Zynga Poker Available on Snapchat

Poker is meant to be fun and nobody knows that better than Zynga.

The social gaming giant has developed a Snapchat lens that allows users to film themselves while attempting to win a hand. It's kind of a neat little gimmick that free-play poker players are likely to find appealing.

How it Works

With a cell phone camera recording the action while aimed at the user's face in a selfie-like pose, a poker hand is dealt and played.

The Zynga software responds to facial movements, first dealing the flop. A simple raise of the eyebrows by the user will fill out the board by dealing the turn, river, and player's hole cards.

Should the user make a winning hand, inspiring victory music plays while money in the form of paper bills comes raining down. Of course, it's not real money, as Zynga Poker players play for fun.

More Net-Depositors Please

However, if Zynga Poker Snapchatters continue to play and see money floating their way, it may prompt them to make a deposit at a real-money poker site. It has been a challenge to steer those casual players to the online poker rooms where actual dollars change hands.

Zynga Poker rules the world with an estimated average of 38,500 players, according to poker-tracking website PokerScout. Next in line is PokerStars with 14,000 players.

Snapchat boasts 158 million daily users that are sending roughly 2.5 billion Snaps every day.

Any games or gimmicks that can induce play-money players to transition to real-money action would certainly be good for online poker. And Zynga Poker's new Snapchat lens has as good a chance as any to achieve that.

Happy Anniversary

Zynga Poker is approaching its 10-year anniversary. Revenue was down 2% in 2016 and is off almost 50% from the company's heyday that took in more than $200 million in its banner year.

Poker accounts for 19% of Zynga's revenue, trailing the ever-popular Farmville game (22%). One-third of Zynga revenue comes from online slots.