• Kentucky-based horse racing and casino company Churchill Downs acquires the assets of Bluff Media.

• Caesars Entertainment extends its partnership with 888 Holdings.

• MGM, Boyd Gaming, and BwinParty looking for a wild poker three-way.

• Vegas-based ShuffleMaster dangling diamonds in front of OnGame Network.

• Pinnacle Entertainment in acquisition talks with newly formed Epic Poker League.

• Golden Nugget partners up with ChiliGaming for online poker.

What’s next? Will Pokerati be getting a bid from Palms Casino Resort?

Many got rich during the original “boom years”, but brick and mortar gaming corporations for the most part saw only incremental benefits from the growth of online poker. Who can forget Steve Lipscomb’s bitter open letter to the poker community, portraying the World Poker Tour as a jilted lover in a new poker world he helped create. (A world where his company failed to turn a profit while offshore online poker companies prospered was clearly unjust!)

WPT wasn’t the only one missing out on the majority of spoils from online poker’s first post-Moneymaker explosion. The recent deal-making frenzy suggests American casino corporations want to be the early adopters of PokerBoom 2.0. With partners in hand, casinos won’t be the wallflowers should the music start up for another “Moneymaker moment.”

Back in November, when I first learned about the WPT’s imminent sale to PartyGaming, I bought up as much WPTE stock as I could, assuming it would blow up, or at least be converted to Party stock in a highly profitable way. Much to my disappointment, when the new shares showed up in my online account, they were for Lipscomb’s new company, Ante4, which had no plans just a bunch of cash. They were trading at less than a dollar a share.

Believing I had seen this repeatedly while chasing penny tech stocks in the late ’90s — almost always these companies available on the cheap gave me hope briefly before descending on an asymptotic curve towards zero — I quickly sold all I had just bought of ANTF and dumped it into PRTY.L. If only someone had told me to hold on to it! Now, just six months later, the new Lipscomb-Berman joint that I got (and got rid of) at 90something cents is trading at $3.44, for a YTD increase of 222 percent.

Why do I think for all the grief I’ve given Steve Lipscomb over the years, he’s sitting in a very happy place right now, laughing … at me?

Seriously, I can’t believe they let people gamble this way on the internet! But it’s just so hard not to with those cute baby ads making it seem like any kid with access to a computer and a credit card can do it!

Party’s stock, btw, hasn’t exactly exactly been doing poorly. But does anyone know what caused such a dramatic but temporary plummet for a few days this month?

But a drinky Steve Lipscomb and even drinkier online poker exec were offering up a bit more at G2E this week.

THE INSIDE STRAIGHT:
Officially, they want to be regulated, but …
Unofficially, large online poker sites have the best of both worlds

After his segment, Lipscomb found the executive at the bar — “three or four drinks ahead of me,” he said this week at the Global Gaming Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The executive had just finished an interview in which he said he wants his business to be regulated and taxed in the United States, instead of operating in a legal gray area. He had a different story for Lipscomb.

“He said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ ” Lipscomb said. “ ‘I don’t want to be regulated and taxed. That’s the most ridiculous thing in the world. I’m making money without being taxed, without being regulated.’ ”

The executive’s conflicting statements illustrate the fractured nature of online poker in the U.S., Lipscomb said.

Word I’m hearing, btw, is that we’re drawing dead to a 1-outer in a 47-card deck for any anti-UIGEA legislation passing in 2009 … though I am (supposedly) eagerly awaiting to hear “good news” on the UIGEA delay — a move being pushed through the executive branch, not the legislative — like today … which I have come to learn in political circles probably means like Tuesdayish or maybe never.

A bit more from the click-worthy column above:

Even so, Lipscomb said, unless a clear plan is established, chaos — or at least conflict — will reign. Online poker operators who have opted out of the U.S. market don’t want their competitors who remained in the market to benefit from any settlements they made with the government. The major companies dealing to U.S. customers don’t want the paradigm to change, possibly leaving them without the ability to gain a license if new laws are enacted.

Lipscomb calls this stalemate of sorts “the thing that’s beneath the thing that’s beneath the thing that nobody really talks about.”

Uh-huh … touché Stevie-boy … “Nobody” lol. True.

