World Poker Tour Supports Bill!

[chukakhan]

I am pressed for time before work- I would appreciate it if someone would explain to me why Steve Liscomb and the WPT are in support of the new legislation.

I am assuming that they think they alone are responsible for the explosion of poker lately?

I know that WPT Shuufle Up and Deal, MIke Sexton, was the greatest poker strategy books of all time. It sure expanded my game!

I am sure that they are for the new legislation because most of the online poker sites are run by money laundering terrorists. Nothing to do with any hidden agenda or anything!

see article:

http://www.gambling911.com/World-Pok...ns-100606.html

[xorpheous]

Yup. Steve Liscomb is god and we should all kiss the ground (or plush oriental silk rug) that he walks on. ...at least that seems to be the opinion of the WPT. I think its extremely arrogant and grossly incorrect for WPTE to say that its show alone is the reason for the poker boom. Certainly it played a role in getting people interested, but I think that ESPNs WSOP coverage and the Moneymaker effect, and on-line poker have played a MUCH larger role in feeding and expanding the poker economy. Most people I know don't even watch the WPT any more. Its become extremely lame, and full of amateur players that luck their way to a final table. Wil Wheton has a good blog article regarding the WPT statement on his site, < http://www.cardsquad.com/ >. Funny stuff.

[John Dough]

And all the while I thought it was the aggressive marketing of the online sites that's driving the TV boom.

[olivert]

[ QUOTE ]
I am pressed for time before work- I would appreciate it if someone would explain to me why Steve Liscomb and the WPT are in support of the new legislation.

I am assuming that they think they alone are responsible for the explosion of poker lately?

I know that WPT Shuufle Up and Deal, MIke Sexton, was the greatest poker strategy books of all time. It sure expanded my game!

I am sure that they are for the new legislation because most of the online poker sites are run by money laundering terrorists. Nothing to do with any hidden agenda or anything!

see article:

http://www.gambling911.com/World-Pok...ns-100606.html

[/ QUOTE ]

I sound like a broken record, but I have been saying the following for WEEKS, if not MONTHS.

I have ALWAYS maintained that WPT Enterprises, which aspires to achieve TOTAL GLOBAL DOMINATION of the online and land-based tournament poker businesses, is one company that absolutely NEEDS online gaming to be curtailed in the U.S. in order to have a chance at achieving its goal.

WPTE's rivals, including PartyGaming, TiltWare (Full Tilt Poker), and MANSION have spent tens of millions of dollars buying TV time in the U.S. in an attempt to "choke off the air supply" of WPTE, which currently derives the bulk of its revenue from a legacy TV contract (signed in 2004) with the Travel Channel that calls for the Travel Channel to pay about $10 million a year to WPTE.

Furthermore, all the "time-buy" TV poker programs in the U.S. have effectively killed off WPTE's spinoff PPT TV product, as WPTE cannot get any TV deal done in the U.S. for PPT Season 2 that does NOT require WPTE to pay for its own TV time.

There is no way WPTE will buy time to air the PPT as long as the Travel Channel continues to pay $10 million a year to air the WPT in the U.S.

Regardless of whether WPTE supported the U.S. online gaming ban or not, the passage of the new law has accomplished what WPTE has wanted: WPTE's online gaming rivals, notably PartyGaming, just had 75% of its "air supply" "choked off" by the U.S. Congress.

The common tactic used by all Bill Gates-wannabes who want to achieve TOTAL GLOBAL DOMINATION in their respective industries is "choking off your opponents' air supply".

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At this point in time, WPTE has about $40 million in cash while PartyGaming has less than $100 million.

The playing field in the online gaming industry going forward has certainly been tilted back toward WPTE, which has the one thing that PartyGaming, TiltWare, and MANSION do NOT have: political allies and business partners in the #1 gambling market in the world, namely CHINA.

With the U.S. market now closed to online gaming for the forseeable future (it generally takes 3 to 5 years of intense lobbying to get something such as a carveout for online poker passed in the U.S. Congress), the pressure for the online gaming industry to get explicit licenses to operate in the world's #1 gambling market will be intense.

WPTE in particular already has an alliance with MGM MIRAGE, which has an alliance with Macau/Hong Kong businesswoman Pansy Ho, who is the daughter of Macau gambling kingpin Stanley Ho.

The MGM Grand Macau, where the first WPT event to be held in China will likely take place in 2008 or 2009, is a 50-50 joint venture between MGM MIRAGE and Pansy Ho.

Even though the Mainland Chinese ("Communist") government does not particularly like Stanley Ho for the way he has done business in the past (alleged vice activities taking place in Mr. Ho's Casino Lisboa in Macau, including "triads" in the private gaming salons and "ladies of the evening" loitering on the gaming floor), the Mainland Chinese government still has to grudgingly respect Stanley Ho and let him do business in Macau so that Stanley Ho won't yank his investments from Macau and open up a rival gambling destination in Vietnam and/or North Korea.

