On Sunday night, Chase Bricker became the newest poker millionaire at the World Poker Tour World Championships (WPTWC) by winning the largest freeroll in poker history, the ClubWPT Gold $5M Freeroll Invitational. The 36-year-old businessman from Texas claimed every last chip at the table, defeating runner-up Jason Christopher in a swift, one-hand heads-up showdown.
The tournament’s final hand was a cooler: both players picked up Broadway aces (an ace paired with any card from a king to a ten), but Bricker's bigger kicker gave him the edge. All the chips went in preflop and a drama-free board sealed Bricker’s victory and the life-changing $1 million payday.
For Christopher, the runner-up finish came with a bittersweet $250,000 reward. While an impressive result, losing out on a seven-figure payday undoubtedly hurt. But the bad beats didn’t stop there for the Tennessee electrician. Christopher may also go down in history as the victim of one of poker’s most elaborate trolls.
Poker Community Witnesses $0 'Misery Bounty'
A portion of the freeroll's massive prize pool was reserved for Mystery Bounty prizes. Special bounties were set aside for the final table, including a $200,000 jackpot and a $50,000 prize, alongside three $25,000 envelopes, two $10,000s, and one particularly cruel $0 'Misery Bounty.'
Daniyal Gheba was the first to strike it big, pulling the $200,000 bounty after eliminating Jacob Stufflebean in ninth place. Gheba wasn’t done, either, padding his bankroll with another $25,000 when he sent Eric Zheng to the rail.
Christopher soon joined the bounty action. After knocking out Josh Guindon, it was his turn to step up to the briefcase and claim a mystery bounty envelope of his own.
Hoping for the $50,000 prize, Christopher must have felt he'd nabbed it as he opened his mystery bounty envelope and spotted a comma followed by three zeros. But that joy quickly turned to disbelief when he realized three more zeros were on the slip.
Christopher’s reaction was nothing short of iconic. Channeling vibes reminiscent of the infamous Ben Affleck "smoking meme."
For Christopher, the disappointment of drawing the $0 "Misery Bounty" was a moment that stung and one he’d never get the chance to redeem. Perhaps, in a few days, he’ll see the funny side of it all—or maybe not.
ClubWPT Gold Invitational Freeroll Final Table Results
Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game.
Calum has written for various poker outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
