A new online poker site has launched at NoPayPoker.com offering players the chance to win real cash prizes without having to part with any of their own hard-earned cash.
The UK-based site revealed that it is using an advertising-based model in order to offer online poker players real cash prizes without any hidden fees.
"The majority of free games are either practice-play money accounts or freerolls that utilise sign-up bonus ‘free' money," read a statement from NoPayPoker.com.
"To actually cash up any money, a player normally has to unlock it by spending real money at a real cash table that can be raked. Simply this is how poker rooms make money on and offline. Truly free poker games with real money winnings cannot exist by definition in such a business model."
NoPayPoker.com stated that it had also considered a subscription-based service but decided that, in the end, this would not be a viable and honest option.
"We realised that, despite certain benefits, the subscription model wasn't appropriate," said Michael Tanaka, Managing Director for NoPayPoker.com.
"We'd set out to develop a truly free poker model and, by going down the subscription route, we would not be able to say hand on heart that our poker was free."
NoPayPoker.com is offering online poker players the opportunity to compete rake-free in real Texas hold'em games using its site token currency, FreeD. Once a player has accrued more than $30 in FreeD chips, they can exchange them for real dollars.
The site also revealed that its operating model means that it is also open to US-based players. This is because real money depositing is not an option and is not played with.