ClubWPT Gold Slammed for Controversial Reveal Hands Feature

World Poker Tour’s sweepstakes platform that invites U.S. players to join for free and compete for prizes daily, ClubWPT Gold, has never been shy about pushing boundaries. 

The popular site that operates legally in most of the country made headlines at the end of June because of a scandal involving alleged chip dumping in the Millionaire Maker event. 

Now, the latest controversy revolves around a brand-new feature called the Reveal Hands button. Unveiled in a slick promotional video that even referenced the Garrett Adelstein saga, the single-hand played during a live stream from Hustler Casino in 2022, the option lets players pay to see everyone’s hole (private) cards after a hand concludes. 

The cost is thrice the size of the big blind. In other words, for $2/$4 blinds, a player would have to pay $12 to enjoy the privilege.

The “Idiot Tax” Was Massively Criticized

Without surprise, the feature has caused a lot of outrage in the poker community, with swift and severely critical backlash on X, where pros called it everything from unethical to downright predatory.

PokerOrg Player Advisory Board member Matt Berkey was one of the first to respond, calling it “actually sick”. A ‘stupid tax’ is fine if it goes to the player — this happens all the time live. But the site whoring out players’ data, in-game, for an additional idiot tax beyond the already questionably high rake… please do better.”

Poker Hall of Famer Brian Rast was even more blunt, calling it “one of the worst ideas” he has ever heard in poker. If the opponent(s) got the money for being forced to reveal their hand… it would still be bad (don’t get me wrong), but at least semi-ethically defensible. But the site monetizing revealing cards for their own gain? GTFO.”

Pro high-stakes player, coach, author, and entrepreneur Alec “Traheho” Torelli piled on, calling the feature “moronic on so many levels”, comparing it to a live dealer taking a bribe.

“Imagine the Wynn dealer exposing your hand because John paid her $30 in a $5/$10 game to show if you bluffed him in a $2K river shove. Wtf?”

“It isn’t April 1st- so I assume this isn’t a troll. This may be the single worst feature I’ve ever seen offered in history.”, said New York-based pro with more than $2.5 million in tournament earnings, Greg Himmelbrand.

Shaun Deeb, fresh off winning 2025 WSOP Player of the Year, didn’t mince words either: “The fact you haven’t canceled this yet is just awful awful marketing you were crushing it and long term going to kill your site.”

Many players argue that the only way this feature could be remotely acceptable would be if the revenue went to the players whose cards were exposed, not to the house.