The Ultimate Bet-sponsored Aruba Poker Classic is only a month away and the online poker room recently announced a new incentive to persuade players to take a Caribbean vacation come October. As part of the tournament festivities celebrating the site’s tenth anniversary and the eighth year of the Aruba event, Ultimate Bet added a ten-handed Sit & Go in which the winner will walk away with a brand new Mercedes Benz ML-350 sport utility vehicle.
For players interested in participating in the Mercedes-Benz tournament, there are a couple of different ways to earn a seat. Ultimate Bet will be hosting a $200 + $15 online satellite at 9:30PM ET on Sunday September 27th that will award seats to the top five finishers. In addition to winning an entry into the live event, the five satellite winners will also receive $2,000 to go towards travel expenses. This is an open event available to every customer on Ultimate Bet.
Four other seats will be doled out to those players that have already won a prize package into the Aruba Poker Classic Main Event. The satellite for those who have already won their way to Aruba will also be held on the 27th and will kick off at 5:30PM. The buy-in is $500 + $30 and only the top four finishers will earn entry into the Mercedes giveaway tournament. Each seat in the special live event is valued at $6,200.
The tenth and final spot in the Sit & Go has already been procured by an unnamed Ultimate Bet customer who was willing to fork over 1.5 million UltimatePoints in order to buy their way directly into the unique event.
The Mercedes Giveaway tournament is set to take place on October 9th at the Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino and Spa. It will run the same day as Day 4 of the $5000 + $500 buy-in Main Event. There are several other side tournaments taking place at this year’s event. The preliminary events kick off on October 3rd with a $500 + $40 No Limit Hold’em event in addition to round the clock satellite events. The first of the two starting days for the Aruba Poker Classic Main Event is Monday October 5th and the final table is set to play out on Saturday October 10th. Noted tournament director Matt Savage will be overseeing the Main Event action.
Ultimate Bet is also offering some Aruba contestants the opportunity to win an extra $10 million. Any player who is able to conquer all ten of Ultimate Bet’s STEPS satellites and manages to win the Aruba Main Event as well will earn $10 million in addition to the first place prize money. Step 1 is a Sit & Go with a $.10 buy-in while a victory in Step 10 will earn players an Aruba prize package valued at $8,500.
Last year’s Aruba Poker Classic Main Event drew 551 entrants and featured a final table lineup that included Allie Prescott, online pro Jeff “jpapola” Papola, Swedish player Johan Storakers and the event’s 2008 Champion Matt Brady. Brady earned a cool $1 million for his victory which is his largest career score to date. Other past Aruba winners include Freddy Deeb, Juha Helppi, Full Tilt Pro Erick Lindgren and Travis “TravestyFund” Rice.
