$1 Million and Counting: SpadeClub Celebrates its First Anniversary

During an economic recession resulting in the house-of-cards-style collapse of a multitude of businesses, including some that were very well-known, one house of cards just kept on growing - and handing its customers money, to boot.

SpadeClub.com - a novel, subscription-based online poker site and poker community - entered the fray on Feb. 11, 2008, with the aim of awarding its members $100,000 every month. Those who subscribe as Exclusive members have easy access to that $100,000 in prize pools and a plethora of fun - and instructive - community features. One year, thousands of freerolls, tons of community blogs and comments, and piles of cash later, and SpadeClub is stronger than ever and ready for year No. 2.

And SpadeClub is starting its second year in style. The site now has more than 50,000 registered players and has given out more than $1.2 million in cash and prizes to its members. And 2009 promises to be even bigger, with more prizes, rewards, and promotions.

Welcome to a new way to play poker.


The Prizes

As if $100,000 a month in prize pools weren't enough, SpadeClub.com has been adding to that tally with cherry-on-the-top prizes. Some of the prizes already awarded by the site include poker cruises through the Caribbean from Card Player Cruises, and buy-ins to major poker tournaments at Bellagio. SpadeClub also gave its members the chance to snag World Series of Poker main-event prize packages by temporarily replacing its major monthly events with tournaments awarding main-event seats.

The slate of prizes for 2009 is even bigger, with more WSOP prize packages and cruises on the line, as well as a $25,000 entry in the World Poker Tour Championship at Bellagio in April.


The Bellagio Championship Series

SpadeClub's Bellagio Championship Series is a promotion designed to pit SpadeClub's best and brightest against each other in a battle for an incredible prize package. Essentially, SpadeClub members have the opportunity to turn their memberships into millions of dollars.

The SpadeClub member who wins the Bellagio Championship Series (BCS) final could follow in the footsteps of David Chiu, the winner of last year's $25,000 buy-in WPT Championship event, and walk away with more than $3 million. Regardless, whoever earns the seat will be rubbing elbows with the cream of the poker crop, the most elite players in the game.

The BCS final will have a 117-player cap, and gaining entry to the event is not just a run-of-the-mill win-a-satellite affair. Sure, winning one of the monthly satellites will earn you a seat in the event (and seats in those monthly satellites can be won via weekly satellites, and seats in the weeklies through daily satellites), but there are plenty of other ways to get in. Players also can earn a shot in the final by having topped the 2008 SpadeClub Player of the Year (SPOY) leader board, being at the top of the currently running 2009 SPOY, winning one of the spots up for grabs in the SPOY Playoffs, having ever won a Mega Monthly event, or being one of the top five in SpadeClub membership referrals.

But the $25,000 egg isn't in one basket (which is a weird visual). Even if you don't win the $25,000 seat in the BCS final, plenty of $2,500 seats in WPT Championship satellites are being awarded for those who do well in the BCS satellites and the final. It is very likely that more than one SpadeClub member will be gunning for the multimillion-dollar prize in the WPT Championship.


2009 World Series of Poker Main-Event Prize Packages

Four World Series main-event prize packages were given away in 2008 as part of the monthly $100,000 in prize pools. This year, four more packages will be up for grabs, but this time they'll be awarded in addition to the normal prize pools, making 2009 an especially sweet year for SpadeClub.com Exclusive members.

And the 2009 WSOP packages are all about rewarding SpadeClub loyalty, as the VIP $12,000 Reward events that award the packages are open only to those who have been long-standing SpadeClub members. There are four VIP $12,000 Reward events throughout the year - on Feb. 11, May 11, Aug. 11, and Nov. 11 - and only people who have been Exclusive members for at least three continuous months before the event (or those who sign up for quarterly or yearly memberships before the event, even the day of) are eligible to play. Thus, someone who buys a yearly membership before the first event will be qualified to play in all four, for a shot at a World Series main-event seat and travel expenses.


The Community

The hundreds of thousands of dollars awarded each month is enough to make most poker enthusiasts salivate, but SpadeClub.com doesn't stop there. From the beginning, SpadeClub was conceptualized as more than just a poker site; it was meant to be a poker community.

Well, SpadeClub members have definitely taken to that concept, and SpadeClub.com has become easily one of the most tightly knit poker communities on the Web. Members post blogs upon blogs about everything from poker strategy to political opinions. The final table of every major tournament has tons of railbirds watching the action, and they post congratulatory comments to the winners' profiles. Simply sit at any table on SpadeClub and you're bound to notice that the players are friendlier and more willing to give constructive advice than players on any other poker site.

