Mystery Bounties, a gold cash booth, and a McLaren GTS
A couple of months ago, I wrote about the World Poker Tour (WPT) $5,000,000 grushie, the largest freeroll tournament in poker history that will be taking place from December 13th-15th at the Wynn. The tournament will have a $1m first-place prize with another roughly $1m being randomly given out in the form of free seats to the much anticipated $10,400 WPT World Championship.
a new online poker product operating on a sweepstakes-based platform
The tournament celebrates the launch of WPT’s newest partner, ClubWPT Gold, a new online poker product operating on a sweepstakes-based platform. To claim the 2,000 available seats in this record-breaking event, players have been signing up for gold membership on ClubWPT Gold and winning ‘Golden Passports’ via various competitions, promotions, and giveaways.
In recent days and weeks, the WPT has made further announcements regarding what it has in store for those in attendance. Firstly, there will be $700,000 in Mystery Bounties. A Wynn Field Club NFL experience will also be awarded. Adding a further jolt of unpredictability to the fun and games, a ‘Gold Cash Booth’ is being built, wherein banknotes will be blown through the air with participants being given limited time to grab as many as they can. Oh, and in case that wasn’t enough, ClubWPT Gold have just purchased a brand new 2025 McLaren GTS to give away.
Fast cars
This is not the first time the WPT has added a deluxe car to a prizepool. In 2018, American pro Simon Lam emerged victorious from the 584-runner WPT Gardens Main Event, taking home $565,055, a $15,000 ticket into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions and a brand new Mercedes-Benz SLC Roadster worth $50,000.
In fact, fast cars have been part of many poker promotions down the years. In 2007, Italian hotshot Dario Minieri used 3 million of his Pokerstars frequent player points (FPPs) to buy a brand new Porsche Cayman. Not to be outdone, his fellow countryman Luca Moschitta used his FPPs to buy a Porsche 911 Carrera in 2009 and a Porsche Cayman in 2010.
drawing a massive field of 59,128 and generating an eye-watering eight-figure prizepool
Then, in March 2011, Pokerstars celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Sunday Million with a $5m guarantee and yet another sports car promotion. The $215 buy-in tournament obliterated its guarantee, drawing a massive field of 59,128 and generating an eye-watering eight-figure prizepool. At the point when the final table was reached, the tournament stopped to allow the players the opportunity to do some business. The money would be chopped up nine ways but the tournament would play out because the champion would drive away in a brand new Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4.
Fine Italian automobile
Taking place just one month before Black Friday, this tournament was pretty much the apex for online poker. After a 40-minute negotiation, the lion’s share of the prizepool – $844,209 to be exact – went to eventual third-place finisher ‘wrzr123’ but the tournament was eventually won by the rollicking and recalcitrant Luke “Bdbeatslayer” Vrabel.
VegasSlotsOnline News reached out to the then hirsute Nutmegger who told us that the first thing he did after winning was google the price of sports car insurance. “They said it was gonna cost about 3 grand a month,” said Vrabel, who was momentarily tempted by the cash alternative to this “fine Italian automobile” worth $200,000. That was until he realized just how incredibly boss he would look, rolling up to synagogue or getting his morning Dunkins in a brand new lambo.
he did indeed look phenomenally boss behind the wheel of that luxury vehicle
As a resident of Vrabel’s hometown of West Hartford, Connecticut at the time, I can testify that he did indeed look phenomenally boss behind the wheel of that luxury vehicle with the $671,093 prize money burning a hole in his back pocket. When asked if he would be willing to trade up from a fourteen-year-old Lamborghini to a brand new McLaren, Vrabel answered: “Yes, the lambo has a lot of miles on the clock now so I hope I get a damn seat in that $5m freeroll.”
Cash or car?
Well the WPT has some good news for Vrabel and anybody else for that matter who likes the idea of going from 0-60 in 3.1 seconds flat. You don’t actually have to be invited to the ClubWPT Gold $5m Invitational Freeroll to win it. You just have to show up at the Wynn, go to the Gold Tree Booth, and provide proof that you have signed up to ClubWPT Gold.
Even if you haven’t already signed up, you can right there in person. Once you’re verified, you get to draw an envelope and win a prize, several of which will contain Gold Passports, one of which will be a $240,000 2025 Gold McLaren GTS with a 626 horsepower twin-turbo V-8 engine, a triumph of British automotive engineering.
For those who are worried about being caught speeding, the people at ClubWPT Gold are offering a cash alternative to the tune of $150,000. Fun as it would be to drive away at over 200mph, that will surely be a tempting proposition for many.