Chess.com has expanded its empire into poker through Gambit, a free play-money site launched quietly in beta this past May and now ramping up with its first livestreamed event. Chief growth officer Albert Cheng noted that AI assistance allowed the project to move from prototype to launch with a two-person team, reusing the existing Chess.com codebase and design system for lessons, bots, hand reviews, tournaments, and an Elo-style rating system that mirrors the chess platform.

Gambit has already logged 12 million hands played by over 45,000 accounts in its first three months, with daily averages near 200,000 hands and over 100,000 lessons completed. The daily Gambit Cup tournament has grown to more than 400 participants, and a special edition streams August 31 at noon ET on Twitch and YouTube featuring Chess.com co-founder Danny Rensch and content creator Alexandra Botez, complete with hole cards on delay, live odds, and chip counts.

The company has signaled plans to apply the same model to additional classic games including go, backgammon, and mahjong, emphasizing subscription revenue from premium features rather than any real-money gambling. Development on those expansions is described as moving rapidly.

Future creator collaborations are expected to follow the initial broadcast push.