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Online poker sites have a reputation for offering strange, unusual and often highly lucrative promotions as a way of attracting media attention, standing out in a crowded market and ultimately gaining more registered players. Over the years, we’ve seen everything from luxury cars to exotic trips and even full sponsorship deals offered to high-performance online poker players. However, the most recent promotion available from 888 Poker may be the most outrageous yet.

From now until November, 888 Poker will be offering 20 shares in a race horse, with each share valued at 3,000 pounds. In effect, each winning player will receive a 5% stake in the horse. Walter Swinburn, the horse’s trainer, is an expert jockey who entered horse racing history when he won the Kentucky Derby riding Shergar in 1981. Since 2004, Swinburn has been focusing exclusively on training, and he received his first win after only eight races.

The horse itself will not be chosen until November or December. Following an auction, the horse will be kept at Swinburn’s stables located in Hertfordshire. The horse’s owners (read: the winners of the 888 Poker promotion) will be able to visit any time to see the horse in action.

888 Poker is offering a variety of ways in which you can grab your stake in the horse. Daily satellite tournaments will be offered with buy-ins ranging from $1.35 to $11, all of which will include add-ons and rebuys. The satellites lead to a weekly qualifier, currently scheduled as a Thursday-evening $220 NLHE tournament. The weekly qualifier will start each player with 5,000 chips.

If you win one of the $220 NLHE events, you’ll receive a 5% stake in the horse for one year. After a year, the horse’s 20 owners will be able to decide whether to strike a new agreement in which they’d pay for the ongoing daily operating costs of the horse. What makes the promotion interesting is that, should the horse be a successful racer, the owners could stand to make thousands for years to come.