The prize pool for the Network´s “Beast” rake race will once again pass the $100,000 milestone this week and boost the bankrolls of hundreds of players.
The Winning Poker Network´s “Beast” progressive rake race is a unique and valuable promotion. Launched in 2012, the Beast has paid out nearly $10 million in cash and tournament entries; and – since the beginning of the year – the weekly prize pool has regularly passed the $100,000 milestone.
One of the reasons for the Beast´s success is that it pays deep. The top cash prize each week is capped at $2,500, and any money added to the prize pool thereafter filters down to increase the number of cash prizes paid and their value. This week, more than 200 players will share in almost $70,000.
The balance of the prize pool is distributed in tournament entry tickets and used to seed the following week´s promotion. Currently, more than 300 players will each win a ticket to a special Beast tournament that guarantees ten seats in another of the Network´s successful promotions – the “Cage”.
How the Beast Promotion Works
Whenever you play a raked cash game at one of the Winning Poker Network sites (Americas Cardroom, Ya Poker, Black Chip Poker or True Poker), $0.02 of every $0.06 deducted from the pot in rake is added to the Beast prize pool (up to a maximum of $0.24) provided the amount deducted in rake is at least $0.25. Please note that heads-up cash games are excluded.
One Beast Point is awarded for each $0.02 paid into the Beast prize pool and distributed between players involved in the hand using the Weighted Contributed Rake methodology. Beast Points – and fractions thereof – add up on a leaderboard that runs each week from Saturday to Friday.
Participation in the Beast rake race is automatic. There is no need to “opt-in” or play at specific “Jackpot” tables, and the leaderboard is updated in real time. Players can track their position on the Beast leaderboard at any time by looking in the Rewards section of the poker client.
Players who win cash prizes will have their winnings added to their accounts the following Monday. Players who win tournament entry tickets for the special Beast tournament will have them automatically credited to their accounts, although they will have to register manually in the target event to play in it.
What´s So Special about the Beast Tournament?
Although the Beast tournament is a special event for players who have won seats in the leaderboard competition, it can also be bought into directly for $55.00. Quite a few players who have not won seats in the Beast promotion choose to take this option because of the valuable prizes on offer.
The prizes can vary between seats in a valuable online tournament to packages to a network-sponsored live event. Currently the Beast tournament is guaranteeing a minimum of ten seats in the Network´s weekly “Cage” event on Wednesdays – a five hour “locked-in” cash game with a buy-in of $1,050.
Such is the demand to play in the Cage, the number of entries for the Beast tournament frequently exceeds the number required to meet the guarantee. The Beast tournament has been known to pay out up to twenty seats for the target event, elevating the amount of money in the Cage close to $50,000.
The Beast tournament is played each Sunday at 8:00pm (ET). It is a deep-stacked NL Hold´em event with gently increasing blinds over the fifteen-minute levels. Unlimited re-entries are allowed during the first two hours and, such is the demand for seats in the Cage, don´t expect it to finish before 2:00am.
The Beast is one of the major contributory factors to the success of the Winning Poker Network – a network that has seen cash game traffic increase by almost 50% over the past year.
