September 3rd, 2026

Platform Updates September 4th

⭐ Highlights

New Deposit & Withdrawal Flow — Stablecoin deposits are free, and you can withdraw to the token and network you actually want.
Final Table Deals — Remaining players can agree to chop the final table by true ICM equity, with a unanimous binding vote.
Early Bird — Register early on selected tournaments and sit down with a bigger starting stack, at the same price.
Taiwanese Poker — A new points-based, double-board game in the Chinese family, with a wild-joker version alongside it.

💸 New Deposit & Withdrawal Flow

  • Stablecoin deposits are free — send USDC or USDT on Base, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism or Avalanche and the full amount you sent lands in your CHIP balance

  • Deposits credit in roughly 3–8 seconds on every supported chain

  • Withdraw to the token and network of your choice — every deposit corridor is now a withdrawal corridor, with a live "you'll receive" estimate before you confirm

  • A flat $1 service fee applies to withdrawals. Stablecoin withdrawals carry nothing on top of it; withdrawing to a non-stablecoin token adds the bridge cost, shown on screen before you confirm.

  • Before you send anything, the Deposit screen names the fee, the minimum, and the only asset that address will accept

🏆 Final Table Deals

  • At the final table, any seated player can raise a hand to suggest a deal — everyone sees a running count ("4/9 want a deal") and a 5-minute window, but nobody sees who raised

  • Once every remaining player has raised a hand, the current hand plays out and a binding vote opens on an exact payout table

  • Amounts are calculated on true ICM equity

  • Everyone votes on the same numbers and all of them must approve — a single no, or the 60-second clock expiring, declines it for the table. Voting is completely anonymous

  • The level clock stops from the moment the dealing making begins, until the deal settles or declines, so the blinds never climb while you decide

  • Deals work on bounty tournaments too: only the ranked prize pool is split, and progressive bounties stay on their own heads

  • Available once the final table has fully formed and late registration has closed — never on satellites

🐦 Early Bird

  • Selected tournaments now have a bigger starting stack for the first players who register

  • The lobby row shows how many spots are left; the tournament panel shows the boost, a progress bar and a countdown to the cutoff

  • Hold a spot and your starting stack reads as base plus boost — "10,000 + 1,000"

  • Unregister and your spot goes straight back, either to the next player already waiting for one or into the pool

  • These bonuses will start to appear across tournaments in the coming days. Look out for the “early bird” icon in the lobby.

🍍 Taiwanese Poker

  • A new points-based, double-board game in the Chinese family, at 2–6 player cash tables

  • Seven cards split into Top (1), Middle (2) and Bottom (4) — everyone sets at the same time, then two community boards run out one after the other

  • Each of your three rows plays every opponent's matching row on both boards: Top pays 1 point, Middle 2, Bottom 3

  • Win all six rows against an opponent for a Home Run — an extra 8 points, with a celebration overlay

  • Live per-row odds during the runout show which of your rows is ahead on the board currently running

  • Both sit under the Chinese family in the lobby, with OFC and Taiwanese as separate filter options

  • Game stakes will start with a reduced set of stakes with more being added over the coming days.

  • You can read up more about Taiwanese poker here: https://phenompoker.com/blog/taiwanese-poker-rules/

✨ Improvements

  • Leaving a cash table no longer waits for the hand to end — your turn resolves instantly (check when it's free, fold when it isn't) and your seat clears the moment your cards are gone

  • Changed your mind? A pending leave can be undone with the purple Sit back button in the action bar, right up until your stack is settled

  • An all-in leaver's hand always plays to the end, and any winnings come back with the stack

  • Rewards Center now claims CHIP directly, with staged progress and a settle toast on a CHIP→PHNM swap

  • The swap modal fills the full height on mobile, with the confirm button pinned to the bottom

  • Team Pro tables now carry a clearer tooltip in the lobby

🛠️ Fixes & Bugs

  • Fixed the table header swallowing clicks on top-row seats

  • Fixed a Chinese Poker fantasy hand being dealt zero cards after a table restart, which handed the pot to the opponent and charged the fouled hand

  • Fixed tournaments freezing at the final table when a late registration seated during final-table designation

  • Fixed card deposits not always crediting after the payment had cleared

  • Fixed a partly filled peer deposit never being credited