Unibet to Launch Unique Promo to Celebrate New Poker Client
Unibet is set to formally unveil Unibet Poker 2.0 this week and to celebrate, the online poker room will launch a fun promotion in which players will have the chance to become a modern Phileas Fogg. In the “Around the World Dream Raffle,” Unibet will award nearly three dozen travel experiences, including one that will take a lucky winner all the way around the world.
The new poker client will launch on Thursday, December 1st and with it comes the Around the World Dream Raffle. The downside to it is that there is really no skill involved or any way for players to guarantee they win anything, but the good part about it is all anyone has to do to win is just play poker.
Starting Thursday, Unibet will be dropping raffle tickets on active cash-game tables at random. When a ticket lands, the player on the button will receive an Around the World raffle ticket, while the rest of the players will win a Unibet Open qualifier ticket.
There are three tiers of raffle tickets, based on the stakes involved. Gold tickets (five awarded per day) will be dropped on no-limit and pot-limit $25 tables and above (that’s $25 buy-in, not blind level). Silver raffle tickets (10 per day) will be dropped on no-limit and pot-limit $10 tables and above, and Bronze tickets (30 per day) will be given to no-limit and pot-limit $4 tables and above. The other players at the tables where Gold and Silver tickets are awarded will receive $10 Unibet Open qualifier tickets, while those at Bronze tables will get $2 tickets.
Every single person who wins one of the raffle tickets will receive some sort of prize, though that could up just being tournament tickets. One Gold ticket holder will win the grand prize, a global trip with a companion to see the “New Seven Wonders of the World.” Those destinations for the four-week trip include:
Rome (Colosseum)
Amman (Petra)
Agra (Taj Mahal)
Beijing (Great Wall of China)
Cancun (Chechen Itza)
Cusco (Machu Picchu)
Rio De Janeiro (Christ the Redeemer)
Also included in the £31,088 prize package are business-class plane tickets, luxury accommodations, ground transportation to and from airports, private tours, and a concierge.
A total of 23 other Gold ticket winners will also receive single-destination travel packages to places like the Great Barrier Reef, Angkor Wat, or even a haunted castle in Denmark. Six people will win Unibet Open packages and another 115 people will win tournament tickets.
The top prize for Silver raffle ticket winners is a €3,000 Travel Experience plus €2,000 cash; two people will receive this. Other prizes include a €2,000 Unibet DSO Mauritius package, a laptop, a €750 UK Tour package, and various tournament tickets.
At the Bronze level, two people will also receive the €3,000 Travel Experience plus €2,000 cash. Others will receive tournament tickets and three people will win custom Unibet avatars. That last prize, while not really worth anything monetarily, could actually be really cool for someone who plays frequently on Unibet, as the new software’s caricature-like graphics really stand out. To have an avatar in one’s own image on that site would be fun although I admit I’d still prefer the travel package and would be happy with a duck as my avatar.
The raffle will be held live on Unibet’s Twitch channel on Saturday, January 7th, 2017. Hosted by Unibet streamer David Vanderheyden, it will begin at 16:00 CET and continue until all prize have been awarded. The suspense will be built up via a manual drawing of the highest value items, while the lower value prizes will be drawn using automated software, likely to save time. Raffle ticket holders are encouraged to watch the event live, but do not have to do so to win; winners will be contacted within seven business days.
Unibet Poker 2.0 has been in the works for some time. It was announced in August, previewed in September, and slated for an October release, but was delayed until this week. That is fine, really, without fail, when an online poker room releases a major software update, all sorts of things go wrong, pissing off players to no end. So if the delay was to make sure everything goes smoothly on Thursday (what are the odds of that happening, really?), then it will have been worth it.
Unibet was once on the Microgaming Poker Network (MPN), but left in 2013 to go it alone, using proprietary software designed by Relax Gaming. Surprisingly, Unibet’s solo poker room has done great, with reported Q3 revenue up 65 percent from the same period last year.
“Expectations are high for the impact of the new client, and we have made, and will continue to make, significant investment to grow our player base and the poker category,” the company said in a statement. “Unibet Poker 2.0 is just one piece of the puzzle.”
Featured photo credit: Thales via Flickr
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