The World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour (WPT) is a televised series of some of the biggest poker tournaments in the world. The WPT is a lot like the World Series of Poker, except that WPT events are held across the world, while WSOP events are all held in Las Vegas. Also, the WPT is a collection of separate tournaments as opposed to one continuous series.
This article will discuss the history of the World Poker Tour, recent WPT results, and upcoming WPT events.
History of the WPT
The World Poker Tour aired its first season on the Travel Channel in 2002 and became a hit success, largely due to being the first poker TV show to reveal players' hole cards during the hand. Season One featured eleven tournament events and culminated in a $25,000 buy-in WPT Championship.
Tournament winners from Season One included two-time winners Gus Hansen and Howard Lederer, and one-time winner Dave Ulliott. The winner of each event throughout the first season was granted a free seat in the $25,000 buy-in WPT Championship. Alan Goehring took down the first WPT Championship for a $1,011,886 prize.
Since then, the World Poker Tour has expanded each season, adding new events to its tournament circuit. This year (2009-2010) the WPT has seventeen stops, including the $25,000 WPT Championship at the Bellagio.
Major Winners at the WPT
A few players have enjoyed sustained success every season at the World Poker Tour, including Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen, Phil Ivey, and Barry Greenstein. Daniel Negreanu is the all time WPT Career Earnings leader, with a total of $5,555,935 in WPT winnings. Gus Hansen has won three WPT Titles, which is the most of any player. Phil Ivey has made the most final tables (8), and Lee Markholt has the most WPT cashes (20). Barry Greenstein has played in the most World Poker Tournaments (94).
World Poker Tour Season 8
WPT Season 8 kicked off a few months ago with the WPT Venice event on May 6-10. Ragnar Astrom outlasted the field to win a $567,000 score. Here are the remaining events in WPT Season 8, at the time of this writing:
- Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic - December 14-19, 2009 - Bellagio - Las Vegas, Nevada
- Southern Poker Championship - January 24-27, 2010 - Beau Rivage - Biloxi, Mississippi
- WPT Celebrity Invitational - February 20-21, 2010 - Commerce Casino - Commerce, California
- L.A. Poker Classic - February 26-March 4, 2010 - Commerce Casino - Commerce, California
- Bay 101 Shooting Star - March 8-12, 2010 - Bay 101 - San Jose, California
- Hollywood Poker Open - March 20-24, 2010 - Hollywood Casino - Lawrenceburg, Indiana
- WPT World Championship - April 17-24, 2010 - Bellagio - Las Vegas, Nevada
For a full schedule of events and buy-ins, visit www.WorldPokerTour.com.
Media Presence of the World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour has the largest media presence of any live poker tournament series, next to the World Series of Poker. The WPT is aired on the Travel Channel once a week, usually on Mondays at 9PM, but it can also be caught on the web via live streaming at the WPT web site. Viewers can also catch re-runs almost every night.
World Poker Tour Boot Camp
The World Poker Tour offers a Boot Camp, which aims to help players across the world increase their poker skill and knowledge. The camp is offered in two- and three-day segments where players can pick up pointers and learn strategies from the top professionals. WPT Boot Camps allow players to win a number of great prizes and even buy-ins to top WPT events. If you happen to win a WPT buy-in, the pros at Boot Camp will get you ready for the event.
World Poker Tour Merchandise
The WPT offers a collection of gifts from poker chips, clothing, and of course a great deal of DVDs. The DVDs cover all final table action including bonus details and strategies that can be used in every day poker games.
WPT Qualifiers
Since most WPT events have a buy-in of $5,000 or more, many players cannot afford to directly buy-in, and instead try to qualify for the tournament by winning a satellite tournament. The best way to qualify for WPT events is to sign up at an online poker site and play online qualifiers. Online poker sites run WPT satellites starting at just a few dollars, so players can take a shot at a major score without risking too much money.
Qualifiers for WPT Season Eight are Running Now » Win a Seat at www.PokerStars.com!