It is not all that often that a television show comes along that shapes the destiny of one of the world’s most popular sports. But in the case of the World Poker tour, that is exactly what it did; it turned a hugely popular participation sport with a tiny television audience into one of the most watched television programmes on worldwide television.
Founded in February 2002 by the attorney and television producer Steve Lipscomb, the concept of the WPT is simple: use on table cameras to show final table action from the world’s biggest poker tournaments. It proved a bigger success than anyone could imagine.
Under-the-table / sneak-peek cameras (‘hole cams’)
The idea of showing a players hole cards was first developed by the UK television show Late Night Poker (debut 1999), which used a glass table top and a number of under-the-table cameras to show viewers (and commentators) the hidden cards in front of each player.
The idea was revolutionary, and without it is extremely unlikely that poker would have become the successful spectator sport it is today. Unsurprisingly other companies borrowed the concept, the most successful of which was the WPT. The WPT’s method is slightly different from that used by Late Night Poker, as rather than using under the table cameras the WPT uses miniature cameras sunk into the poker table in front of each player to show the cards as the players look at them themselves.
Lipscomb and Berman
Sensing an opportunity in the American market Steve Lipscomb teamed up with “Hall of Fame” poker player and business executive Lyle Berman and came up with the WPT concept.
Teaming up with The Travel channel, they set up deals with many of the world’s premier casinos and card rooms, and the WPT was born.
Major tournament final tables
WPT tournaments are not run by the WPT in the way WSOP tournaments are; they are already existing poker championships such as the L.A. Poker Classic, or the Five Diamond Poker Classic at the Bellagio.
The WPT crew then comes to film the final tables of the various championships’ main-events (always Texas Hold’em freeze-out tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $5000 to $25,000), using its ‘sneak peek’ cameras to show viewers what pocket cards the players are holding.
Changing the face of poker
The WPT has revolutionised poker – not just because it has turned poker into one of the most popular televised sports on the planet, but because it has made it into one of the most played sports in the world.
Internet poker companies have worked in tandem with the WPT and together have created a snowball effect – the popularity of the WPT driving more and more punters on to the internet to play poker, while at the same time sponsoring events and pumping money and players into the WPT by hosting online qualifiers for the championship events.
The combination has proved unstoppable, with the results reflected in both the WPT’s own tournaments, and in other tournaments like the WSOP, which has seen entries for its tournaments increase by about 900 percent since the launch of the WPT. Meanwhile the internet poker profits and player numbers continue to soar.
WPT growth exceeds all expectations
In its first year WPT tournaments were relatively small, although the television program was still extremely popular. The $5000 buy-in Legends of Poker tournament, for example, had 134 entries and a prize pool of $831,000, while the World Poker Finals had just 89 entries and a prize pool of $915,000.
The following year tournament entry numbers had doubled, and just three years later the tournaments had ballooned beyond recognition. The most recent Legends of Poker (season 4) had a staggering 839 entries and a prize pool of over $4 million; The World Poker Finals had 783 entries and a prize pool of very nearly $8 million.
There are now 17 WPT events filmed at some of the most glamorous poker tournaments in the world. Almost every WPT tournament now has a first prize of over $1 million, and the tournament has brought to global attention some of the greatest poker players alive– such as Gus Hansen and Daniel Negreanu, who prior to the WPT relatively unknown.
With online poker rooms offering qualifying tournaments to WPT events for as little as $1 the WPT could be the place where you make your name, and your fortune….