ClubWPT Gold, the World Poker Tour’s sweepstakes-based platform, is under heavy fire after unveiling its new “Reveal Hands” option—a paid feature that lets players view all hole cards at the end of a hand. Poker professionals across the industry say the move undermines the integrity of the game and blatantly monetizes players’ private information.
A Controversial New Mechanic
Rolled out in a flashy promo video that even referenced the infamous Garrett Adelstein hand from Hustler Casino Live, the feature allows users to pay three times the big blind to expose every player’s cards once the hand concludes. In a $2/$4 game, that means $12 per reveal.
ClubWPT Gold has long positioned itself as an innovative platform offering daily prize opportunities to U.S. players. But this latest “innovation” has many comparing it to selling out the core principles of poker for profit.
Pros Push Back Hard
The reaction on X (formerly Twitter) was immediate—and brutal.
- Matt Berkey, PokerOrg advisory board member, called the feature “actually sick,” blasting the platform for imposing what he labeled an “idiot tax” without returning any of the money to the players whose cards are exposed.
- Brian Rast, Poker Hall of Famer, described it as “one of the worst” ideas he’s ever seen, arguing that charging for hand reveals solely to benefit the house is indefensible.
- Alec Torelli, high-stakes pro and coach, compared the feature to a live dealer taking bribes to flash cards, calling it “moronic on so many levels.”
- Greg Himmelbrand, with more than $2.5 million in tournament earnings, said, “This may be the single worst feature I’ve ever seen offered in history.”
- Shaun Deeb, fresh off his 2025 WSOP Player of the Year win, warned that the decision could “kill the site,” calling it “awful marketing.”
Ethics, Rake, and Trust on the Line
Critics argue that if the revenue from the Reveal Hands feature were redistributed to the players whose information is being sold, the idea might be slightly more defensible. Instead, the house keeps the entire fee—raising serious questions about fairness, transparency, and the broader ethical direction of online poker.
As of now, ClubWPT Gold has not issued a public response to the growing backlash.
