GHOSTSWEAT
Contest Mechanics · Playing Inside the Echos
Lore-Driven Game Flow · Mirrors Official Rules

GhostSweat Contest Mechanics

This page is the player-facing breakdown of how GhostSweat works: currencies, contest tiers, Archetypes, scoring, and prize flow. It lives between the Lore and the Official Rules. If anything here ever conflicts with the Official Rules, the Official Rules control.

Section 1

What GhostSweat Is

Not gambling · Not betting
GhostSweat is a sweepstakes-based fantasy layer that lives in the same ghost-world described in the lore: the Echos — a scar above the felt, formed by years of rails, bad beats, and impossible rivers.

You play as a Ghost, drifting just above the live stream. You offer Sweat — your invisible energy — to tether yourself to real poker players. As they play, their actions compress that energy and table Variance into glowing crystal veins that fracture into Shards, briefly illuminating Souls that are paid out through fixed, pre-set sweepstakes prize tables.

GhostSweat is:
  • Not gambling
  • Not betting
  • The game-layer of the story: Sweat → Shards → Souls
Lore lag: the stream is the ritual in the physical world. GhostSweat is the ruleset for what happens in the scar above it — where your Ghost, your Sweat, and pre-defined prize tables collide.
Section 2

Dual-Currency System

Sweat · Souls · Shards
Currency I
Sweat
“The fare Ghosts pay to cross into the Echos.”
SWEAT is free, earnable play currency:
  • Earned via logins, quests, engagement, or platform actions.
  • Used to enter Contests inside the Echos.
  • 500 Sweat ≈ $1 notional reference for internal balancing only.
  • Cannot be purchased directly with real money.
  • Has no independent cash value and cannot be withdrawn.
In the lore, Sweat is the pressure you create by caring about every hand. In the game, it’s how you join a Contest and bind your Ghost to the stream.
Currency II
Souls & Shards
“Crystallized echoes of the action inside the Invisible World.”
SOULS are sweepstakes prize currency:
  • Revealed only via fixed sweepstakes prize tables.
  • Cannot be purchased, sold, or traded.
  • Redeemable only at a fixed rate of 5 Souls = $1.
SHARDS are cosmetic / progression energy:
  • Unlocked by scoring in Contests.
  • Feed cosmetics, Ghost auras, and Vault progression.
  • Have no monetary or redemption value.
Lore lag: Shards glow and illuminate Souls long enough to harvest them. In the game, they’re your progress bar and cosmetic fuel.
Section 3

Contest Tiers

Different storms in the Echos
Each Contest is a different “storm” inside the Echos — how violently the crystal field reacts when your Sweat collides with Variance.
Tier I
Micro Contest · “First Ripple in the Echos.”
Your safe tutorial scar above the felt.
  • Entry: 100 Sweat OR one mail-in AMOE entry per week.
  • Top Prize: 2 Souls (≈ $0.40).
  • Purpose: Free path, onboarding, sweepstakes core.
Tier II
Small Contest · “Shards of Momentum.”
The main grind where crystals start to crack.
  • Entry: 2,500 Sweat (≈ $5 reference).
  • Top Prize: 250 Souls ($50 value).
  • Purpose: Core experience and primary prize path.
Tier III
Big Contest · “Surge of the Echos.”
Full crystal storm, heavy Shard bursts.
  • Entry: 10,000–25,000 Sweat.
  • Top Prize: 1,000+ Souls.
  • Purpose: Prestige events where the whole crystal field erupts and leaderboard hits feel cinematic.
Section 4

Ghost Archetypes

Lore-driven · Light scoring twist
In the lore, every player leaves a unique scar in the Echos. In the game, that scar becomes a Ghost Archetype — a persona that tweaks how Shards flare when that seat does something on stream.
Aggressor
“A blade flashing through the Echos.”
Bonus: +1 on any pot won.
Wildcard
“A storm that crashes through the spirit layer.”
Bonus: +2 on any All-In event.
Shadow
“A trickster spirit dancing between truth and illusion.”
Bonus: +2 on BluffShown.
Guardian
“A steady light guiding the turbulence.”
Bonus: +1 on SmallPotWin.
Sentinel
“A calm anchor in the chaos.”
Bonus: +1 on ShowdownWin.
Design note: Archetypes are chosen for lore and stream persona — not real-money win-rates. They keep different seats fun, viable, and distinct as you draft your lineups. The underlying prize tables never change based on who you pick.
Section 5

Base Scoring Events

Observable · Non-monetary
Scoring is how we turn story moments into Shards. Every point comes from an observable event in the stream — never from bet sizes or dollar amounts.

