Global Poker Teams Up With NASCAR Racer Kurt Busch

Global Poker, the most popular site for US-based poker players, has grown in leaps and bounds since first opening their tables in December 2016. Their unique sweepstakes model – giving players a wide range of online poker variants and the chance to win real cash prizes – is a strong driver of their success.

One of the other main reasons for their phenomenal growth is their ability to connect with everyday casual players. Global Poker has given a voice to those who have been unable to play poker online since Black Friday. And since its launch, Global Poker has been in the fast lane, becoming the fastest growing poker room in the US, clocking milestones along the way.

Picture this – March 10, 2019 and we’re at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. It’s race day. The day begins to heat up as 50,000 fans make their way into the stands. They’ve come to watch modern-day gladiators battle it out in the oval arena; a place of euphoria, where dreams are lived out, legends forged, and legacies begin. This is the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

In other sports it’s accepted that the players will only appear once everyone else has finished the preparation. In stock car racing, however, the drivers of these 5.86-liter, V-8 engine beasts are there from the beginning – talking to the press, posing for photographs, signing autographs for fans; pulled this way and that, courteously and enthusiastically representing their sponsors. There is no quiet moment for these drivers; their role is to be everywhere, for everyone, often right up to the moment they’re climbing into their chariots. This is the life of a NASCAR driver.

An announcer asks everyone to stand. People remove hats and observe a moment’s silence as the Luke Air Force Base Honor Guard presents the Nation’s Colors. Pastor Rick Derbyshire offers an invocation, asking for safety for the drivers, crews, and officials, among others. The National Anthem is performed by 16-year-old Chevel Shepherd, Season 15 winner of The Voice. As she reaches the final crescendo, fireworks tear into the sky and fighter jets scream past, thrilling fans and startling the uninitiated. All this happens while the drivers are preparing for a more intense, dangerous and adrenaline-pumping day than most of us can imagine.

And finally, the famous four words are called out. ‘Drivers! Start your engines!’ The sudden noise is deafening. The culmination of the minutes, hours, days and weeks of preparation are about to be distilled into the coming 312 laps…

Kurt Busch, the 2004 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) Champion, is at the wheel of Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, which looks fierce with its newest sponsor’s livery. There are none of the shiny pop colors of other sponsors; this look is all business. It’s brooding, matte black and mean; it brings muscle and might, reflecting team, driver and sponsor. This is Global Poker.

Global Poker, the fastest-growing online poker room in the US, has partnered with the legendary Chip Ganassi Racing, one of motorsport’s most successful team owners to sponsor CGR’s No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, driven by Kurt Busch.

This isn’t Global Poker’s first foray into the exciting world of sports partnerships. Last year they formed a host of partnerships with some leading MLB teams, including the Houston Astros and the San Francisco Giants. Rumor has it that they are about to launch a significant partnership with another major baseball team (Editor’s note: Global Poker have promised us they will announce it in Card Player as soon as it is finalized)!

A member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, Chip Ganassi has been a prominent figure on the motorsport scene for over 30 years and is known for the success of his teams and for embracing innovation.

Since late 2018, no. 1 driver Kurt Busch has been the lead driver for Chip Ganassi Racing. He’s an accomplished veteran in the MENCS, both as a race winner (30) and a series champion (2004). He has also won marquee MENCS events such as the Daytona 500 (2017) the Coca-Cola 600 (2010) and the NASCAR All-Star Race (2010).

A Las Vegas native, Kurt grew up with the Las Vegas Strip and poker as a backdrop, making it virtually impossible not to be influenced by poker in some way. With a pedigree of these proportions, Chip Ganassi Racing and Kurt Busch were clear choices for Global Poker to sponsor.

Launched in December 2016, Global Poker has since grown rapidly to be the no. 1 site for online social poker, with over a million players. What makes Global Poker unique, as a social gaming site, is its sweepstakes model, which gives players the opportunity to enjoy the fun, social games that they love to play for free and also provides the opportunity to win cash prizes. Since its launch, players have walked away with more than 10 million dollars.

Global Poker’s road to poker-room victory has been historic. The site constantly drives to improve and expand its offerings and enrich player experience, meaning innovation and growth for the emerging company has been paramount. To stay ahead of the competition, they have introduced more variants of poker, new games, and broadened payment options, all in a short period of time. Starting off with two variants – Texas hold’em and Omaha – Global Poker is the only site that now offers Crazy Pineapple, the wildly entertaining twist on hold’em, all available in Gold Coin play as well as on $weeps CashTM tables.

