World Poker Tour Competition

The World Poker tour abbreviated as WPT is a set of the international tournaments of poker with associated TV shows that broadcast the final events of each poker tournament. This tournament was started in the US by a TV producer known as Steven Lipscomb who then was the CEO of the WPT enterprises abbreviated as WPTE (the organization which have control over the World Poker Tour until November 2009). In 2008 the WPT started to offer bracelets to its champions and all the other players that had won before were also given one.

The World Poker Tour was sold off to Party Gaming in November 2009 for a sum of $12,300,000. The poker boom that is being experienced in many American homes is as a result of the WPT TV show that has build up from the broadcasting on TV the World Series of poker that is annual. The poker boom is not only rising in the US but also in all land poker rooms and on the internet. The key sponsors of this TV show are online poker websites as well as casinos. The WPT TV show is also syndicated internationally whereby it features analysis and commentary by one of the winners by the name actor Vince Van Patten and Mike Sexton.

There is also a female host by the name Shana Hiatt who graced the TV show for the first 3 seasons. The fourth season was hosted by Courtney Friel, fifth season by Sabina Gadecki, sixth season by Layla Kayleigh with Kimberly Lansing, seventh season by poker player and Amanda Leatherman who is a reporter and Kimberly Lansing was then returned to host the show in the ninth season. Due to the acquisition in November 2009 the owners added a second series under the brand name Party Poker which has mainly focused on the European stops of WPT.

History

The tour TV show debuted in the last few months of the year 2002 and the early months of 2003 where they climaxed with the World Poker Tour championship which was in April 2003 held at the Bellagio in Las Vegas Nevada. The 1st season was broadcasted on the American cable television channel known as Travel channel in the 2003 spring. The TV show network debut was in on the 1st of February 2004 on NBC and this was a special tournament known as “Battle of Champions” that was also broadcasted against the CBS coverage of the pre game show of the Super Bowl XXXVIII. It was the travel channel that aired the first 5 seasons and it was in April 2007 when the TV series had been moved to GSN for the sixth season and this was in 2008 spring. The first to air on the GSN channel was Mirage Poker Showdown that debuted on the 24th of March 2008. In the same year in July the series was moved to Fox Sports Net for the seventh season.