WORLD POKER TOUR(R) to Crown Two Millionaires at Foxwoods World Poker Finalstitle
Final Six Players Battle it Out for More Than $5 Million in Final Table
Prize Money
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- When Foxwoods World Poker
Finals concludes tonight, it will mark the largest prize pool in the history
of a WORLD POKER TOUR(R) regular season event. With a record 783 players
competing in the $10,000 buy-in event, $5 million of the nearly $8 million
prize pool will be awarded to the six final table players, with more than
$2 million going to first place and more than $1 million going to second
place.
Season IV of the WORLD POKER TOUR continues to make poker history, on pace
to top $100 million dollars in prize money, doubling all money awarded in the
history of the Tour.
"We continue to set records," says Steve Lipscomb, President and CEO of
WPT Enterprises, Inc., "and Foxwoods always manages to raise the bar for
everyone on the Tour. The WPT congratulates our partners at Foxwoods for the
largest regular season event in our history, in a league that has firmly
established itself as the richest individual sport in the world."
Remarkably, four of the six players will likely be added to the
ever-growing WPT millionaires club, already boasting 29 members in just four
seasons. With sixth place paying more than $600,000, returning young gun
poker sensations Alan Cunningham and Bill Gazes are certain to join the list.
But to move up that prize list they will have to climb over Hall-of-Famer Lyle
"Daddy Warbucks" Berman, and the chip leading Cinderella story, 21-year-old
Nick Schulman -- a kid on a mission to live the new American dream of winning
a WORLD POKER TOUR title -- and scoring life changing money on prime time
television in the only sports league in the history of televised sports that
allows anyone to show up and take a shot at legitimate sports fame and
fortune.
Spectators began lining up at 6 a.m. this morning for the chance to get a
coveted seat in the WPT arena when the Final Table begins filming this
afternoon at 4 p.m. in the Grand Pequot Ballroom at Foxwoods Resort and Casino
in Mashantucket, CT.
"Poker history will be made again tonight," said Lipscomb, "and one guy is
going to walk away with $2 million. Not bad for a week of poker."
The next stop on the tour is the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at
Bellagio in Las Vegas, Dec. 13-16.
The WPT launched the poker boom when it first aired on the Travel Channel
in the U.S. on March 30, 2003, and it continues to lead the way in developing
poker as a major international sport. Viewers and aspiring tour players can
log on to http://www.worldpokertour.com for ways to improve their game and to follow
the Tour. The highest rated show ever on The Travel Channel, the WPT is now
seen in more than 120 countries and territories worldwide. WORLD POKER
TOUR(R) airs every Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on the Travel Channel in the U.S
and will air every Friday night at 10:00 pm in prime-time on ITV-4 in the UK.
About WPT Enterprises, Inc.
WPT Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: WPTE) is a company engaged in the creation
of internationally branded entertainment and consumer products driven by the
development, production, and marketing of televised programming based on
gaming themes. WPTE is the creator of the WORLD POKER TOUR(R), a television
show based on a series of high-stakes poker tournaments that airs on the
Travel Channel in the United States and more than 120 countries and
territories globally. WPT Enterprises currently licenses its brand to
companies in the business of poker equipment and instruction, apparel,
publishing, electronic and wireless entertainment, DVD/home entertainment,
casino games, and giftware. For show information, tools for improving poker
play, and other WPT news, fans may log on to http://www.worldpokertour.com. The
company is also engaged in the sale of corporate sponsorships. WPT
Enterprises, Inc. is a majority owned subsidiary of Lakes Entertainment, Inc.
Photos and media information can be found online at:
http://www.worldpokertour.com/media.
(WPTEG)
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe
harbor" for forward-looking statements. Certain information included in this
press release (as well as information included in oral statements or other
written statements made or to be made by WPT Enterprises, Inc.) contains
statements that are forward-looking, such as statements relating to the
expansion of WPTEs brand licensing, the development of new television and
film projects, the development of WPTE corporate sponsors and other business
development activities, as well as statements regarding other capital
spending, financing sources and the effects of competition. Such forward-
looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could
significantly affect anticipated results in the future and, accordingly, such
results may differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made
by or on behalf of WPTE. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not
limited to, WPTEs significant dependence on the Travel Channel as a source of
revenue; the potential that our television programming will fail to maintain a
sufficient audience; the risk that competitors with greater financial
resources or marketplace presence might develop television programming that
would directly compete with WPTEs television programming; the risk that WPTE
may not be able to protect its entertainment concepts, current and future
brands and other intellectual property rights; risks associated with future
expansion into new or complementary businesses; the termination or impairment
of WPTEs relationships with key licensing and strategic partners; and WPTEs
dependence on its senior management team.
For more information, review WPTEs filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
Contact: Aimee Lirette/ WPT 323-330-9872
alirette@worldpokertour.com
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