To broaden payment options, the site recently introduced Skrill, one of the world’s largest digital wallet providers, specifically designed to work with mobile and in-game payments. Global Poker players, just like motorsports fans, are very diverse. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ model, so providing choice and flexibility in payments allows the site to cater for more players’ needs in order to provide an unrivaled social poker experience.

Motorsports drivers are on-call almost all the time; there is often a requirement to represent the sponsor at a moment’s notice, to smile for the camera or be seen eating a particular food. Global Poker also needs to respond to its players with similar attentiveness. Players make requests, and as far as is possible, Global Poker will do its best to meet these requests. Jackpot Sit’n’Go Tournaments are a new addition to the site, in direct response to fans’ demands. Global Poker prides itself on listening to its fans and providing them the type of social gaming experience that they want. Jackpot Sin’n’Go Tournaments are three-player, hyper-turbo tournaments, with up to a 2,000 times buy-in multiplier, these are fast and furious games in which winners can play for their part of SC$100,000. Not bad for less than five minutes’ work!

As a special gift for spectators in the stands on race days, the site has produced limited-edition Global Poker chips, featuring the site’s Kurt Busch avatar, and offers recipients the chance to get a free $10 package, when they follow the link on the chip (don’t tell anyone, but it’s www.globalpoker.com/nascar). And yes, there is a Kurt Busch avatar in the Global Poker avatar page. In fact, there are two; one with Kurt’s face, and in the other Kurt is wearing his helmet.

And that’s not all, on every race day throughout the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Global Poker is running the Kurt Busch Signature Series, with over SC$2,000 guaranteed, plus some very special additional, limited-edition prizes up for grabs. Tournaments run ahead of the race – including the two days prior when Kurt is driving the Global Poker car – and players can enjoy special tournaments and prizes. On race days, players should follow Kurt Busch and dependent upon where he finishes in the race, extra $weeps Cash™ will be credited to the top nine finishers in the tournament. That’s a possible SC$250 for each top-nine player! For example, at the start of April in Bristol, Kurt Busch and the Global Poker car finished second meaning an additional SC$1,800 was added to the prize pool! Looking for more than $weeps Cash™? Finishing at the top of this tournament will score you a piece of NASCAR racing history, by winning a piece of the actual race car driven by Kurt Busch! Head to GlobalPoker.com for more information and to register.

The link between poker and motorsports is strong, with skills such as patience, skill, determination, and reading opponents featuring high on the list. Behind every success there is a catalog of smaller wins, of practice runs, losses, fine tuning, revision of what happened before and learning, all to make the next moment better, more effective and more successful.

In both motorsports and poker, understanding yourself and your capabilities is key; knowing how to respond in any situation, even when you’re not sure what your opponent is thinking, requires years of dedication. As anyone who’s been in a poker tournament will tell you, if you don’t play with focus and keep your wits about you, it only takes a moment to lose your entire stack.

While not tearing round the track at 200 mph, or working with the crew on the car and improving their race-day strategy, Kurt has become a fan of Global Poker’s ‘anytime, anywhere’ functionality. Being from Las Vegas means he’s already well-versed with poker, and being able to play on his phone, without the need to download any software, is a real bonus. ‘The partnership with Global Poker is a clear match,’ he says. ‘It’s great to see Global Poker on the car. They’re really excited about their first venture into NASCAR and I am glad that it’s with our team. The Global Poker players and NASCAR fans are getting into the partnership between our two worlds, supporting NASCAR and Global Poker; it’s clear there’s a big crossover.’

When asked about playing on the site, he says, ‘I love having my own avatar, I mean, who wouldn’t want to play poker with their own avatar? But it’s really cool to see other people at the tables with one of my avatars too; that people are enjoying the unique features of the partnership.’

Laurence Escalante, Founder and CEO of VGW Holdings, the company that owns Global Poker agrees, saying of the partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing, ‘This new relationship between Global Poker and CGR is perfect for both brands. Global Poker is the fastest growing poker site in the US, so teaming up with Chip Ganassi Racing in NASCAR, the fastest sport in town, makes perfect sense. Kurt Busch and the CGR team bring high-octane thrills and excitement to millions of fans all season long, which perfectly fits with our business motto, “entertainment with a thrill”. Together we can create something truly memorable for both our players and their fans.’

From the look of glee on the faces of fans, teams and partners involved, both Global Poker and NASCAR have plenty to look forward to from the 2019 race season. With so many promotions available through Global Poker’s social media platforms, you’d be a fool to miss out.

For a full lineup of when you can catch the action of Chip Ganassi Racing and Kurt Busch in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, head to http://www.espn.com/racing/schedule. And for non-stop poker action on the fastest growing poker site for US players head to GlobalPoker.com today! ♠