The World Poker Tour is putting tournament poker in the spotlight and is composed of two different aspects. On one hand, it is an elite high stakes Texas Hold'em tournament drawing both amateurs as well as poker professionals. On the other hand, it is a television show on the Travel Channel, intended to hit a massive target audience of novice poker players.
Both the tournament side and the television side of the event are equally impressive. The World Poker Tour has boosted the popularity of poker around the world through its poker tournaments and the WPT television shows seen on the Travel Channel.
The World Poker Tour tournament season begins in July and ends with the World Poker Tour Championship in April at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are fourteen poker tournaments on the Tour at various locations ranging from Paris, France, to the mainland USA, to a luxury ocean cruise.
The only qualification for entering any of these poker tournaments is showing up with the buy-in which is usually $10,000.
In each of the 14 tournaments preceding the WPT Championship the winner receives both a $25,000 buy in to the World Poker Tour Championship, and the grand prize for the tournament itself.
Individual tournament prizes vary depending on the number of entrants. Make it to the final table of one of these poker tournaments and you get a share of the tournament prize money while your friends get to watch you on television.
In addition to standard tournaments, each season the World Poker Tour holds a celebrity invitational tournament. This tournament pits Hollywood celebrities against poker professionals. Aside from being fun to watch, celebrities have a chance to win a large chunk of money for their favorite charity, as well as a seat at the WPT Championship tournament.
The final table at each World Poker Tour tournament is filmed in front of a live audience and televised on the Travel Channel.
Many features of the WPT television show make it very viewer friendly: small cameras that show each players hole cards, play-by-play commentary, definitions of poker lingo, and on screen displays of percentages, and how these percentages change as cards fall.
Another feature which makes the WPT unique is the commentary. Two commentators: Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten give play-by-play commentary throughout the show. One of the more beneficial things this does is provide some background information on each of the players.
Both the tournament side and the television side of the event are equally impressive. The World Poker Tour has boosted the popularity of poker around the world through its poker tournaments and the WPT television shows seen on the Travel Channel.
The World Poker Tour tournament season begins in July and ends with the World Poker Tour Championship in April at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are fourteen poker tournaments on the Tour at various locations ranging from Paris, France, to the mainland USA, to a luxury ocean cruise.
The only qualification for entering any of these poker tournaments is showing up with the buy-in which is usually $10,000.
In each of the 14 tournaments preceding the WPT Championship the winner receives both a $25,000 buy in to the World Poker Tour Championship, and the grand prize for the tournament itself.
Individual tournament prizes vary depending on the number of entrants. Make it to the final table of one of these poker tournaments and you get a share of the tournament prize money while your friends get to watch you on television.
In addition to standard tournaments, each season the World Poker Tour holds a celebrity invitational tournament. This tournament pits Hollywood celebrities against poker professionals. Aside from being fun to watch, celebrities have a chance to win a large chunk of money for their favorite charity, as well as a seat at the WPT Championship tournament.
The final table at each World Poker Tour tournament is filmed in front of a live audience and televised on the Travel Channel.
Many features of the WPT television show make it very viewer friendly: small cameras that show each players hole cards, play-by-play commentary, definitions of poker lingo, and on screen displays of percentages, and how these percentages change as cards fall.
Another feature which makes the WPT unique is the commentary. Two commentators: Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten give play-by-play commentary throughout the show. One of the more beneficial things this does is provide some background information on each of the players.
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