Rapper Soulja Boy has leveraged his fame and social media following into a 5-year $400 million endorsement deal with the publicly traded World Poker Fund Holdings (OTC PINK: WPFH), a developer. Aug 30, 2015 Soulja Boy Repping the Same STOCK Mayweather is In publicly-traded World Poker Fund Holdings, Inc. (otc pink:WPFH), which already has some celebrity owners attached to.
Tuesday, July 28th, 2015 | Written by April Bergman
Soulja Boy launched a gaming company last year called World Poker Fund Holdings. Now, the world-renowned hip-hop artist hopes he can take advantage of California’s online poker initiative.
When he launched World Poker Fund Holdings (WPFH), Soulja Boy claimed he was attempting to reinvigorate the public’s interest in poker. He wanted to promote the sport through a series of live, online, and TV initiatives.
Most of WPFH’s projects have been strictly moneymaking ventures to this point. Now, Soulja Boy’s gaming company is preparing to lobby politicians at the state and federal levels.
WPFH Projects
Since then, WPFH has been working with California’s Native American tribes to help push an online poker gaming bill. If a law is ever passed, Soulja Boy’s company would be well-placed to enter the California iPoker market with its own product.
The most high-profile project supported by WPFH have been the successful reality programs, such as Poker Boss and America Loves Poker, on Lookhu’s World Poker Channel TV.
LookhuTV is the brainchild of Byron Booker and Roy Liebrecht. It allows people to stream live videos from the world of entertainment, but also has original programming like America Loves Poker and Poker Boss. LookHu TV now has an Android app on Google Play and an iPhone app at the iTunes Store.
Martin Owens
To help prepare for the day when iPoker is legal in California, World Poker Fund Holdings recently hired Martin Owens as chief advisor in building relationships with Native American tribal casino interests across the United States. Martin Owens is seen as an legal expert on the subject of online gaming with a history in the industry which dates back to 1998. Owens is expected to raise funds for Internet gambling legislation, while petitioning federal authorities on pro-gaming legislation (or to vote against anti-gaming bills).
Martin Owens is a gambling attorney known in the gaming community for his definitive 2005 book on online gambling law, “Internet Gaming Law“, which he co-authored alongside I. Nelson Rose. Mr. Owens has spoken at the Global Gaming Expo on several occasions, while working as a consultant with numerous of the top brand names in the Internet gaming industry.
When asked about the California gaming legislation and his contribution to passage of new laws, Martin Owens said, “This is a very exciting project. The players, the technology, the platforms are all coming together right here in California. It’s time to bring online poker up to its full potential, in the USA, and all over the world.”
Mike Gatto Pulls Legislation
Before Soulja Boy’s company can take advantage of the California gaming market, the legislature has to approve a bill. California Assemblyman Mike Gatto announced this week he would stop trying to pass online poker legislation, saying there was no consensus in the gaming community on what the best laws would be.
Assemblyman Gatto joins a long list of California legislators since 2011 who have introduced a bill which failed to find traction. Despite Gatto’s decision, two more bills remain alive in the California legislature.
A Matter of Time
Though California’s lawmakers have been slow to enact online poker legislation, most industry experts believe it is only a matter of time before the state licenses legal online card rooms. Once California’s tribal gaming interests get on the same page, the lawmakers will move forward. For that reason, the presence of Soulja Boy and World Poker Fund Holdings is seen as good news.
About Soulja Boy
World Poker Fund Holdings Soulja Boys
DeAndre Cortez Way is a 25-year old hip-hop artist, record producer, and entrepreneur who first came to prominence under the stage name “Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em”. Most of the time, Way’s fans simply call him Soulja Boy. His 2007 album “Souljaboytellem.com” was certified platinum by the RIAA.
World Poker Fund Holdings Soulja Boy Lyrics
Though his next two albums did not reach platinum status, songs like “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” and “Turn My Swag On” from iSouljaBoyTellem and “Pretty Boy Swag” from The DeAndre Way were hits. His fourth album, Loyalty, was released on February 3, 2015.