Americas Cardroom has extended its partnership with OpenFortune. OpenFortune makes fortune cookies. This makes the partnership one of the stranger examples to have grown out of the gambling industry's tangled web of corporate structures, sponsorships, and affiliates.
More specifically, OpenFortune is the company that supplies over 1 billion fortune cookies to 21,000 restaurants across the U.S.
For anyone curious as to how obscure branded knickknacks come into existence, this press release is a peek behind the curtain to see how the sausage (or cookie) is made.
"OpenFortune is a media platform that distributes over 1 billion traditional, branded fortune cookies to its network of over 21,000 restaurants across the U.S."
Each of ACR's fortune cookies will contain a "traditional" fortune message and lucky numbers on the front, with ACR branding and a QR code on the back.
In the example featured in the press release, the wisdom on the A-side is "Change your thoughts, change your destiny." Meanwhile, the wisdom on the B-side is "Use Bitcoin to play poker."
American fortune
The combination of luck, prognostication, gambling, sugar, and online poker is an interesting one that makes more sense the longer you stare at it. It seems especially right that ACR is the first poker site to cotton on to the idea. Especially when you remember that, despite all stereotypes to the contrary, fortune cookies — like tiki bars and English muffins — are an American invention.
Michael Harris, speaking for Americas Cardroom, explained the idea behind the marketing strategy.
"People believe that their fortune cookie brings them luck," Harris said in a press release issued by ACR and OpenFortune. "We saw a natural fit with fortune cookies and playing poker."
"OpenFortune's scale, and its ability to place QR codes on the slips, allows Americas Cardroom to drive awareness, online engagement, and new player registrations," Harris added. "We are very excited to continue this momentum."
The QR code on each fortune links to an opportunity to play for prizes as high as $1 million.
"The surprise of the fortune cookie slip after a meal, along with the opportunity to win prize money, shows players an interactive advertising experience that really enhances the excitement of online poker," said OpenFortune's Chief Cookie Officer Matt Williams. That's not tongue-in-cheek. Chief Cookie Officer is Williams' title as given in the presser.
"The continued success of the Americas Cardroom partnership further solidifies fortune cookie slips as the gold standard for QR code interaction, and we look forward to continuing reaching players in such an engaging way," Williams added.
This agreement is a renewal of a one-year contract that was already in place. It looks like the fortune for this deal is pretty good: no sign of crumbling yet.
Featured image source: PRNewswire
