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About World Poker Tour
Most of the world's professional poker players as well as various semi-professional and amateur poker players, who have received their seats by winning qualifying poker tournaments, compete in a series of offline poker tournaments, referred to as The World Poker Tour (WPT).
The World Poker Tour was introduced to the world of poker (and the rest of the world) by attorney and now television producer Steven Lipscomb. He is now the CEO of WPT Enterprises (WPTE), which is the corporation that controls the rights to the World Poker Tour.
The World Poker Tour was kicked off in the last half of 2002 and received rave reviews with the WPT Championship in April 2003 at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The World Poker Tour due to its televised broadcasting has led to a huge boom in the popularity of the game of poker not only in the US but all over the world. The key sponsors of the tour are "real" casinos and online internet casinos as well as online internet poker sites.
What seems to be what truly fascinates the public regarding WPT and most other poker tournaments is that anyone who can pay the "buy-in" (an amount ranging from $2,500 to $25,000) or win a "satellite" poker tournament (e.g. at online internet poker rooms) is able to compete against the top professional players, such as Phil Hellmut, Doyle Brunson, or the top 2004 tournament money and multi-WPT tournament winner, Daniel Negreanu.
Sherman Act lawsuit
On July 19, 2006 a group of professional poker players led by Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch, Annie Duke, Joe Hachem, Phil Gordon, Howard Lederer, and Greg Raymer sued WPTE. Due to claims that WPTE's standard release forms, required for participation in WPTE events, are anti-competitive and designed to interfere with their contractual obligations to other companies, these seven poker professionals claimed violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act, the California Cartwright Act, and intentional interference with contract (Complaint and Response). The anti-competition claim is based on the fact that the World Poker Tour's contracts with the casinos that host its tournaments bar those casinos from hosting non-WPTE poker events.
Player of the Year
Points are awarded for all Open events as follows:
- Winner: 1000 points
- Runner-up: 700 points
- 3rd place: 600 points
- 4th place: 500 points
- 5th place: 400 points
- 6th place: 300 points
- 7th place (TV bubble): 200 points
This award is given out to one player per season. The winners so far are:
- Season 1: Howard Lederer/Gus Hansen
- Season 2: Erick Lindgren
- Season 3: Daniel Negreanu
- Season 4: Gavin Smith
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