Chess.com's poker platform measures actual player skill rather than bankroll size, bringing chess's rating philosophy to a new game.
Allebest describes launching Gambit.com with chess-style skill ratings for poker, arguing that players will value their poker rating as much as money because it reflects true skill rather than just who can buy the most chips or gamble most aggressively. ✦ AI generated
Erik Allebest · No Priors · 2026-08-13 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 44:36
“How do you think about how to design a rating system for poker?”
We're bringing the chess playbook, which is like poker for ratings. How good are you really? Not just can you buy the most chips or can you use a bot or can you steal the most money, whatever it is, but how good are you really? We've all played those games where you're playing for M&M's and someone's just like all in all the time and they just re-buy more M&M's. As people get used to like, wait, I actually care about my poker rating and I treat this as something important, I think people are going to care about it as much as money because it's a reflection of the value and their skill as a player.
verbatim transcript · starts at 44:36
44:20$1,000 game of poker. Like things change a lot. Or if you're playing for, you know, peanuts or M&M's on the table. We've all played those games where you're playing for M&M's and someone's just like all in all the time and they just reby more M&M's. So, it it does matter. But I think that um as people get used to like, wait, I actually care about my poker rating and I treat this
44:41as like something important um I think people are going to care about it as much as money because it's a reflection of like the value and their skill as a player. And of course, even in chess, your rating goes up and it goes down and you have your wins and your losses. Um, but we think that people are going to care a lot about their poker rating. Um,
44:59I certainly do. Um, you know, lo losing a 100 bucks at a table, it's not my favorite thing, but I don't care that much. But honestly, losing, you know, 100 rating points on my on poker, that just like really bothers me. So, um, I think this is going to be quite an interesting u innovation for for poker. >> Yeah, I think it's super exciting. Um, I am excited to start trying to uh work on
45:20my rating here. Uh, because I think it it will be a very equalizing thing for people who play poker um to say like, h well, is Eric better than I am or does he just have more M&M's and is he a bully? [laughter] >> That's a very good way of putting it. >> Eric, thank you so much for doing this. Super interesting and congratulations on the business that you have uh
45:41passionately built. It's great to talk. >> Thank you so much for having me and for this great conversation. Find us on Twitter at [music] no prior pod. Subscribe to our YouTube channel if you want to see our faces. Follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. [music] That way, you get a new episode every week. And sign up for emails or find transcripts for every episode at no-bers.com.