Things are really starting to gain momentum as 4Poker gears up to launch on its Malta and IOM licences, loosely bookmarked as 'towards the start of next year'. We wanted to share a quick update of where we are and where we're going. Having been involved in the poker industry for close to 20 years, it's exciting to see the build-up from the inside.

Going live (to three people)

4Poker has gone live. It's true! Kind of. We recently opened our real money tables on our Malta Gaming licence to three invited players (r4ven, BoCruz and Cookie). We needed three players to successfully deposit funds, complete verification, and then play out a few hands of real money poker to help us across an important regulatory hurdle. That all went by without a hitch, a huge step forward for on our Malta gaming licence.

Our next step will be to invite a slightly larger group of players, some 30 or so, to do the same. That will be an initial stress test for the 4Poker tables, which we expect to pass with ease.

Website launch

We're also gearing up to launch the full and dynamic 4Poker website. What you're looking at now is effectively a holding page. The website will hold more information about who we are and what we stand for, as well as critical information such as how we handle player fund protection and will offer the best deposit bonus around.

Open invitations

The next step after that 30-player beta test is to open a channel to register your interest to try the site out. We'll announce that mechanism when we're ready. In the meantime, do give our social channels a follow.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeAre4Poker/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIkwNHWn5dGYcsRF592EYlA

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4poker/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WeAre4Poker

So what can you expect from 4Poker? More than anything, you can expect us to put poker first. 4Poker is a coming together of experienced poker industry professionals and poker players who all love the game. We're putting in place forums where we can listen to players - of all levels - so that we can consistently build the poker environment that you want and that the game deserves.

We've opened our doors early on to show that we're ready to be held accountable. You can get some behind-the-scenes insight on the 4Poker YouTube channel here. We believe poker players deserve a new home and we're going to do our best to build it.

Oh, and in case you wondered, it was r4ven who took down the first pot: a nice little $14.06 pot.