WPT Enterprises'
PROFESSIONAL POKER TOUR -- PPT -- Names
Eligible Players To Inaugural $2.5
Million Season
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Approximately 200 Poker Champs and
Money Winners Make the Elite
All-Star Roster; Qualifying Players
are Eligible to Play Inaugural PPT
Event at Foxwoods Starting Nov. 9
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When the PROFESSIONAL POKER TOUR(TM) (PPT)
kicks off at Foxwoods Resort Casino on
Nov. 9, the field will include poker's
All-Stars -- champions from WORLD POKER
TOUR(TM) (WPT), World Series of Poker
and European Poker competitions. More
than 200 players qualified when the PPT
announced its list of eligible players,
based on input from the PPT Advisory
Committee.
A
host of top Texas Holdem players ranging
from veterans (Doyle Brunson) to young
lions (24-year-old Antonio Esfandiari)
made the cut, earning the right to play
in the elite sports league. Launched by
WPT Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:WPTE), the
creator of the WORLD POKER TOUR(TM), the
PROFESSIONAL POKER TOUR reflects the
evolution of poker as a sport. A
sponsored prize pool totaling $2.5
million is at stake throughout the
5-tournament inaugural 2004-2005 season.
Whereas anyone can play
Texas Holdem
on
the WPT, only the game's professional
elite that qualify will compete on the
PPT. To be eligible to play on the
PROFESSIONAL POKER TOUR, players must
have proven themselves in past poker
competition: by winning or making a
Final Table at a WPT event or a WPT
Championship; by scoring as a top 10
point leader in WPT Player-of-the-Year
rankings; by winning or placing highly
in the $10K buy-in event at the World
Series of Poker; by securing a spot on
either CardPlayer Magazine's Card Player
of the Year Top 10 list or Poker
Europa's Top 10; or by being a member of
the Poker Hall of Fame. At the time of
the announcement, the PROFESSIONAL POKER
TOUR revealed PPT eligibility rules for
future years based on recommendations
from the PPT Advisory Committee.
"This qualifying process ensures that
the television audience will have a
chance to consistently see the most
exciting, skilled
Texas Holdem
poker played by the sport's All-Stars,"
said Steve Lipscomb, President of WPT
Enterprises. "The PPT will be a league
of poker Titans."
Among the players on the PPT roster
whose names will be recognizable to
poker fans are: Doyle Brunson, Howard
Lederer, Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, Annie
Duke, Phil Hellmuth, Gus Hansen, Phil
Gordon, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Chris
Moneymaker, Antonio Esfandiari, Bobby
Baldwin, Daniel Negreanu, Chris "Jesus"
Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, David
"Devilfish" Ulliott, Samy Farah, Mel
Judah, Scotty Nguyen, Erick Lindgren,
Phil "The Unabomber" Laak, Huck Seed,
Tom McEvoy, Layne Flack, Carlos
Mortensen, Chip Reese, Erick Seidel,
Lyle Berman, Kathy Liebert, T. J.
Cloutier, Ted Forrest and Linda Johnson.
A complete list along with qualifying
criteria can be found on the WPT
website, www.worldpokertour.com/media.
More than a dozen of the PPT qualifiers
are women.
In
its first year, the PROFESSIONAL POKER
TOUR will encompass five $500,000
free-roll
Texas Holdem
tournaments with a total $2.5 million
prize pool. After its debut at Foxwoods
in November, the PPT will move on to
Bellagio (Las Vegas) with subsequent
tournaments at the Goldstrike Casino
(Tunica, Miss.), Commerce Casino
(Commerce, Calif.), and The Mirage (Las
Vegas). WPT Enterprises will reveal more
information on the PPT, including
potential television partners, at a
future date. Meanwhile, viewers can
continue to enjoy the WORLD POKER TOUR
on Travel Channel Wednesday nights at 9
p.m.
For
more information on the PROFESSIONAL
POKER TOUR or WPTE, please visit
www.worldpokertour.com.
About WPT Enterprises, Inc.
WPT
Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:WPTE) is a
media and entertainment company engaged
in the creation of branded entertainment
through the development, production and
marketing of televised programming based
on poker and other gaming themes. To
date, operations have principally
revolved around the creation of the
World Poker Tour brand through the
production and licensing of a television
series exhibited on the Travel Channel
that is based on a circuit of previously
established high-stakes poker
tournaments that we have affiliated
under the "World Poker Tour" brand. WPT
Enterprises, Inc. is a majority owned
subsidiary of Lakes Entertainment, Inc.
(Nasdaq:LACO). Photos and media
information can be found online at:
www.worldpokertour.com.
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