9 November 2009

PartyGaming Plc
(“PartyGaming” or “the Company”)

Acquisition of World Poker Tour completed

PartyGaming, the world’s leading listed online gaming company, announces the completion of the acquisition of the business and substantially all of the assets of WPT Enterprises Inc. (“WPTE”) for a cash consideration of $12.3 million plus an additional minimum aggregate payment of $3m over the next three years relating to an ongoing revenue share agreement.

The assets being acquired include, inter alia:

· The World Poker Tour® brand, rights to a number of land-based events in the US and Europe and all other intellectual property rights associated with the World Poker Tour
· An extensive library of over 150 hours of poker programming that is broadcast in more than 150 countries
· The ClubWPT subscription poker offering that has more than 16,500 paying subscribers in 37 US states

Commenting on today’s announcement, Jim Ryan, PartyGaming Chief Executive Officer, said:

“This deal brings together two of the biggest brands in online and offline poker – www.PartyPoker.com and World Poker Tour – that we will market internationally to build our poker business. Our plans also include using the ClubWPT subscription platform to leverage our 12 million-strong US player database via a Party-branded website and the launch of a European WPT-branded poker and casino site. We are excited about the opportunities that WPT, a proven marketing channel for the Group, will create for PartyGaming, particularly if the US regulates and licenses online gaming.”

Steve Lipscomb, the founder of WPTE, said:

“PartyGaming has been an important partner for a number of years and we are confident that they will be an excellent manager of our brands in the future. Combining two of the pioneers and leaders in the poker and online gaming markets will create a strong vehicle for the WPT brand to continue its global expansion.”

But then, upon meeting Pliska a few minutes later …

Hmm … White House, WPT House, WPTE House … Party Politics … workshop … but still, there might be something there.

Click below to read the corporate bio of a guy who stands to be rather influential in shaping poker’s future. But first, here’s another pic (taken at the actual White House) of the new WPT president, who was in town to talk about plans for what he believes will be a major poker stimulus:

ADAM PLISKA
PRESIDENT, WORLD POKER TOUR

Mr. Pliska served as the General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of the public and predecessor entity, WPT Enterprises, Inc. (formerly NASDAQ: WPTE) until November 2009, when a new company by the same name was established from the acquisition of the assets of the World Poker Tour by Peerless Media, Plc a subsidiary of PartyGaming, Plc. In his former role, Mr. Pliska oversaw the legal process that resulted in the former company’s initial public offering in August of 2004 and primary deal making throughout the United States, Europe and Asia throughout his tenure.

Prior to his experience at WPTE, Mr. Pliska served as the Vice-President of Legal and Business Affairs and eventually General Counsel for a multi-media company headed by the world renowned futurist, Alvin Toffler and financed by Carlos Slim Helu (See Forbes #3) and the Telmex Corporation. In addition, Mr. Pliska was an associate at the law firm of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal in Los Angeles where he worked on various litigation and intellectual property matters.

Before his legal career, Mr. Pliska worked as a television producer in connection with noted industry veteran Al Burton including work at Universal Television and Castle Rock Entertainment where he produced and developed numerous television properties. He contributed and worked on various programs including The New Lassie, Baywatch, Out of the Blue, and shares an Emmy Award for his contributions for the Development of the television program Win Ben Stein’s Money.

Mr. Pliska is an alumnus of USC Film School and UC Berkeley’s law school, Boalt Hall. While at Boalt he worked as a research assistant to Professor John Yoo preparing amicus curia briefs for the California and U.S. Supreme Court. Additionally, he served at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for the Honorable Alex Kozinski and at the Governor’s Office of Legal Affairs in the state of California for then Governor Pete Wilson.

Mr. Pliska also serves in the capacity of Chief Legal Counsel to the Company.

Mr. Pliska was born and currently resides in Newport Beach, CA.

PartyGaming Moves For World Poker Tour Assets with Superior Offer

LOS ANGELES, Aug 24, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — WPT Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq: WPTE) (“WPTE” or the “Company”) today announced that a subsidiary of PartyGaming Plc, Peerless Media Ltd. (“Peerless Media”), has agreed to purchase substantially all of WPTE’s operating assets other than cash, investments and certain excluded assets. WPTE’s Board of Directors received the offer after privately held investment group, Gamynia Limited, and WPTE announced an asset acquisition agreement, which was terminated after further consideration of the Peerless Media’s financial proposal.

