#5: The Secret Sauce to Building Your Personal Brand Image in Poker

#5: The Secret Sauce to Building Your Personal Brand Image in Poker

In the pre-digital age, personal branding didn’t play as important a role as it does today. Everyone has smartphones and access to news, social media, and other platforms. Today, sportspersons, dancers, actors, nutritionists, lawyers, and people from all fields of life can become ‘influential’ to millions of people. This is also slowly becoming true for poker players in India, where a strong brand image can help you attract sponsorships, endorsements, and build a loyal following. Today, The Gaming Grapevine will teach you (attempt to) how to put your poker talents to use and start building a brand for yourself.

Why does a brand image even matter

• Enhanced reputation: A well-crafted brand image can establish you as a credible and respected figure in the poker community. There’s nothing better than word-of-mouth marketing and that only happens as reputation builds.

• Sponsorships and endorsements: You can become an attractive proposition for sponsors and endorsement deals. Look how A23 Poker recently tied up with poker content creator Parth Jain aka ‘yourpokerguy’ for promoting their tournament schedule:

• Loyal fanbase: A dedicated fanbase provides invaluable support and encouragement, especially during tough times. Remember how Virat Kohli’s supporters stood by him through 3 years of no centuries after the pandemic hit? Similarly, Nikita Luther’s poker fanbase in India led her to reaching a reality TV show with Karan Johar as the host!

• Earning potential: Just building on previous points - Parth Jain was certainly paid by A23 Poker. We’re sure Luther is also being paid well for her upcoming TV appearances. There are several other ways of making money once you’ve started building a poker brand image.

How to build that image as a poker player in India?

1. Define your identity: What’s your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)? What sets you apart from other players? Is it your strategic brilliance or charismatic personality? Maybe create a niche for yourself in regional poker content or periodic hand reviews online.

2. Have a strong online presence: Social media is going to be key in actively engaging with your followers. While today everyone focuses on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube are equally important. Share your thoughts on the game, post behind-the-scenes content, and interact with your fans. You can also consider having a personal website showcasing your poker achievements, pictures, and of course contact information (for potential collaborations). And yeah, get yourself a blue tick (paid, if needed, as it’s quite reasonably priced):

3. Tell your story: This will always be the most important aspect. Be authentic in sharing personal narratives, and don’t try to replicate what’s working for other poker influencers. If you’re from a small town, use that angle. If you’re a lawyer cum poker player, push that angle. And very importantly, people want to peep into the lives of the so-called glamorous poker players, so don’t forget to post behind-the-scenes content.

4. Network effectively: If there are poker series like Deltin Poker Tournament or the India Poker Championship happening, make time to be there even if you’re not playing all events. Because here, you’ll be able to build relationships with poker media brands like Gutshot Magazine, other poker streamers and content creators, organisers, poker app representatives, and more. They see you enjoying yourself with others in the poker room and you’re immediately considered as a potential collaboration.

5. Leverage collaborations: Maybe no poker company has picked you up for a partnership yet. So what?! You could team up with other players to create content, organise events, or even launch joint ventures. Ever thought of a poker themed café or night club? We’re sure that’ll be a first! You could even feature on a podcast with a poker friend or creator.

6. Reach out to Gutshot Magazine: We didn’t mean to give ourselves a cheeky plug in here, but we do connect poker brands to creators for collaborations. So if you think you’ve got good content and a decent following to leverage, reply to this email and we’ll hook you up with something.

How did these become strong poker ‘BRANDS’?

• Daniel Negreanu: Charismatic personality – CHECK. Social media presence – CHECK. Authenticity with his wide range of emotions – CHECK.

• Phil Hellmuth: A new outfit every WSOP Main Event – CHECK. Unafraid to be controversial – CHECK. Relevant at all major poker events – CHECK.

• Doyle Brunson: Hold multiple records – CHECK. Write a book on poker – CHECK. Leave a legacy with memorable hands like T2 – CHECK.

Brand building past poker

Today, we’re talking about poker collaborations and ambassadorships. However, the mind sport is slowly becoming widely accepted across the country, and we’re not too far away from the time our poker players start getting mainstream corporate partnerships too. Imagine one of our pros endorsing MRF tyres or Sunfeast biscuits online?!

By following these tips and learning from the examples of successful poker players, you can build a strong personal brand that will help you achieve your goals in the game.

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