Base events:
  • VPIP: +1
  • WinPot (no showdown): +2
  • ShowdownWin: +2
  • ShowdownLoss: +1
  • BluffShown: +1
  • AllInNoCall: +2
  • AllInCalledWin: +3
  • AllInCalledLoss: +1
  • SmallPotWin: +2
Archetype bonuses apply on top of these events. Lore lag: these events are the hammer blows against the crystal field. Each point is a crack in the veins running under the table, building toward the Shards that finally reveal Souls.
Scoring Engine
Sweat in, Phantom Energy out.
The engine ignores buy-ins and stack sizes. It listens for visible, non-monetary events that rattle the Variance field — impact pots, hero calls, exposed bluffs, and all-ins — and converts that motion into Shard Points for your lineup. Archetypes and the Captain bonus simply decide where those points land.

As your Shard Points climb, spirit crystals strain, crack, and flare, increasing your chances to reveal Souls from the fixed tables. These visuals do not display odds — they show how “loud” the night feels inside the Invisible World.
Impact Pots
Televised pots — especially multi-way clashes — drive Phantom Energy spikes.
+ High
Hero Calls
Clean hero calls that hit the broadcast flare the Shards.
+ Surge
Bluffs Shown
When a bluff is exposed on stream, the Ghost layer spikes with extra tension.
+ Pop
All-in Climaxes
Preflop and river all-ins are the loudest hits in the Echos.
+ Shock
Animated Meters
How the Echos feel in motion.
These sample meters show how a wild stream might “breathe” — more Sweat feeding crystal stress, more bursts, more shots at Souls. They are visual only, not live odds or payout guarantees.
Souls Rising Bar
Souls visibility · 82%
Variance Meter
Live swings · spiking
Shard Trigger Strip
Crystal fractures · pulsing
Section 6

Captain 2× Bonus

Single decision · Big leverage
In every Contest you choose one of your players to serve as your Captain — your primary anchor in the Echos.

Rule: Your Captain earns 2× all Shard Points.

Lore-wise, this is the player your Ghost chooses to haunt the hardest. Mechanically, it’s your highest-impact decision: when your Captain runs pure, the entire crystal field explodes in your direction.
Section 7

Three Steps for Haunting the Leaderboards

Simple loop · Story-first
Step 1
Drift Into the Echos
Every live poker stream hums with the Echos — that scar in reality described in the lore. Joining a Featured Contest is how your Ghost slips across the veil and takes its place in that ghost-layer.

You never touch the cards. You never change the outcome. You just haunt: watching, tracking, waiting for Variance to swing in your favor.
Step 2
Offer Your Sweat
Sweat is not money. It is your spectral fare. You spend Sweat to enter a Contest and pin your attention to every hand. The more intensely you Sweat the action, the brighter your echo burns in the crystal field.

In both story and rules, this is the moment where your energy starts colliding with Variance and the veins under the table begin to grow.
Step 3
Summon Your Lineup and Harvest Souls
You select your players from the live stream and choose your Captain. Every VPIP, bluff, and showdown they take part in slams into that crystal field, building Shard Points.

When the pressure peaks — a brutal river, a sick hero call, an all-in collision — the crystals crack. Shards flare, lighting up the Souls hidden in the Echos. Fixed prize tables decide which Souls were always waiting for your final score. Your job is to build the lineup that hits those fractures at the right time.
Section 8

Prize Flow — From Shards to Souls

Fixed tables · Sample chart
The prize system is the mechanical mirror of the lore. Here’s how the story beats translate into payouts:

  1. You enter a Contest using Sweat (or via AMOE for Micro).
  2. Your lineup generates Shard Points through observable events.
  3. Your Captain’s Shard Points are doubled.
  4. Your final Shard total determines your leaderboard position.
  5. Your position maps to a tier in a fixed sweepstakes prize table.
  6. That tier reveals Souls, Sweat refunds, and/or cosmetic Shards.
Lore lag: in the story, the prize tables are etched into the crystal long before you arrive. In the rules, that means fixed tables that never change based on how many people enter or how much Sweat they spend.
Sample Fixed Prize Chart · 2,500-Sweat Contest (“Shards of Momentum”)
Leaderboard Finish Souls Awarded Approx. Value Extra
1st 250 Souls $50 + cosmetic Shards burst
2nd 150 Souls $30 + medium Shard burst
3rd 100 Souls $20 + light Shard burst
4th–10th 40 Souls each $8 + 25% Sweat refund
Top 20% 10 Souls each $2 + 10% Sweat refund
All remaining entries 0 Souls $0 + small Shard “thanks for Sweating” ping
This chart is an illustrative example only. Actual prize tables, number of winners, and Soul amounts for each Contest are defined and limited solely by the Official Rules and the specific Contest details published for that event.
Section 9

AMOE · No Purchase Path

Free entries · Official Rules
The Micro Contest includes a mail-in Alternate Method of Entry (AMOE) that allows one (1) free entry per person per week without using Sweat. AMOE entries receive the same odds and prize table access as Sweat entries.

For full AMOE details — including what to mail, where, and when — see the Official Rules. These Contest Mechanics are a player-facing explanation of how GhostSweat works inside the Echos. In the event of any conflict between this page and the Official Rules, the Official Rules control.