“PartyGaming has been an important partner for a number of years and we are confident that they will be an excellent manager of our brands in the future,” said Steve Lipscomb, President and CEO of WPT Enterprises. “The Board of Directors has determined that PartyGaming’s acquisition proposal is financially superior and we look forward to working with one of the pioneers and leaders in the poker and online gaming markets to provide a strong vehicle for the WPT brand to continue its global expansion and return to online gaming.”

Peerless Media will pay WPTE $12.3 million and will pay WPTE an ongoing 5% participation in gaming and other revenues generated by the assets. Certain payments made by PartyGaming or its affiliates to the Company prior to the close shall be credited on a dollar for dollar basis against the purchase price paid at the close, as more fully described in Section 2.6 of the purchase agreement.

Under the asset purchase agreement, WPTE will sell its television library, including all related intellectual property rights, brand names, trade names, certain assumed contracts and tangible personal property. WPTE will retain its cash and cash equivalents, investments in debt securities and put rights, certain other investment and litigation assets, and future license revenues from certain existing Sponsorship deals for Season Seven of the World Poker Tour.

The net cash proceeds from the asset sale will be retained by WPTE which plans to use the cash to develop or acquire a non-poker related business. WPTE does not currently intend to distribute any proceeds from the asset sale to its stockholders.

Closing Conditions and Stockholder Approval

The asset purchase transaction is subject to specified closing conditions. The obligation of Peerless Media to complete the transaction is subject to the absence of changes or circumstances that are materially adverse to the Company’s financial condition, assets, business or results of operations and other customary closing conditions. The Company’s obligation to complete the asset sale is subject to the approval by the Company’s stockholders of the asset sale transaction and other customary closing conditions. The Company and Peerless Media currently expect to complete the transaction in the fourth quarter of 2009.

The transaction must be approved by a majority of the holders of the Company’s outstanding common stock. To that end, and as described further below, the Company expects to hold a special meeting of stockholders and in connection therewith to mail a proxy statement to its stockholders that will provide additional information concerning the asset sale transaction and the asset purchase agreement. Certain significant Company stockholders, representing approximately 39% of the Company’s common stock, have entered into voting agreements committing to vote in favor of the asset sale transaction to Peerless Media.

Important Additional Information about the Asset Sale will be filed with the SEC

The Company plans to file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and mail a proxy statement to its stockholders in connection with the asset sale transaction and the asset purchase agreement. The proxy statement will contain important information about the Company, Peerless Media and the guarantor of Peerless Media’s obligations, ElectraWorks Ltd., and related matters. Investors and security holders are urged to read the proxy statement carefully when it is available.

The Company’s investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the proxy statement and other documents filed by the Company with the SEC through the website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. In addition, the Company’s investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the proxy statement by contacting WPT Enterprises, Inc., Attn.: Investor Relations, 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 350, Los Angeles, CA 90036 or by calling 323-330-9900.

The Company and its directors and executive officers, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies with respect to the asset sale transaction and the asset purchase agreement. Information regarding the Company’s directors and executive officers is contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2008 and its Proxy Statement dated March 31, 2009, which were filed with the SEC.

About WPT Enterprises, Inc.

WPT Enterprises, Inc. is one of the most recognized names in internationally televised gaming and entertainment with brand presence in land-based tournaments, television, online and mobile. WPTE has led innovation in the sport of poker since 2002, when it ignited the global poker boom with the creation of the World Poker Tour television show. Based on a series of high stakes poker tournaments, the World Poker Tour is now broadcast globally and is currently filming its all-new eighth season for broadcast on Fox Sports Net’s national sports network in the United States. WPTE also offers a unique online subscription and sweepstakes-based poker club, ClubWPT.com, which operates in 38 states across the U.S. WPTE also participates in strategic brand license, partnership and sponsorship opportunities. For more information, see www.worldpokertour.com. (WPTEG)

Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for forward-looking statements. Certain information included in this press release (as well as information included in oral statements or other written statements made or to be made by executive officers or directors of the Company) contains statements that are forward-looking, such as expectations about the asset purchase agreement, the retention of the net cash proceeds by the Company, the timetable for completing the transaction, the ability to enter into one or more strategic transactions to combine with another company, future revenues earned by Peerless Media with the Company’s brands and the Company’s participation in the future revenues, and the proxy statement to ask Company stockholders to approve the asset purchase agreement. Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect anticipated results in the future and, accordingly, such results may differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk that the Company’s stockholders do not approve the asset purchase agreement, the risk that the asset sale is not closed, the risk that the Company does not acquire or develop another business using the net cash proceeds from the asset sale, and the risk that Peerless Media does not earn significant future revenues with the brands and that the Company does not participate in the future revenues. For more information, review the Company’s filings with the SEC.

