World Poker Tour, STATS LLC Form Partnership

World Poker Tour Enterprises (WPTE) has announced a partnership with STATS LLC to develop the poker industry’s first statistical database, similar to sports statistics.  STATS is the same company that runs statistics for 85 sports leagues, including the NFL, NBA, and MLB. 

Every hand from each WPT final table will be recorded and compiled so that statistics can be produced on things such as playing styles, situational analysis, and trends.  The data will be available on the WPT’s website.

“In poker, we all think we're better than we are,” said Steve Lipscomb, CEO of WPTE in an interview with USA Today. “We're going to develop statistics that will allow you to compare one win against another. The first stats you're going to get are rather basic, telling you what your ranking is based on the strength of field. All we have now are the WSOP bracelets, but some of those are smaller buy-in events.  If you won a World Series of Poker tournament years ago with 150 people in it, how does that compare to a WPT event with 500 people in it? This will tell you.”

In a press release, Lipscomb added, “The partnership with STATS is a strategic alliance in our dedication to innovating and legitimizing poker as a sport…The STATS database…gives players and fans the ultimate tools to study, play and enjoy the game.”