The Launch of the World Poker Tour

On Sunday, May 26, the World Poker Tour (WPT) was officially introduced to the world at a press conference held at Bellagio in Las Vegas. This classy affair was attended by more than 200 poker players and many media representatives. Coverage for the WPT has been promised by such media as People magazine, CNN, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Following cocktails and fancy hors d'oeuvres, Steve Lipscomb, CEO of the WPT, made some opening comments. "This is a monumental event for poker and will change it forever. The Tour was founded only a few months ago, and we are full already for the first season's locations. The Tour has a very exciting future. Following an article that appeared in Variety, we were contacted by three TV networks, who all want us to talk to them first."

Lipscomb then introduced the charter members of the WPT. On stage to represent the properties were Isabelle Mercier (Aviation Club de France), Doug Dalton (Bellagio), Denny Williams (The Bicycle Casino), Nick Gullo (Casinos Europa), Tim Gustin (Commerce Casino), Kathy Raymond (Foxwoods Resort Casino), Ken Lambert (Horseshoe/Gold Strike), Matt Savage (Lucky Chances), Mike Sexton (PartyPoker.com), Greg Pierson (UltimateBet.com), and Tex Morgan (Reno Hilton). In addition, Lyle Berman, whose company Lakes Gaming, Inc. has committed more than $3 million to finance the WPT, talked about his vision for poker and about a $200,000 invitational tournament that he has planned to fill out the WPT.

Berman joked with the audience about how members of the invitational tournament would be selected. (This is paraphrased, as I did not have a tape recorder with me.) "We decided that all winners of the championship event at the World Series of Poker would be invited to play. We also thought that the charter members of the WPT should each be granted one exemption to play. I didn't think that I should get an exemption just because I am one of the WPT founders, so we had to search for another category that would include me. Thus, we decided to include members of the Poker Hall of Fame. There are only a few of us still living, and most of the others were included via their world champion status. I guess Chip Reese and Roger Moore just got lucky, but at least I'm in!"

Audience members were shown a very impressive 3-D rendition of the set for the WPT. A demonstration of the cameras that will be used to show the players' holecards was held. Each player will have a small camera that is about the size of a Rubik's cube sitting in front of him during final-table play.

A $5,000 media tournament followed the press conference. Jeff Simpson of the Las Vegas Review-Journal was the winner, and the following people made the final table and took home prize money: Jim McManus, Susie Isaacs, Larry Grossman, June Field, Jan Fisher, Antonio Esfandiari, Katie Lederer, Phil Field, and Linda Johnson.

On May 27, 146 players paid $10,000 each to play in the inaugural event of the WPT, the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio. Each player started with $20,000 in chips and limits were two hours long. On the first day, 46 players were eliminated. On day No. 2, play was continued until 36 participants remained. Day No. 3 pared the field to 18 players, and day No. 4 saw the field narrowed to the final six. A day of rest before the finals was enjoyed by the players, each of whom was treated to a $500 shopping spree at Mastroianni Fashions to select clothing to wear at the final table. They also were taken to dinner at Prime in Bellagio. The entire Bellagio poker staff, under the direction of Doug Dalton, performed well throughout the week, and deserve many kudos.

On June 1, the stage was set for the final table to be televised. Everyone involved with the TV portion of the program received professional hair and makeup attention. Players were amazed by the elegance of the environment. It was very high-tech, glitzy, and chic, all rolled into one. Several cameras were used to capture every possible angle, and TV screens around the room provided the audience close-up shots of the players and the cards. Tournament Director Jack McClelland and I announced the play for those watching ringside, while Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten did color commentary for the TV show, which will be aired early in 2003.

Final-table play lasted approximately seven hours. Chris Ferguson, a former world champion, said the following about the final table: "It is one of the strongest fields I have ever seen, and it's fun for the spectators due to the players' different styles. We got to see more flops than is usual in no-limit. The players were willing to gamble, and none of them were trying to inch up in the money. They were all playing for first place."

Following are the results of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic:

1. Gus Hansen $566,480

2. John Juanda $278,240

3. Kassem Deeb $139,120

4. John Hennigan $83,472

5. Chris Bigler $62,604

6. Scotty Nguyen $48,692

Congratulations to the WPT and Bellagio for a tremendous first event. It truly was spectacular. In my next column, I will interview Gus Hansen, the first WPT champion.

Now, let's play poker!

For more information on Card Player Cruises, PartyPoker.com, poker in Costa Rica, the World Poker Players Conference, or the World Poker Industry Conference, please contact me at [email protected].