SOURCE: WPT Enterprises, Inc.

WPT Enterprises, Inc.
Thomas Flahie, Interim Chief Financial Officer

Item 8.01 Other Events.

On July 28, 2009, WPT Enterprises, Inc. (the “Company”) entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with Gamynia Limited (“Buyer”) to sell substantially all of the Company’s operating assets other than cash, investments and certain excluded assets to Buyer. The Purchase Agreement was disclosed in a Current Report on Form 8-K that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on August 3, 2009.

Under the Purchase Agreement, the Company is to file a preliminary proxy statement with the SEC within 21 days of signing the Purchase Agreement. The Company’s Board of Directors has received an alternative acquisition proposal and is following the process required by the Purchase Agreement. Until the process required by the Purchase Agreement is completed, the Company will delay the filing of a preliminary proxy statement with the SEC.

This may just be nothing, but it’s intriguing to see someone else considering purchasing most of the World Poker Tour’s assets.

Press Release on the next page:

World Poker Tour® Launches Eighth Season for the United States

12-Stop Tour to Be Broadcast in High Definition on Fox Sports Net in the US and Distributed to over 400 Million Households Worldwide

* Press Release
* Source: WPT Enterprises, Inc.
* On Wednesday June 24, 2009, 9:00 am EDT

WPT Season VIII also features favorite pro stops at Bay 101 in San Jose, Calif.; Bicycle Casino’s new Event Center in Los Angeles; Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Miss.; Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City; Commerce Casino in Los Angeles; and Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn.

Joining the tour as a new stop in Season VIII is the inaugural Hollywood Poker Open in Lawrenceburg, Ind. The casino, which will re-open as the Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg on June 29, is a 270,000 square foot riverboat casino that sits on the Ohio River. In addition to the $10,000 main event—the first ever televised WPT tournament in the Midwest—Hollywood Casino will host three non-televised WPT tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $3,000 to $5,000. All tournaments will be played in the casino’s brand-new state-of-the-art WPT Poker Room.

“As this great game has evolved over the years, we have seen the tour grow and develop into something truly incredible,” said Steve Lipscomb, WPT Founder and CEO. “Each year seems to top the last, from stops in exciting new venues to historical moments to break-out players to unbelievable action. We’re looking forward to seeing what the eighth season brings—then watching it broadcast in HD!”

Tournament Name

Hosting Casino /
Location
Date* Buy-in
Bellagio Cup V

Bellagio
Las Vegas, NV

July 13 – 19, 2009 $15,000 +$400
Legends of Poker

The Bicycle Casino
Los Angeles, CA

Aug 22 – 26, 2009 $9,800 + $200
Borgata Poker Open

Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
Atlantic City, NJ
Sept 19 – 24, 2009 TBD
Festa al Lago

Bellagio
Las Vegas, NV

October 20 – 26, 2009 $15,000 +$400
Foxwoods World Poker Finals

Foxwoods Resort Casino
Mashantucket, CT

Nov 5 – 10, 2009 $9,700 + $300

Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic

Bellagio
Las Vegas, NV

Dec 13 – 19, 2009 $15,000 +$400
Southern Poker Championship

Beau Rivage
Biloxi, MS

Jan 24 – 27, 2010 $9,700 + $300
L.A. Poker Classic

Commerce Casino
Los Angeles, CA

Feb 20 – Feb 25, 2010 $9,600 + $400
WPT Invitational

Commerce Casino
Los Angeles, CA

Feb 27 – March 1, 2010 Invitation Only
Bay 101 Shooting Star

Bay 101
San Jose, CA

March 8 – 12, 2010 $9,600 + $400
Hollywood Poker Open

Hollywood Casino
Lawrenceburg, IN
March 20 – 24, 2010 $9,600 + $400
WPT World Championship

Bellagio
Las Vegas, NV

April 17-24, 2010 $25,000 + $500

*Dates subject to change.

Courtesy of Blue Diamond Almonds, WPT Live Updates will continue reporting live from the tournament trail, delivering up-to-the-minute tournament action for fans around the world.

