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Matt Petry thought he was being scammed when he got a message on FanDuel about being a finalist for Rob “Gronk” Gronkowski’s Gold Pass giveaway on the sports betting platform.

But the 30-year-old firefighter from West Virginia’s skepticism faded when he learned that he had in fact won a $10,300 Gold Pass Package to PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Las Vegas.

PokerNews caught up with Petry to talk about his poker background and how he plans to make the most of his first-ever trip to Sin City.

Poker Roots

Petry has been around poker since the Moneymaker Boom when his dad’s firefighter buddies “got into poker heavy.”

“They would have home games and I started playing with them,” Petry said. “They’d let me play. So that kind of got me into it.”

Petry remembers playing on PokerStars for play money as a teenager before his interest dwindled. He stopped playing poker for years before seeing some intriguing YouTube content during the pandemic that reignited his passion for the game.

“And then started grinding after that and actually learned how to play.”

Nowadays, Petry plays online poker regularly and occasionally makes the two-hour drive to Maryland to play live poker.

“I play quite a good bit online,” he said. “Probably just like an average buy-in of $11. I play a lot of MTTs. I’ve probably played like 800 this year.”

First Time in Vegas

Petry was at his local VA fire station when he learned that he had won Gronkowski’s Gold Pass giveaway.

“I was at work that day,” he said. “And I’m telling all the guys at work that I just won a Gold Pass to Vegas.”

Not only is the $5,300 buy-in NAPT Main Event “50 times bigger than anything I’ve ever played,” it will mark the southerner’s first trip to Las Vegas.

“It’s exciting. I’m excited to get out there and try it. I’ve never been to Vegas, so this will be a first for me, too.”

Petry added that he was excited to audition for The Big Game on Tour, one of many perks of the $10,300 Gold Pass package.

“It seems like a ton of stuff for a Gold Pass. Like, I’m getting emails daily about different things and activities.”

There have been other notable Gold Pass giveaways, including one through the PokerNews Podcast and Life Outside Poker that saw Luis Rivera winning a seat into his second-ever live tournament.

Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.

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