Introducing Runner Runner: a $30,000 chase across America

Brad Willis
Posted on: November 27, 2022 08:20 PST

In a little less than eight hours, someone in the United States will begin trying to hide in plain sight. We’re calling this person The Runner, because as of right now, nearly no one knows who this person is. 

The Runner has a singular mission for the next 18 days: play poker in an American card room once every two days without being caught. If The Runner makes it to the end of December 16 without getting caught, The Runner will go to the PokerStars Players NL Hold’em Championship (PSPC) in January and play for millions with one of PokerStars’ famed Platinum Passes.

However, if someone out there identifies and catches The Runner, that Bounty Hunter will get the Platinum Pass, trip to the Bahamas, and chance to become a millionaire. 

If that doesn’t seem like a lot of information, that’s the point. This is not some lottery game or re-tweet to win random draw. If you want to win this Platinum Pass, you’re going to have to work for it. 

Wanna be a Bounty Hunter?

Your first question might be: where do I even start? That's fair given that the video below is literally all you you have to go on tonight:

https://www.tiktok.com/@pokerorg/video/7170394836233669894?embed_source=70842511%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_creator_card&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&refer=creator_embed&referer_url=www.poker.org%2F

You could be forgiven for thinking this is too hard. After all, you don’t have any idea where The Runner is or any information about who The Runner might be. Here’s the thing: only a handful of people in the entire world know who The Runner as, and as of midnight tonight, no one except The Runner will know where The Runner is.

And if you you catch The Runner, there is still a series of steps you will have to complete to win (laid out in our official rules here).

Seems like a pretty easy go for The Runner, right?

Nope. We’ve not made it that easy.  

The rules of the road

We have given The Runner some traveling money and the freedom to run anywhere within the contiguous 48 United States. However, The Runner must follow some rules.

First, The Runner must play one hour of poker in a legal American card room every two days. And we’ve demanded proof. In short: video or it didn’t happen. 

Moreover, on the travel days when The Runner isn’t playing poker, we still require video of the journey. 

Every day, The Runner must submit a video documenting either proof of the poker play or proof of location during the journey. On travel days, The Runner must appear on camera in front of a place of business for at least five seconds of the video. 

What’s more, along the way, The Runner will be leaving a breadcrumb or two that could lead you straight to The Runner’s table and then to the Bahamas. 

If for some reason you still think The Runner has it easy, here’s one last thing:

About 13 years ago, a magazine writer tried to do very much the same thing with only $5,000 on the line. He didn’t make it. Teams of internet sleuths ruthlessly tracked the writer and nailed him in a pizza joint in New Orleans. Game over. 

The run starts just after midnight ET. After that, we literally have no idea what’s going to happen. The only thing we know for sure is that someone is going to be playing poker for millions in the Bahamas. It will either be The Runner or one of you. 

We’ll be updating our Runner Runner page with information whenever it comes in. Go there now for official rules and terms. 

Also, keep an eye on all of our social accounts for the quickest way to see video updates and more. 

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Join the chase! Get the very latest Runner Runner updates and figure out the clues from the Runner's daily video updates here.

Also, keep an eye on all of our social accounts for the quickest way to see video updates and more. 

Twitter |  Instagram |  Facebook |  TikTok |  YouTube