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World Poker Tour (WPT)

General Information

In 2002, lawyer and television executive Steve Lipscomb had founded what would now be considered one of the most prestigious poker brands in history, the World Poker Tour (WPT). WPT consists of several poker tournaments that usually takes place in different parts of the world. It is currently at par with its rival World Series of Poker (WSOP) which is owned by casino operator Harrah’s Entertainment.

The WPT brand would eventually branch out and become World Poker Tour Enterprises (WPTE) which makes it possible to market other ventures such as computer games and poker goods.

For the past six years, WPT has awarded millions of dollars to more than 80 WPT title-holders and thousands of players who were able to make cash finishes. The story does not end there. This year, WPT will start with its seventh season.

Public reception

Overwhelming support from players, both amateurs and professionals, has propelled WPT in the level of prestige. In fact, the winners of tournaments nowadays usually become multimillionaires due to huge cash prize pools. The runners-up at most get nearly a million in prize winnings as well.

WPT Season Six Results

The WPT sixth season started last May 19 at The Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas for The Mirage Poker Showdown. The tournament ended with poker pro Jonathan Little clinching the title and the $1,066,295 cash prize. The season made its grand conclusion last April 26 via the WPT World Championship at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In that event, David Chiu bested the other 544 players to win the title and the hefty $3,389,140 paycheck.

Here are the official results of the recently concluded sixth season of WPT:

The Mirage Poker Showdown (Las Vegas, May 19 – 23, 2007) – (1^st: Jonathan Little -$1,066,295)

Mandalay Bay Poker Championship (Las Vegas, May 29 – June 2, 2007) – (1^st: Shawn Buchanan, $768,775)

Bellagio Cup III (Las Vegas, July 10 – 15, 2007) – (1^st: Kevin Saul, $1,342,320)

Legends of Poker (Los Angeles, August 25 – 30, 2007) – (1^st: Dan Harrington, $1,600,365)

Gulf Coast Poker Championship (Mississippi, August 29 – September 9, 2007) – (1^st: Bill Edler, $747,615)

Borgata Poker Open (Atlantic City, September 16 – 20, 2007) – (1^st: Roy Winston, $1,549,780)

Turks and Caicos Poker Classic (Turks and Caicos, September 25 – 30, 2007) – (1^st: Rhynie Campbell, $436,675)

Spanish Championship (Barcelona, October 11 – 16, 2007) – (1^st: Markus Lehmann, $703,803)

North American Poker Championship (Canada, October 26 – November 2, 2007) – (1^st: Scott Clements, $1,137,593)

World Poker Finals (Connecticut, November 7 – 12, 2007) – (1^st: Michael Vela, $1,704,986)

Bellagio Five Diamond Poker Classic (Las Vegas, December 13 – 18, 2007) – (1^st: Eugene Katchalov, $2,482,605)

World Poker Open (Mississippi, January 21 – 23, 2008) – (1^st: Brett Faustmann, $892,413)

Borgata Winter Open (Atlantic City, January 27 – 21, 2008) – (1^st: Gavin Griffin, $1,375,609)

Los Angeles Poker Classic (Los Angeles, February 23 – 28, 2008) – (1^st: Phil Ivey, $1,596,100)

WPT Celebrity Invitational (Los Angeles, March 1 – 3, 2008) – (1^st: Van Nguyen, $100,000)

Bay 101 Shooting Star (California, March 10 – 14, 2008) – (1^st: Brandon Cantu, $1,000,000)

World Poker Challenge (Reno, Nevada, March 25 – 30, 2008) – (1^st: Lee Markholt, $468,315)

Foxwoods Poker Classic (Connecticut, April 4 – 9, 2008) – (1^st: Erik Seidel, $967,390)

WPT Season Seven Tournament Schedules

The WPT officials have decided to slash off seven tournaments out of the 21 for the upcoming season, stating that the move was deemed necessary in order to keep the poker brand competitive with other emerging tournaments such as European Poker Tour (EPT), Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) and Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT).

The scrapped tournaments were mostly those that registered lower than expected number of players thus not meeting the expected cash prize pool. The tournaments that did not make it in Season 7 were: Mirage Poker Showdown (Las Vegas), Mandalay Bay Poker Championship (Las Vegas), WPT Ladies Night, Turks and Caicos Poker Classic, WPT Spanish Championship, World Poker Open (Tunica) and World Poker Challenge (Reno).

Here’s the official schedule as announced by WPT officials. These are still subject to change:

1. Bellagio Cup IV (Las Vegas, July 11 – 17, 2008)

2. Legends of Poker (Los Angeles, August 23 – 28, 2008)

3. Borgata Poker Open (Atlantic City, September 14 – 18, 2008)

4. North American Poker Championship (Canada, October 10 – 16, 2008)

5. Festa Al Lago (Las Vegas, October 20 – 25, 2008)

6. World Poker Finals (Connecticut, November 5 – 11, 2008)

7. Doyle Brunson Five Diamond (Las Vegas, December 13 – 19, 2008)

8. Gulf Coast Poker Championship (Mississippi, January 16 – 19, 2009)

9. Borgata Poker Classic (Atlantic City, January 25 – 29, 2009)

10. Los Angeles Poker Classic (Los Angeles, February 28 – March 5, 2009)

11. WPT Celebrity Invitational (Los Angeles, Marcy 7 – 9, 2009)

12. Bay 101 Shooting Star (California, March 16 – 20, 2009)

13. Foxwoods Poker Classic (Connecticut, April 4 – 9, 2009)

14. WPT World Championship (Las Vegas, April 18 – 25, 2009)

WPT Online Satellite Tournaments

The players who are interested to take part in WPT tournaments but could not do so due to expensive buy-ins, need not fret because satellite tournaments are usually conducted by poker sites that only require a smaller entry fee with a chance to win a free seat in major poker tournaments such as WPT.

Here are a number of poker sites offering satellite tournaments for a number of WPT tournaments that take place throughout the year.

Titan Poker