A full schedule of WPT events including 2009-2010 international tour stops, will be available soon in the “WPT on Tour” section of www.WorldPokerTour.com.

Besides the already announced WPT Venice in May and WPT Marrakech in October, two more WPT tournaments have been announced this week. The WPT Spanish Championship returns to Barcelona in late June, while in September the WPT-Merit Cyprus Classic Poker Tournament makes its debut. None of these tournaments are scheduled to air in the US, but the action can be followed online or broadcast on European television.

Also noteworthy are the various online poker sites that don’t allow US customers that are getting on the WPT bandwagon to hold satellites for these WPT tournaments like bwin in Venice and Chili Poker in Marrakech. The season VIII schedule for the rest of the tour has yet to be announced, and will be interesting to see what other changes will appear.

So you heard it here first … be sure to spread the word:

Tao of Pokerati: Episode 2.1
WPT Bailout Rumors (7:28)

The stock price for WPT Enterprises has been consistently falling, with the exception of a minor fluctuation in early July, since it dropped below $1 per share in late June 2008. And despite CEO Steve Lipscomb’s “don’t worry, be happy” attitude about it, NASDAQ isn’t cool with that mantra. In the next 180-day time period, if WPTE’s price doesn’t stay above $1.00 for 10 consecutive days, the company will be delisted.

Here is the statement released today:

WPT Enterprises, Inc. Receives Nasdaq Staff Determination Letter Regarding Minimum Bid Price

LOS ANGELES, Aug 19, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — WPT Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WPTE) today announced that the Company received a Nasdaq Staff Determination Letter on August 14, 2008, notifying the Company that it was not in compliance with the minimum stock listing price requirements of Nasdaq Marketplace Rule 4450(a)(5) as a result of the closing bid price for the Company’s common stock being below $1.00 for 30 consecutive business days. This notification has no effect on the listing of the Company’s common stock at this time. The Nasdaq Marketplace Rules provide the Company with 180 calendar days to regain compliance, which will require the bid price of the Company’s common stock to remain above $1.00 for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days. The Company will continue to execute its business plan to provide an opportunity to demonstrate value to the investment community and regain Nasdaq compliance.

(And since we’re bound to be picking on taking a fair and thorough look at PokerNews these days, is it really protecting an inside source when you say the info comes from an unnamed source, yet you end with a quote from the CEO about the information that isn’t supposed to be public yet? Just curious how that works in poker “journalism” powered by “the independent online poker authority” … but all good, I’m all about gonzo fact-dissemination in the spirit of breaking-news-is-breaking-news, and will keep your laudable disregard for time restrictions in mind at next year’s WSOP.)

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL JULY 17 @ 4:00PM PT

FOX SPORTS NET AND WORLD POKER TOUR® INK BROADCAST LICENSE FOR SEASON VII

FSN Will Air 26 All-New WPT Season VII Episodes Across Its National Sports Network

(LOS ANGELES) July 17, 2008 – WPT Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: WPTE) and Fox Sports Network (FSN) announced today a partnership and broadcast license for Season VII of the World Poker Tour® (WPT) television series. FSN, the nation’s leading provider of local sports, received exclusive rights to air 26 all-new one hour WPT episodes in the United States across its national sports cable network.

“The World Poker Tour has a track record as the ultimate brand name in televised poker,” said George Greenberg, FSN Executive Vice President of Programming and Production. “FSN is very happy to televise such quality content and we look forward to future programming opportunities with the WPT.”

WPT, which films its tournaments in premiere properties around North America, will create 26 one-hour episodes from upcoming regular-season events. WPT will shoot the first two episodes today at the Bellagio Cup final table in Las Vegas. FSN and WPT will announce the timeslot and schedule for the complete season broadcast at a later date.

“FSN and News Corporation are two incredible powerhouses in the television industry that have played key roles in the growth and popularity of televised poker,” said Steve Lipscomb, WPT Founder, President and CEO. “It couldn’t be a better fit for WPT and our fans. We’re thrilled.”

WPT joins the ranks of MLB, NHL and NBA on the FSN network, which serves as the TV home to nearly two-thirds of all teams based in the United States. FSN’s 16 owned-and-operated regional networks and its affiliated networks reach more than 80 million homes across the U.S. FSN is owned and operated by News Corporation.