And then, of course, there's the friendly competition that SpadeClub.com promotes with its badges of achievement and SpadeClub Player of the Year leader board. Players earn badges for a multitude of reasons, everything from busting players and winning events to making it deep in SpadeClub-sponsored live poker tournaments. The badges are proudly displayed on their SpadeClub.com profiles, and even on the digital felt itself, right next to their screen names.

As far as SPOY is concerned, the SpadeClub community guns for the top spots all year long by making deep finishes in SpadeClub events. The SPOY race is modeled after the poker industry standard, the Card Player Player of the Year race. The 2009 SPOY winner will receive a prize to be announced soon.


What Are You Waiting For?

Whether your goal is winning cash, going on exciting cruises and other trips, playing in big buy-in poker events, improving your game, or being a part of a friendly, helpful, passionate community of poker players, SpadeClub.com delivers. Joining for 2009 can give you a shot at millions of dollars in winnings with the World Series and WPT Championship seats on the line.
Find out more about joining SpadeClub by going to SpadeClub.com.

PokerBrit - A New Face at SpadeClub

Brittany "PokerBrit" Giacoletto is one of the many exciting new faces at SpadeClub.com. She works for the site, starring in television commercials and SpadeClub news broadcasts, and she also takes to the digital felt to challenge other SpadeClub members for badges and titles. (But there are no cash winnings for her, as anyone who busts her gets to collect what would have been her payday.)

Card Player sat PokerBrit down to talk about getting paid to play the game she loves, playing with a target on her back, and, of course, getting hit on at the tables.


Shawn Patrick Green: Part of your role with SpadeClub is contributing to that community, and as such, you've been interacting with the community a lot more, recently. What has that been like?

Brittany "PokerBrit" Giacoletto: I have the screen name "PokerBrit," and I am essentially documenting my progress, because as one of the only novice poker players at SpadeClub, it's kind of interesting to learn about the game around people who are so passionate about it, love it, and live and breathe it. So, obviously, that has rubbed off a little on me, and I've been getting intrigued about the game and want to get into it.

So, I get to play on SpadeClub and document the process of learning from knowing literally nothing. I remember my first day when Julio [Rodriguez, a Card Player reporter] made me a cheat-sheet card, and I still have it and still play with it and refer to it.

As for the SpadeClub members, they are great - no, scratch that, wonderful! I do get some sweet pickup lines, but for more than 90 percent of the time, SpadeClub members let me play at my own level. They help me get better at playing the game I love, and allow me to gain valuable experience. I'm friends with a lot of Exclusive members, who send me great tips and advice, and I think that's what SpadeClub is about. It's about learning, experiencing, and playing poker with people who are fun to play with. We're building a great poker community. It's also a great place to learn, because you don't risk anything.

SPG: What are your goals on SpadeClub, and in poker in general?

BG: With SpadeClub, I want to earn a blue token; that's probably my first major goal. Tokens are how you qualify for larger tournaments on SpadeClub, and a blue token will get you into the $5K tournament. I'm excited to actually get that, because we recently launched the Bust-a-Brit badge, which is a super-cute little badge: It's pink, it has a big B on it, and it's great! If someone does bust me out - although hopefully they won't, hopefully I'm the winner, I'll take that [laughing] - they get the cash that I would have won.

As for poker in general, there are not a lot of women in poker. I would love to end up in a couple of years as a leading lady in poker and making a name for myself. I think that's anyone's goal in poker, once they actually get into the game a little bit. I would love to play in bigger tournaments and be a competitor, and - I'll throw it out there - maybe win a bracelet one day.

SPG: And speaking of the Bust-a-Brit promotion, how does it feel to play with a target on your back?

BG: Oh, the pressure is on! [Laughing] It's a pressure cooker.

SPG: Are people more aggressive when playing against you?

BG: Completely, yeah. Of course they're gunning for me. If I were in a tournament and someone had a bounty on them, I'd be after them, too. So, it makes the game a little bit more exciting, and it makes me be a little bit more focused about what I'm doing, and makes me think things through, because, obviously, I don't want to bust out. And people, they're gunning for me, but in a friendly, nice way. They're never mean to me; they're always nice to me [laughing].