World Poker Tour

If you watch television, by now you've probably seen at least a few minutes of the World Poker Tour. The series has taken the world of television by storm, with people that never before had an interest in poker tuning in to see what all of the fuss is about.

In February 2002, the World Poker Tour started and has taken off since then, attracting players from all around the world to come together and play.

Although there are tournaments that are designed for celebrities, there are also tournaments for the average poker player who hopes to make it big and take home millions of dollars.

With millions of viewers tuning in to watch each episode, it seems that the World Poker Tour is destined to continue gaining popularity and become one of the most watched sports today.


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World Poker Tour 2005/2006

Season 3 had a grand prize of $2,800,000, won by California resident Tuan Le, and season 4 promises to have an even larger prize pool for the season. World Poker Tour officials say this is because of the tremendous amount of new players taking part in the tournaments and satellite games.

The fourth season will start May 13, 2005 at the Mirage with The Mirage Poker Showdown, and will end in April of 2006 with the final event at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

World Poker Tour History

The World Poker Tour has a very young but exciting history. Several years ago, television and film producer Steven Lipscomb came up with the idea of creating a television series based on a poker tournament. He hoped for it to be the next big spectator sport and capture the drama that goes along with playing a high-stakes poker game.

By early 2002, Lipscomb and his hard working team began taping tournaments around the world and by the end of that year, The Travel Channel agreed to include the World Poker Tour in its 2003 schedule.

By February 2003, the first celebrity tournament was held at the Commerce Casino. Stars like Mickey Rooney, MeatLoaf, Norm MacDonald, Lou Diamond Phillips and Connie Stevens came out to join in on the gambling action.

Shortly after this, ratings began to climb dramatically, with about three to five million people tuning in to each show. Similar to the World Series of Poker, the tremendous media hype helped the World Poker Tour become as well known as it is today.

In fact, just recently the World Series of Poker was featured before the SuperBowl, a time slot many shows vie for.

The tournament is now going into its second season, and given the success of the first season, the World Series of Poker will most likely be a household name for many years to come.

World Poker Tour Champions

Doyle Brunson's name is familiar from World Series of Poker fame. He is best known for being the first to take home $1 million from tournament play and he also went on to write a book about the game.

Randy Burger only had six months of poker experience before he qualified for the World Poker Tour online and then made it all the way to the final table.

Paul Darden, a former nightclub owner and rap promoter, became the 2001 Seven Card Stud World Champion.

Jennifer Harman has been playing poker since she was five years old and is known to be the best female poker player in the world, earning over half a million dollars from the game.

Phil Hellmuth has gained the status of a millionaire since he started playing poker at the age of 18. He also has a variety of titles under his belt and has written numerous books about poker.

Gus Hansen has become well known in the poker circuit and won two tournaments in season one of the World Poker Tour, taking home over $1 million.

T. J. Cloutier has won 51 major tournaments during his poker playing career and has won more money than anyone at the world championships. He has also written three books on poker.

World Poker Tour Big Wins

Tuan Le - $1,500,00
Hoyt Corkins-$1,000,000
Mohamed Ibrahim-$563,400
Phil Hellmuth-$281,700
Christoper Ackerman-$226,925

World Poker Tour Satellites

By now you're probably wondering if you can join in on the excitement that is the World Poker Tour. Well, you can by playing a satellite tournament, where you could win your buy in.

Satellite tournaments are available online at a variety of websites and at land-based casinos. By taking part, you could win the $25,000 buy in and head to championships broadcasted on the Travel Channel.

The World Poker Tour has encouraged online casino sites and Las Vegas casinos to keep the buy ins low for the satellite tournaments to keep it open and affordable for more people. Casinos across the United States will be offering satellite tournaments.

If you don't win, you can always pay the buy in yourself and take part in the World Poker Tour. Just call the Poker Office in Bellagio at 702-693-7290 for information and registration.

Remember that practice makes perfect, so if you are heading to a satellite tournament or you make it all the way to the championships, keep playing at home or online to sharpen your skills. There's no such thing as over preparing when millions of dollars are at stake, and you don't want to look like a fool in front of thousands of viewers.