How WSOP Champ Beat Improbable Odds to Win a $1 Million Bonus Check

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Jun 07, 2025 3 min read Last updated Jun 16, 2025

ClubWPT Gold, a new sweeps coin poker site, offered up a juicy promotion, giving qualifying players a shot to earn $1 million on top of a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet victory. The odds of winning said promo, before the series began, seemed about as likely as Martin Kabrhel being silenced.

Michael Lavin proved again on Friday that improbable does not mean impossible when he took down Event #20: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em SHOOTOUT for $267,373, beating out 1,299 entrants. But that isn't the main story.

Poker Player Had to Adjust His Play

Lavin, a 10-time World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) ring winner and a 2021 WSOP Online bracelet champion, is as capable as anyone of winning such an event. But he first had to sun run in an online freeroll against thousands of players to receive a Gold Rush ticket, making him eligible to win the $1 million bonus from ClubWPT Gold. All he had to do was win the bracelet event to get the check, which he did.

The now two-time bracelet winner with nearly $900,000 in live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob, told PokerNews that the seven-figure bonus payout possibility altered his strategy at the final table.

"I'm not playing for ICM, I'm playing for $1.3 million and they're playing for, you know what I mean," Lavin said, admitting he made some plays he normally wouldn't have if the bonus wasn't in play. "It was breaking my brain the whole day. I just played so much differently."

"The only thing that mattered is the win, so I kind of had to ignore ICM and just go for it. It's hard for me to fold anything when first mattered so much more than second."

Lavin took home a total of $1,267,373 and was the first Gold Rush ticket recipient to take down a bracelet event. The odds of winning the ticket and then the bracelet are improbable, but clearly not impossible. Daniel Strelitz nearly pulled it off, but inevitably fell in third place for $429,950 in Event #1: $1,000 Mystery Millions.

Lavin acknowledged the final two tables in the shootout on Day 3 weren't easy. Accomplished pros such as Jason Wheeler and Punnat Punsri were still alive. But he knew he had to make some moves and play loose and aggressive, eliminating ICM considerations from his game plan in favor of making unconventional plays to get the bracelet.

"A lot of easy decisions became very difficult because of everything that was going on," Lavin said.

After Punsri busted in third place ($130,560), Lavin held nearly a 3-1 chip advantage over Michael Rossitto. The eventual runner-up who received $178,240 never closed the gap. On the final hand, Rossitto got unlucky when he moved all in preflop with A♣3♠ and lost to A♠2♣ when the board ran out 10♠7♦K♥2♠ and the 2♦ for good measure on the river.

Lavin ran hot to win the freeroll, then to reach the final table in the shootout, and then during heads-up play. The odds of pulling that off twice against massive fields are slim, but not impossible.

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