CoinPoker’s decision to sign Johan “YoH Viral” Guilbert, Mariano Grandoli, and Brantzen Wong as ambassadors is a strategic move to connect with several key audiences in today’s poker ecosystem: high-stakes regulars, livestream fans, and poker content consumers.
What is CoinPoker?
CoinPoker is a cryptocurrency-based online poker room that runs entirely on blockchain rails, allowing players to deposit, play, and withdraw using tokens like USDT and other major coins instead of traditional banking rails. Launched in 2017 by a group of poker professionals and crypto developers, it was one of the earliest attempts to merge real-money online poker with decentralized infrastructure, using its own CHP token in the early days before moving toward stablecoin-centric balances. The platform offers the standard mix of No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Omaha alongside variants like 5‑card PLO and Open-Face Chinese poker, all tied together by a provably fair shuffling system and on-chain proof-of-reserves.
Johan “YoH Viral” Guilbert
Guilbert has long been recognized as one of the sharper minds in high-stakes tournaments and cash games, both live and online. His profile rose further with a breakout victory in the $25,000 GGMillion High Roller at WSOP Paradise, where he captured his first bracelet and the largest single score of his career. That win cemented him as more than just a popular streamer and content creator; it highlighted his ability to close in elite-company fields.
Soon after the CoinPoker partnership became public, Guilbert reinforced his status with a deep run in the Onyx Super High Roller Series $50,000 NLH Grand Slam, finishing second for $870,000 following a heads-up battle with high-roller regular Matthias Eibinger. The timing of those results helps CoinPoker showcase an ambassador whose recent achievements are fresh in the minds of serious players. Guilbert has indicated that he turned down multiple sponsorship options in the past and chose CoinPoker specifically because he views its platform and policies as beneficial to the long-term health of the game.
Mariano Grandoli
Mariano Grandoli, better known to most fans simply as Mariano, has become one of the main attractions on Hustler Casino Live, arguably the most-watched live-streamed cash game in the world. Over the last couple of years, he has built an impressive record on the show, emerging as its biggest overall winner with close to $2.9 million in documented profit, often in lineups filled with tough regulars and wealthy recreational players. His style is aggressive but measured, with a willingness to get involved in big pots that makes him a fan favorite and a constant threat at the table.
To kick off his collaboration with CoinPoker, Mariano scheduled a dedicated online session featuring a $30,000 promotional giveaway aimed at encouraging players to log on and mix it up with him. During this event, CoinPoker distributed $1,000 every ten minutes over a five-hour span to active users, creating frequent, lottery-like sweats while viewers watched the action. This type of promotion emphasizes CoinPoker’s attempt to blend the excitement of live-stream culture with its online platform, using Mariano’s existing fanbase as a bridge.
Brantzen Wong
Brantzen Wong represents the newer, content-driven pathway into poker stardom. Under his Brantzen Poker brand, he has built a substantial YouTube audience by chronicling his journey through cash games, tournaments, and high-pressure spots, often in vlog-style videos that emphasize learning, mindset, and decision-making. This approach positions him as a relatable figure for many aspiring players who follow poker more through social media than traditional TV broadcasts.
On the live felt, Wong already has a solid track record, with more than two dozen recorded cashes across various series. A key highlight is his runner-up finish at the 2025 APT Championship in Taipei, a result that both boosted his earnings and validated his work ethic in tougher international fields. For CoinPoker, attaching its name to a growing content creator like Wong offers long-term upside as his audience and profile expand.
Why These Three Matter for CoinPoker
By signing Guilbert, Mariano, and Wong together, CoinPoker is effectively covering three important channels of influence in modern poker: high-roller events, live-streamed cash games, and digital content platforms. Guilbert brings credibility with serious and professional players, Mariano brings entertainment value and visibility via one of the most popular live streams, and Wong brings fresh reach among younger, YouTube-native audiences.
The site pairs these ambassador signings with ongoing incentives that target both volume grinders and casual players. New users can claim a 150% first-deposit bonus up to $2,000, a structure designed to boost initial bankrolls and encourage deeper engagement with the platform’s games. CoinPoker also offers a fixed 33% rakeback from the very first hand played, giving regulars a predictable rewards stream, and runs daily CoinRaces that pay out a combined $15,000 across multiple short-duration leaderboards intended for different stakes and formats.
In combination, these promotions and ambassador deals show CoinPoker leaning into a model where recognizable faces, frequent giveaways, and consistent rewards are used to differentiate its ecosystem in an increasingly competitive online poker market.
Why Ambassadors Matter at CoinPoker
Ambassador strategy is a key pillar of CoinPoker’s current identity, extending beyond the trio of Johan Guilbert, Mariano Grandoli, and Brantzen Wong to include established pros like Patrick Leonard, Mario Mosböck, and Fernando “JNandez” Habegger, as well as non-poker partners such as the Argentine Football Association. These ambassadors are framed not just as marketing faces but as contributors to game integrity, player education, and content production, with roles like leading a player security council or fronting strategy-focused media. The recent introduction of a “Creator Squad” featuring well-known poker YouTubers further signals a push into content-driven growth, aiming to meet players where they already consume poker: streams, vlogs, and social platforms.
In the broader poker community, CoinPoker is often viewed as a niche alternative to mainstream operators, appealing strongly to players who are comfortable with crypto and who value privacy features such as limited KYC and the ability to play from regions underserved by traditional sites. Its visibility has grown as more high-stakes sessions and notable events have been streamed or reported, and as respected professionals have publicly attached their names to the brand. While liquidity is smaller than the biggest international rooms, its combination of blockchain-based transparency and access for otherwise restricted markets has carved out a distinct position.
On the innovation front, CoinPoker leans heavily on its provably fair RNG and decentralized shuffling system, which allows players to independently verify that card distributions are not manipulated. It also publishes proof-of-reserves reports to show that player balances are backed 1:1 in cold wallets, a move designed to address longstanding trust issues that have plagued some past online poker and gambling operations. The platform’s promotional structure, combining substantial deposit bonuses, flat rakeback, daily race leaderboards, and high-profile event series like its Crypto Series of Online Poker, reflects an effort to position itself as a long-term home for regulars rather than just a novelty crypto site.
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