World Poker Tour Announces Changes

August 26th, 2011 by Archer Bannister

World Poker Tour Announces Changes

The World Poker Tour (WPT) held a press conference at the Bicycle Casino in California today. Top executives along with the various faces of the WPT: Kimberly Lansing, Mike Sexton, Vince Van Patten, Tony Dunst and the Royal Flush Girls, were there. They announced some changes to be expected in their upcoming tenth season.

Last season was a smoking success for the WPT that made some changes that led to a substantial increase in attendance at WPT tournaments as well as TV ratings. Hoping to continue down the same road of successful augmentations, the WPT made even more substantial changes to season 10 with “new technologies, new tour stops, new talent, more on-set and televised enhancements”

Getting into specifics, WPT CEO, Steve Heller, stated that this season would include VIP treatment for champions, coverage of all WPT events (overseas and otherwise) and most interestingly, that all WPT final tables would be broadcast over the internet live.

Tony Dunst, it was announced, would serve as the live streaming host based on his success with his contribution to Raw Deal last season. It was also announced that poker announcing veteran, Ali Nejad, would be hosting all WPT final tables for the live stream.

The new stops for the World Poker Tour include an East Coast visit to the just outside of Philadelphia with the Jacksonville Poker Room and the Parx Casino, but the bulk of new stops are occluding outside of the U.S. with the additions of stops in Malta, Ireland, Prague, France and Italy with an announcement of even more stops still expected to come.

Also new is the addition of the Champion’s Club. Anyone who wins a WPT event will get automatic entry and receive a variety of benefits including having their name etched into a WPT cup.

Additional investments are also being made in the quality of the WPT set which is designed to make final tables look better. The Royal Flush Bar will move onto the set from where VIP players will be allowed to sit and watch the games unfold. New monitors have been added to facilitate better and more frequent interaction with the audience. Viewers will now be able to Tweet questions to the hosts and Royal Flush Girls that may get answered during the broadcast.

Keep your eye on Sports Interaction’s poker satellites for your chance to qualify for live WPT tournaments.

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