Three Michigan poker players have won free entries to the Bahamas next January for the $25,000 PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC), and at least six more will join them by the end of the year.
From Nov. 1 through Dec. 9, PokerStars MI will offer three qualifying periods, each with its own leaderboard. The top 300 finishers on the leaderboard earn a seat in a freeroll event, which will award two Platinum Passes, each valued at $30,000.
This means you don’t need to finish at the top of the leaderboard to have a chance at winning a Platinum Pass. Whether you’re first or 300th, you earn an entry to the freeroll.
The PSPC runs from January 30 to February 3, 2023, and features a $25,000 buy-in. It is a part of the larger, 70-event PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) festival that runs from Jan. 22 to Feb. 3.
What is a PokerStars Platinum Pass?
The Platinum Pass is one of PokerStars’ ways of giving back to its players, awarding over 400 packages throughout the year. At $30K apiece, PokerStars will be giving away over $12 million worth of Platinum Pass packages.
Each package includes:
- Buy-in to the $25,000 PSPC
- Six nights hotel accommodation for winner and a guest in a 5-star hotel
- Airport transfer
- $1,900 expense money
- Platinum Pass Winner experiences during the event
Anybody who does not win a Platinum Pass can still take part in the PSPC and all other events during the festival.
How to win your seat in a Platinum Pass freeroll event
Platinum Passes are only available via freeroll. Three players have already punched their tickets on PokerStars MI, and another six known packages are up for grabs from upcoming leaderboards.
The remaining Platinum Pass leaderboards are:
- Golden Ticket Leaderboard: Nov. 1-7 (Platinum Pass Freeroll Nov. 8)
- Fall Fest Leaderboard: Nov. 8-28 (Platinum Pass Freeroll Nov. 29)
- December Leaderboard: Nov. 29-Dec. 9 (Platinum Pass Freeroll Dec. 10)
As mentioned, the top 300 finishers for each period will qualify for the subsequent Platinum Pass freeroll. The top two finishers in each freeroll will win Platinum Passes.
The three players to have already won their seats are:
- Scott Brown (Points Leaderboard)
- Jason Brown (Points Leaderboard)
- Justin Buxman (VIP Invitational)
If any other Platinum Pass giveaways become available within the Mitten State, PlayMichigan will be the first to let you know.
About the PSPC and PCA
The PCA has been one of the largest poker festivals on the planet since 2004, adding the PSPC to its lineup in 2019. With hundreds of entries given away to the PSPC, it is one of the highest-value $25K buy-in tournaments of the year.
In 2019, the PSPC had a field size of 1,039, generating a $26.4 million prize pool.
Spanish Platinum Pass winner Ramon Colillas won, turning his free entry into $5.1 million and becoming a PokerStars Ambassador. Of course, even a min-cash ($25,450 in 2019) is a pretty good return on a freeroll, and the all-expenses paid trip to the Bahamas in the middle of Michigan’s winter isn’t bad, either!
Other events on the schedule range from $330 to $250,000. Satellites start at as low as $30 onsite.
