World Poker Tour Fuels Growth of Tournament Poker

With a huge influx of new players inspired by the television show streaming into poker tournaments, the total prize pool for the WPT tournaments is expected to triple in one year from $10 to nearly $30 million for the tour's second season. Clearly those numbers are a further impetus for players to enter WPT tournaments, and many of the long-time pros are seeing some of their largest paychecks ever. Players making a WPT Final Table seldom walk away with under $100,000. Prize pools are determined by the number of players "buying in" to a tournament at the casino's established rate to participate -- usually $5,000 to $10,000 -- for a WPT event.

"The World Poker Tour is an unstoppable juggernaut in the poker world," says Steve Lipscomb, founder and CEO. "America's newly discovered passion for tournament poker is escalating tournament numbers and creating monster prize pools never before seen in poker rooms nationally or in other individual sports. The industry is reaping the benefit of our show's success on Travel Channel. Anyone can enter and compete -- you don't have to be a pro -- so, new enthusiasts are flooding into casinos and going online to play poker."

The growth is apparent in the numbers reported by elated WPT tournament sponsors and casinos. Among them are:

-A $900,000 increase in one year in the total prize pool at the Bicycle Casino's "Legends of Poker Tournament" in Los Angeles, from $670,000 to $1.5 million. The tournament leaped from 134 players last year to 309 in the most recent tournament to air during the WPT's second season, starting in February 2004. First prize went from $258,000 to $579,375.

-UltimateBet.com, which stages the "Ultimate Poker Classic" that just concluded in Aruba, reported entries for the tournament increased from 94 last year to 436 in 2003, increasing the prize pool from $500,000 to $1,774,000. As a result, UltimateBet.com is scrambling to find enough hotel rooms for next year's influx. For next year's prize pool, UltimateBet is guaranteeing a total prize pool of $4 million and a first place prize of $1 million for the October 2004 tournament.

-Foxwoods in Connecticut, the next stop on the tour Nov. 14-17, estimates a prize pool up to $3 million for its "World Poker Finals," up from $890,000 last year. The buy-in is $10,200 and nearly 300 players are lining up to enter. In 2003, the number of players was only 89, with a first prize of $345,000. The incentive for this upcoming tournament is an expected $1 million first prize. Overall, Foxwoods has seen a 372% increase in tournament participation and a 25% increase in revenue from weekday participation at its poker tables. Comparing September 2002 to September 2003, there was an increase of 132% in patrons and 254% in prize pool in the casino's weekly tournaments.

-Dec. 15-18 the WPT moves on the Bellagio in Las Vegas for the "Five Diamond World Poker Classic." The Bellagio has seen record increases in its poker room. Last year's tournament featured 146 players, a $1.4 million prize pool and a $581,000 first prize. The Bellagio has also seen record increases in its poker room. This season's $10,000-buy-in event is expected to draw 300 players and will feature another huge prize pool estimated in the $3 million range, making a first place pay-out in excess $1 million.

-Partypoker.com which charters a cruise ship for its tournament, "The PartyPoker Million," last year drew 177 players, had a prize pool of $1 million and a first place payout of $263,000. In March, the online poker company estimates reaching maximum ship capacity of more than 500 players. The prize pool is expected to be $3.5 million, with a $1 million payday for the winner. Partypoker.com's Web site has quadrupled the number of players online since the World Poker Tour started airing. The company expects to have to charter a larger vessel for 2004.

-The World Poker Tour Championship in April featured the highest buy-in in history for a poker tournament -- $25,000 -- and drew 111 players, competing for $2.6 million in prize money and a $1 million first prize. Those numbers are expected to increase to 200 players, with a $5 million prize pool and a $2 million first prize.

-Totaling the estimated prize pools for all 14 of the WPT's second season tournaments, the number is close to an astonishing $30 million, three times the prize money in the tour's inaugural year.

Clearly one of the factors spurring the remarkable increase in tournament poker is the World Poker Tour's inclusion of and encouragement of non-professional players to "try their hand" at the game. Unlike other sports, with poker anyone who has the money for a buy-in can potentially end up playing against a poker legend. Furthermore, nearly all of the 14 events on the WPT offer satellite tournaments with very small buy-ins (as low as $10) where players can and have successfully played their way to a televised WPT Final Table. In fact, with four tournaments already filmed for the start of the second season, nearly a half dozen "amateurs" have played their way into WPT final tables.

"For us at the World Poker Tour, it is truly gratifying to see the impact that our innovative show has had on raising the boat for the entire poker world," says Lipscomb. "America's favorite card game has a renewed vigor in poker rooms and living rooms across the nation."