WPTE recently signed TV deals in Macau (Macau Cable TV) and Singapore (MediaCorp's over-the-air broadcast TV channel 8), thereby exposing Texas Hold'em, and the WPT in particular, to Chinese-speaking markets for the first time. (WPT will air in English with Chinese subtitles in Macau, and in English in Singapore on a channel that airs programs mostly in Mandarin Chinese.)

(Note that ESPN is currently unable to air the WSOP in most of Asia except Japan, as ESPN-branded TV networks in Asia except Japan are managed by Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp under the Singapore-based ESPN STAR Sports [ESS] joint venture.)

The global battle for control of the online gaming business, including the online poker business, has just begun, with the ultimate prize in China now in play. WPTE is currently way ahead of PartyGaming and TiltWare in positioning itself for an explicit online gaming license to operate in China.

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[email protected]

[Casey333]

I wonder how much they will support this bill when they're forced to shut down since the only advertisers they might secure is Jack Lalaine's handy dandy juicer wooser!!!

[olivert]

[ QUOTE ]
I wonder how much they will support this bill when they're forced to shut down since the only advertisers they might secure is Jack Lalaine's handy dandy juicer wooser!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

WPTE just added Xyience Energy Drink as a "corporate partner" for WPT Seasons 5 and 6.

WPTE also renewed Budweiser as a "corporate partner" for WPT Season 5.

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In the U.S. market, WPTE draws about 700,000 TV households, or about 840,000 total viewers, or about 500,000 viewers in the 18-49 age group, on the two airings each Wednesday.

500,000 viewers age 18-49 x $20/1000 viewers = $10,000 for each 30-second ad on The Travel Channel.

Because there are 40 30-second national ads for each WPT show on the Travel Channel, the Travel Channel makes back $400,000 of the $500,000 it spends on the rights fee of each WPT episode during the first two runs on Wednesdays.

By the time you factor in the re-runs, the Travel Channel actually makes money on the WPT.

[167-169]

China will allow online gambling? Don't they have control of what goes in an out of the servers? Is CNN.com or BBC allowed in China?

How can we as amateur players benefit from this China poker explosion? Move to Macau? How will we know in the beginning that the games are not corrupt? Even the Mirage and Bell had cheating years ago. No?

What are you doing to take advantage of all this headsup info you have in Asia?

Can the Chineses afford to play? One average American represents how many Chinese? I thought they make like 500 bucks a month. (I'm pretty sure that is a very generous number) The pyramid in China is sick meaning that the rich are very rich and most are poor or lower class. In America an average can go to a golf course if he wants to play, he can also eat a steak if he wants. How many Chinese can do that? Don't think I haven't been there. I'm the slimy tourist that goes and spends a few hundred and live like a king during my vacation there. I've been to places where the mama brings you hundreds of girls to choose from.

I really hope you are right but more importantly I'd like you to inform us on how we can benefit from this so called "Poker explosion in China" your reporting skills are second to none but "what does it do for me?"

I go to HK quite often and love going to Macau. As for poker though, theres JACKSHT. Only 13 card or "Chinese Poker" among friends, I'd like to push all in with the nuts and get called.

So Oliver, you see an opportunity, how will you seize it?

[Kneel B4 Zod]

[ QUOTE ]
At this point in time, WPTE has about $40 million in cash while PartyGaming has less than $100 million.

[/ QUOTE ]

my gut tells me this can't be right , or that Party at least has access to vastly more capital than WPTE

[olivert]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
At this point in time, WPTE has about $40 million in cash while PartyGaming has less than $100 million.

[/ QUOTE ]

my gut tells me this can't be right , or that Party at least has access to vastly more capital than WPTE

[/ QUOTE ]

http://partygaming.com/images/docs/i...lts_070906.pdf

On page 14 of the report:

Net Cash

As at 30 June 2006, the Group had net cash of $92.8m (June 2005: net debt of $119.5 m)...

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PartyGaming borrowed heavily during its start-up and build-out in order to finance its business.

[mhcmarty]

[ QUOTE ]

Regardless of whether WPTE supported the U.S. online gaming ban or not, the passage of the new law has accomplished what WPTE has wanted: WPTE's online gaming rivals, notably PartyGaming, just had 75% of its "air supply" "choked off" by the U.S. Congress.

The common tactic used by all Bill Gates-wannabes who want to achieve TOTAL GLOBAL DOMINATION in their respective industries is "choking off your opponents' air supply".


[/ QUOTE ]

Olivert, what you're missing here is that Party has done this to themselves. The only reasonable explaination for this would be their own long-term interests. Once Bush signs the bill, allowing US players won't be any more or less legal than it was 2 weeks ago. The void left by Party (and the revenues that go with it) will be filled in a very short time period. The real question for the US players is what the legistlation will do to Neteller/FirePay or their replacements. If depositing is relatively easy and games are offered the demand is still there.