and keeps its promise: by June 2025, 34 bitcoins have already been played out. Since June, the tournament has been held every two weeks.
There are no cash games to be found in the lobby, so the list of disciplines is limited to tournaments:
- Mining Freerolls. Give you the opportunity to earn the room's internal currency. Start every 30 minutes.
- Daily/Amateur/Regular. Tournaments with buy-ins from 1 to 2,200 MTT.
- Sit&Go. Classic SNG. Winners get tokens.
- Spin&Go. Standard fast tournaments for three players with a random prize pool, which is determined before the start.
- Satellites.
- Weekly. The central event of the week, the very same massive freeroll on bitcoin. MTT is played for two days.
The rooms native cryptocurrency, MTT, cannot be withdrawn yet (BTC can). It is currently needed for two things:
- Registration in tournaments
- Purchases of NFT tickets and virtual items.
As the ecosystem develops, new opportunities for using local crypto will appear, but there is no detailed plan yet.
All play in the room is done through a browser, there is no separate client for PC or smartphones. Trackers are not supported, and up to 4 tables are allowed to play at the same time. The functionality is standard, in the settings you can change the table layout, change the type of cards and deck, set the standard bet sizing for preflop and postflop, enable hotkeys, transfer stacks to big blinds. They did not forget about security either. There is the ability to set up two-factor authentication and biometrics to secure your account. The room's website supports 19 languages.
You can top up your balance in the room (i.e. buy a local token) with two dozen cryptocurrencies. These include: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, Litecoin, Dogecoin. No rake is taken upon registration, but a blockchain commission is withheld. Withdrawals are carried out without additional costs. In most cases, the payment is processed within a few hours.
How MTT Sports Sponsors Series Around the World
Making "sport" poker an Olympic discipline is a difficult task, many consider hold'em primarily a game of chance. It takes a lot of effort to change the perception in the public consciousness. A demonstrative refusal of cash and zero rake in tournaments is a good declaration of intent, but clearly not enough. MTT Sports has made a bet on promoting poker in countries around the world, including places where poker is not very popular. The coverage is solid: this year alone, series in Japan, Belarus and Venezuela saw action.
NicoNico Super Conference, Japan
From April 26 to 27, 2025, the NicoNico Internet Culture Festival was held in Chiba Prefecture. Over the two days, it was visited by 20,000 people. A separate festival stand was allocated for MTT Sports. The project representatives introduced beginners to the rules of unlimited Texas Hold'em and held master classes on the game. At the same time, the brand organized the NicoNico Super Poker tournament. The legend of the Japanese Internet, Hiro Yuki, was invited to the event.
A separate tournament for women was also held. The winner of the main tournament received 150,000 yen (about $1,000) and a champion's cup.
Japan Open Poker Tour, Japan
In May 2025, the JOPT series finals were held in Tokyo. The festival featured 127 tournaments. The series set a new record for the number of Main Event players: 4,525 people competed for the title of JOPT champion. MTT Sports was the main sponsor.
Several tournaments awarded passes to the brand's signature freeroll. For example, the winner of NLH Monsterstack received a year's pass to the weekly tournament.
Belarus Poker Tour, Belarus
In May 2025, MTT Sports acted as the main sponsor of the Belarus Poker Tour. The series took place from May 2 to 12, with 20 tournaments in the program, where $650,000 was played out.
The classic schedule was diluted with two tournaments in the Bomb Pots format. The Chinese Poker Classic Pineapple for $300 also added variety. Oleg Mikulich won the three-day Main Event. Together with the trophy, he took home $17,331. A branded MTT Sports backpack was a nice addition to the money and the cup.
The cooperation with BPT does not stop there, the room will act as the general sponsor of the July stage. The winner of the Championship Event will become the champion of Belarus in poker and will receive a unique trophy.
TOKEN2049, Dubai
MTT Sports not only promotes poker on live series, but also develops its own platform. Recently, the room bought and destroyed more than 1 billion MTT, which increased the value of the room's internal currency.
At a conference in Dubai, the head of MTT Sports shared plans for the near future. What is planned:
- Abandon the "free mining" model . At the time of launch, newcomers were attracted by freerolls with tokens as prizes. The brand will replace free tournaments with a "Trial Tickets" system. Incentives with internal currency will be provided for: activity, skill, and contribution to the community.
- Add private clubs . Players will be allowed to create closed communities, hold tournaments and develop unique competition formats. A transparent step towards PPPoker, PokerBros, Suprema Poker and other club applications.
The brand makes less global improvements on a regular basis. For example, in May 2025, MTT Sports:
- launched the educational tool Practice Arena;
- implemented the Event Experience Card program;
- provided the ability for club administrators to publish announcements;
- allowed players to purchase tickets and tokens from the official store;
- improved the verification system in closed tournaments;
- allowed the purchase of domestic currency through other networks;
- introduced rewards for players for useful feedback.
BBH Spring Poker Series 2025, Venezuela
From May 23 to June 2, 2025, the main Venezuelan poker festival BBH Spring Poker Series 2025 was held in Lecheria. The organizers guaranteed $150,000 in prize money, including $100,000 for the Main Event and $30,000 for the High Roller tournament.
MTT Sports also contributed. The room hosted the Invitation Tour, where 5 passes to the Main Event and 3 to the High Roller BBH SPS were raffled off. Tickets were given out in special platform freerolls. Tournaments with symbolic buy-ins of 5.5 MTT were also held. The winners were compensated for the buy-in and a week's stay at the hotel.