###

WPTE wouldn’t confirm the number of people let go, if there would be more, or what departments were trimmed, but Lipscomb did provide an official statement:

“WPT Enterprises is undergoing a reorganization to meet the future demands of our business and changes in the marketplace we inhabit. All decisions affecting members of the WPTE family are extremely difficult decisions, but this reorganization is vital to creating and sustaining a growing business. WPTE has taken great care to ensure smooth and successful transitions for all former and existing WPT staff.”

All WSOP-long I’ve been seeing Lyle Berman and feeling torn between my journalistic ethos and respect for poker etiquette. Here, the guy who has answers to everything everyone wants to know about the future of the World Poker Tour has been anywhere from 10-feet to 100 yards away from me, but I can’t bring myself to approach him mid-tourney or just after a painful bustout to pepper him with questions about whether or not the business he helped build is crumbling. Call me a wussy journo or poker fanboy, but could I really take a chance of putting Mr. Berman on tilt, especially when WPTE stock is trading for less than a dollar a share and he might really need the prize money?

But lo and behold, WPT CEO Steve Lipscomb showed up at the Rio yesterday, and he wasn’t playing! He was just taking his annual tour of the WSOP main event with buddy Jeffrey Pollack … which seemed like a great time to trip him by the shoelaces, pin him down on the ground and shove a recorder in his face while threatening to pop him with a loogie. Alas, no one had a concealed watergun in the pressbox and he was wearing loafers, but still … Lipscomb did sit down with Pokerati for almost a half hour during the main event and give some frank(ish) answers to whatever softballs I could hurl at him.

(NOTE: I didn’t know at the time that the WPT had laid off about 10 people last week and was about to give a few more their walking papers today — but now his comments about hating that part of the job make a little more sense.)

Steve Lipscomb (at the WSOP) on the future of poker and the WPT
June 6, 2008 — Las Vegas

What you don’t hear below …

OK, now here’s the bad part: This was totally impromptu — had about 10 seconds to prepare — and because I’ve hardly used my recorder this WSOP (we’ve been using Pauly’s device for Tao of Pokerati) I must’ve pressed some wrong buttons or something … because the first five or six minutes just ain’t there. Grrr. And of course I wasn’t taking notes because I was too busy pressing buttons on the recorder. So here’s a quick summary of what we talked about during that time — you’ll just have to take my word or wait for Steve Lipscomb to post a comment correcting me:

Dan: So, what’s going on with the WPT?
Steve: Lots of stuff. Reinventing selves. Isn’t the WSOP great? Can’t tell you exactly what the WPT has working in terms of TV deals, but we’re gonna be announcing something about it really soon.
Dan: Really soon like two days or like two months?
Steve: Can’t say, but we were hoping to have it out before the main event, if that tells you anything. [Obvious implications that the deal is probably not with GSN and may or may not be akin to an online poker site time-buy.] Something about time-buys vs. some other television term, something about finding a new broadcast partner …
Dan: Something else, don’t remember what.
Steve: The WSOP really is great … different animal altogether yadda yadda. WPT played a role in making it all possible. Bad beats in the form of the UIGEA and GSN executive overhaul. People saying that the WPT is going away? Balderdash!

That’s where the audio picks up …

6,844 entrants in the 2008 WSOP main event.

I jut had a wonderful discussion with WPT honcho Steve Lipscomb. He didn’t laugh when I asked him if he was looking for a job with the WSOP.

Team Pokerati updates:

Tom Schneider is hurting. Like 7k in chips last we checked.

Donkey texts in (we’re still getting his CSR set up) — “Back down to 20k after 2nd level.. Thought Micon was playing AK. he had 77. I had 66. Cost 4k to see river”

Damn, that sucks. And oh yeah, Donkey is playing with Micon from Neverwin two or three seats to his left, and Beth Shak on the other end of the table. (Donkey doesn’t know who she is — but he is aware that she is all patched up.

Jerry Randack was doing fine last I checked. Saw him skillfully (albeit a bit cautiously) play Ace-rag with an ace on the flop, and build a nice pot to the point that he got a really nice call by the time he rivered the nut flush.

No report on Robert Goldfarb. Serves him right for not wearing his patch. But he is texting in his status on breaks.

The Big Randy looks to be playing very comfortably … with about 26k in chips.

