The World Poker Tour has decided to throw its hat into the sweepstakes poker arena, announcing it will launch ClubWPT Gold, a sweepstakes poker platform that will be available in much of the United States and Canada.
To celebrate the upcoming launch, the ClubWPT Gold $5M Invitational Freeroll will be held during the 2024 WPT World Championship in Las Vegas in December. First place will walk away with $1 million.
Currently, only four US states are excluded from the site, but with the controversial nature of sweepstakes casinos and poker rooms, this could change in the future.
Key Highlights
- World Poker Tour is launching sweepstakes poker room ClubWPT Gold in early 2025.
- A $5M Invitational Freeroll will support the site launch at the 2024 WPT World Championship in December.
- The freeroll will award $1 million to the winner and 100 seats in the 2024 WPT World Championship.
ClubWPT Gold to Launch in 2025
The World Poker Tour announced in late September it plans to launch ClubWPT Gold in early 2025. ClubWPT Gold will be a sweepstakes poker room, similar to sweepstakes online casinos like Stake.us and High 5 Casino.
ClubWPT Gold will offer two forms of poker games: standard and promotional. Standard play is when players use Gold Coins to play for free at the casino, with no potential prizes available to participants.
The other way to play is promotional play. With promotional play, players will use Sweeps Coins to enter into poker cash games and tournaments.
At most sweepstakes casinos and poker rooms, Sweeps Coins can be exchanged for real money or other prizes, such as gift cards. ClubWPT Gold has yet to list what forms of redemption will be available.
Sweeps Coins can be earned by players in three ways. The first is by logging into your account each day.
In the second method, customers receive an equal number of Sweeps Coins with every Gold Coin purchase. The coin match is considered a promotional gift. And in the third, players can send a postcard or letter to the WPT to request Sweeps Coins.
The site will be available in most of the United States, with only Idaho, Michigan, Montana, and Washington state on the list of excluded states.
$5 Million Freeroll to Support Site Launch
To celebrate the upcoming launch of ClubWPT Gold, the WPT will hold the ClubWPT Gold $5M Invitational Freeroll at the 2024 WPT World Championship.
The event will run from Friday, December 13, through Sunday, December 15, at Wynn Las Vegas. Thanks to a “Golden Passport” promotion through ClubWPT Gold, around 2,000 players are expected to participate in the tournament.
While the site hasn’t officially launched, players can still sign up for an account to participate in the contest.
Any player that busts in the money will have a second chance drawing for a seat into the $10,400 WPT World Championship. There is a 1 in 5 chance of a player winning a seat with 100 seats available.
For a chance to win a Golden Passport, players simply need to participate in any contests, promotions, or drawings provided by the site or its ambassadors. Around 2,000 players will win a ticket to the freeroll in Las Vegas.
Of the final field, 503 players will finish in the money. When the field has 297 players remaining, mystery bounties will be up for grabs, with combined bounties of $720,000 available. Of those, two players will win a $100,000 bounty.
Any player that busts in the money will be entered into a second chance drawing for a seat in the $10,400 WPT World Championship. There is a 1 in 5 chance of a player winning a seat with 100 seats available.
Everyone at the final table will earn at least $20,000, and the eventual winner will get $1 million.
Will ClubWPT Gold Face Legal Challenges?
ClubWPT Gold will be available in 46 of 50 states. One of the notable exclusions is Michigan. Michigan has aggressively pushed back against sweepstakes casinos and poker rooms in the past, and it makes sense that ClubWPT Gold chose not to operate there.
However, there could be potential legal challenges in the future for ClubWPT Gold or any sweepstakes casino. Delaware has been in the news recently for its attempts to push Virtual Gaming Worlds (Chumba Casino) out of the state.
The AGA is also lobbying for stricter regulations of sweepstakes casinos, claiming they are unlicensed online gambling sites.
While sweepstakes casinos and poker rooms skirt gaming laws with their use of Sweeps Coins, the reality is that people are still wagering something of value for something of value. At some point, a clear stance must be taken to provide legal clarity.
What this means for ClubWPT Gold remains to be seen. The site’s terms provide language notifying the user that it could add additional restricted territories based on local laws.
Sources
https://www.worldpokertour.com/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-clubwpt-gold-5m-freeroll/
https://www.clubwptgold.com/
https://www.playusa.com/world-poker-tour-launches-sweepstakes-poker/
