WPT Releases Ridiculous Statement

This past Tuesday, World Poker Tour Enterprises, Inc. issued tremendously asinine press release. Behold the load of hot air:

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LOS ANGELES, Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WPT Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: WPTE - News), the company that helped launch the current global poker boom, issued a statement today encouraging the U.S. poker community to focus on the bright future ahead in the wake of Congressional passage of the "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006."


"The Justice Department has been very clear that it believes online gaming to be illegal in the United States and our policies have been always been tailored accordingly," said Adam Pliska, General Counsel of WPTE. "This law clarifies the rules and makes it possible for everyone to move forward on an even footing."

It is estimated that over 50 million Americans play poker on a regular basis, with more than 100 million players world-wide. Whereas casinos were closing their poker rooms in 2001 prior to the launch of the World Poker Tour, today casinos across the country are expanding their rooms or opening new showcase poker rooms like the 111 table room at Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut and the 85 table room at the Borgata in Atlantic City.

"It was a wide-spread love of this game and the reinvention of poker as a televised sport that ignited the poker phenomenon," said Steve Lipscomb, CEO and founder of WPTE. "And, that is what will continue to drive the future of the sport. WPTE remains committed to growing the domestic poker market through traditional franchise opportunities like consumer products, sponsorship and events."

WPTE is the producer of the WORLD POKER TOUR® (WPT) TV television series, which airs in the U.S. on the Travel Channel, as well as 150 countries and territories. WPTE also maintains an online gaming site that explicitly excludes U.S. customers from wagering online.

The WORLD POKER TOUR launched the poker phenomenon when it first aired on the Travel Channel on March 30, 2003, and it continues to lead the way in developing poker as a major international sport. Viewers and aspiring tour players can log on to www.worldpokertour.com for ways to improve their game and to get the latest WPT schedules, information and merchandise. The highest rated show ever on The Travel Channel, the WPT is now seen in more than 150 countries and territories worldwide. Premiere shows of the WPT air on the Travel Channel March to June and WPTE's newest series, the PROFESSIONAL POKER TOUR airs from July to December every Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET/PT.

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The lunacy of this press release is unbelievable. First, Mr. Pliska is incorrect when he says that the law clarifies the rules regarding “illegal” gambling. The law (which isn’t officially a law yet) did not make any gambling illegal that was not already illegal. It simply attempts to restrict payments from financial institutions to online gambling sites.

Then he essentially whines about how it wasn’t fair before. Hey, nobody told WPT that they couldn’t have Americans as customers for their online poker room. They made that decision themselves. It is nobody’s fault but those running the WPT that they had to rely on short-sighted and closed-minded U.S. legislators to bring other online poker rooms down to wptonline.com’s level.

The release then goes on to credit the World Poker Tour for the poker boom, completely ignoring the greater role of online poker. Yes, televised poker began poker’s recent renaissance, but internet poker is the reason the poker industry has grown exponentially over the last few years. And the WPT should know this. While I have no numbers to back this up, I would think at least half of the players in their big events qualified online (probably more like 70%). Without online poker, and the U.S. players in particular, the number of entrants in WPT events will drop precipitously.

At the same time, as millions and millions of players become more interested in poker because they get the chance to play online, the WPT gets more viewers. To think that its viewership will grow without U.S. online poker players is just stupid.

And what about current and past WPT events like the PokerStars.com Caribbean Poker Adventure, PartyPoker.com Million and UltimateBet's Aruba Poker Classic? Would these have been possible without the U.S. market? Doubtful.

So, WPT, get your head out of the sand. I understand that this press release was probably to calm your shareholders, but they aren’t dumb. I hope for their sake, you don’t believe what you preach, or your company will continue to do poorly.

Originally published October 6, 2006