World Poker Tour Happenings

The World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel has changed the image of the game of poker. It's reality TV at its finest – high stakes, high drama, and everyone plays until one man or woman is standing. Wednesday night is now considered "poker night" by millions of viewers every week. That alone is quite an achievement.

An amazing indicator of the success of the show is that ratings continue to grow during reruns of the first season. (In TV land, it's unheard of that reruns have more viewers than original programming.) TV fans have become addicted to the show. And with a new six-year contract with the Travel Channel, you can look for the WPT to continue to capture lots of new fans.

The largest event on the Tour last year in terms of number of entrants was the PartyPoker.com Million, with 177. This year, nearly every event on the Tour will exceed that number. The total prize pool of the 13 WPT events last season was about $11 million. This year, you will see that number grow to more than $25 million!

The hottest new trend in America today is poker, and the mainstream media has taken notice. Recently, we have seen feature stories in Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and Cigar Aficionado. Radio talk shows have been interviewing poker personalities. Movie stars have jumped on the poker bandwagon: Ben Affleck and Lou Diamond Phillips played in the WPT event at the Legends of Poker tournament, and the added exposure was tremendous. All of the L.A. TV channels were there, and entertainment shows such as Entertainment Tonight, Extra, and Access Hollywood did stories on it.

The World Poker Tour has succeeded in its mission of making poker a spectator sport. Poker has become "cool," and millions are watching every week. Players are getting exposure and benefiting from prize pools that are far bigger than ever before. And things are only going to get better.

Players do, however, have concerns. Sponsorship is an issue that players continue to discuss and hope happens. The WPT is working on it. All I can say is that it is coming. The WPT has done wonders in terms of getting exposure for tournament poker. I believe it'll also do wonders in acquiring sponsorship.

Another area of concern for players is the new no-deal policy in WPT events. As a player, I totally understand the belief some have: "Until sponsorship money is added, it's our money and we should be able to do what we want with it." However, I do believe it's in the best interest of the World Poker Tour, and therefore the best interest of the players, to implement a no-deal policy in WPT events.

Make no mistake – money is what drives viewers to the show. It is dramatic and exciting to watch because of the million dollar prize pools and the fight-to-the-finish king-of-the-hill format. The WPT officials believe the drama and excitement would be removed if players were able to make a deal and chop up the money. In addition, they fear the play would not be as good and the intensity of the play would decrease. They are adamant that players making deals would diminish viewer interest. And they are greatly concerned that deals could be seen as a sham in the eyes of the media. Hopefully, players understand all of this and will follow the no-deal rule. (Those who don't will be barred from future WPT events.)

One solution to this problem, of course, is to flatten the payout schedule. However, most venues and a number of players continue to opt for the highest first prize possible. That is a discussion for another day.

My advice to all players is to continue to support the World Poker Tour. It's taken poker to a new level and will continue to do so.

Take care.