WPTE Enters Into Agreement With the ChineseFive-Year Contact Allows WPTE to Brand Tournaments in China |
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Note: This story has been updated since it was originally posted.
World Poker Tour Enterprises has entered into a five-year agreement with the government-sanctioned China Leisure Sports Administrative Center (CLSAC) that will allow WPTE to "brand and exploit" a new poker tour called the Traktor Poker Tour.
Traktor poker, or Tuo La Ji, is a popular Chinese card game. The CLSAC holds authority over certain Chinese leisure sports, including Traktor poker.
The first stop will take place in September and the national championship will take place in Beijing. Actual dates have not been released.
WPTE now has the right to sanction and market the Traktor Poker Tour for profit. WPTE secured all broadcasting rights to the Traktor Poker Tour, as well as online and mobile content. WPTE agreed to pay $505,000 the first year, and that increases 10 percent each year of the contract.
In exchange, the CLSAC agrees to hold at least 15 Traktor Poker Tour events and will place the championship finals on a major Chinese television station.
The traditional version of Traktor is a trick-based partner card game that's played with a double deck of 52 cards (jokers included). The object of the game is to win tricks containing kings, tens and fives.
According to a release by WPTE, in 2002, the CLSAC officially declared Tua La Ji Poker an official sport in China and adopted new national rules to unify the many local styles of play to allow for fair competition between all cities and provinces around China.
Here's what Hu Jianguo, Director General of CLSAC, said through the press release.
"We are excited to have WPT as our marketing partner in China. WPT's skills and experience in expanding the popularity of the Sport in the US through creative television and marketing strategies will help us accelerate the growth of the sport here in China. We look forward to a long term partnership expanding the sport both here in China and around the world."
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