More TK, of course. The big buzz of the day wasn’t about Phil Hellmuth‘s pro wrestling-esque army-tank entrance … it was about the presence of Ultimate Fighters, including Chuck Liddell and Forest Griffin, who won a big fight just last night.

Um, go poker!

UPDATE: There was a rumor about some smaller agents being shaken down by a bigger one. It didn’t check out, however, on first call … but there’s gotta be something to it — the agent battles are getting harsh as all compete for a piece of nine heretofore unknown needles in a a haystack of 6,844.

This doesn’t look good.

See the shareholder notice below:

WPT Enterprises Opens Discussions for Season VII Television Broadcast Rights

GSN Renewal Option Lapsed on June 7

LOS ANGELES, Jun 09, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — WPT Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: WPTE) announced today that GSN’s option for exclusive broadcast of the entire World Poker Tour(R) (WPT) seventh season expired on Saturday.

GSN CEO David Goldhill said, “The World Poker Tour has been a great partner and the show continues to perform strongly on our network. We are continuing discussions with WPTE regarding how we may be able to work together – including perhaps broadcasting parts of Season VII.”

WPTE is currently in discussions with several major networks to broadcast programming from its landmark seventh season, which kicks off July 11 at the prestigious Bellagio in Las Vegas and runs through April 2009.

“We have enjoyed watching the show and our numbers grow on GSN. Our hope is that we can find ways to collaborate with the network long into the future,” said Steve Lipscomb, WPT Founder, President and CEO. “This may allow us the first opportunity to explore diversifying content on multiple networks like most sports leagues. We have already begun those discussions and look forward to making another season of the best and most widely distributed poker programming in the world to our dedicated viewers and fans.”

New Season VI episodes will continue to broadcast Monday nights at 9pm ET/PT on GSN through late August. Encore episodes will continue to broadcast on the network for up to four years. Episodes of seasons II through V currently air on the Travel Channel.

But it may be too little too late according to insider gossip and semi-substantiated rumors. The first piece of evidence we have, of course, is the stock price (WPTE), which is continuously descending beyond its all-time low. $1.16/share=not good.

Now let’s go back to non-poker Christmastime … when the WPT supposedly held some sort of employee-appreciation pizza party, and CEO Steve Lipscomb reportedly told his people that things were not looking good for the WPT — specifically that he wasn’t sure if they’d make it to the end of 2008, and that they might-wanna start looking for other work. Yikes. This information is secondhand rumor from two or more reliable sources, at least one of whom may or may not still be working for the WPT.

CORRECTION: Have crossed out some possibly erroneous info above. Supposedly what Lipscomb really told his people was that 2008 was going to be a “very rough year” … and some in attendance drew those conclusions simply on their knowledge of what it takes to nurse a super-short stack until better cards/times arrive.Crap, there goes my whole premise for this post.

Furthering suspicions, a California headhunter says her office was flooded with resumes from managerial and executive-level employees of the WPT in January of this year. 17+ is the number we’re hearing.

So there you have it — rampant speculation deduced from public information combined with whispers on a semi-informed street suggesting that whatever does or doesn’t happen with GSN, it may be a last-ditch effort to save the show a struggling business. Read into it whatever you must, and in the meantime we’ll keep checking Steve Lipscomb’s blog for an update but won’t expect much …

(Have a look at his fifth most recent comment, from yours truly, left in January ’07. Still waiting for a response …)

Another thing you can add if people are being hesitant to being interviewed or showing us their room, we have filmed in underground poker rooms in NYC. I don’t know how familiar you are with the scene in NY but a couple years ago a big bust broke up a lot of the more well known poker rooms in the city. About 6 months before these busts we were able to film in one of the clubs and interview the owner. Unfortunately since the big bust, its been hard to come by more games in the NYC Area.

One angle I’d love to take while in Dallas, it to interview someone who could talk about all the raids either as someone who was at one of the raids or someone who ran a room that got raided. Of course, if there is an issue of not given out the name of a room or the name of the person we are interviewing, we will abide in any way possible to make everyone comfortable.

I’m not sure how much I got into the extensiveness of our project but our goal is to make the most definitive and comprehensive film about poker in America. We’ve gone everywhere from Vegas to New Orleans to Saratoga Springs to Oklahoma. We’ve interviewed people within the poker community including Annie Duke, Jeffrey Pollack (Commissioner of the WSOP), Phil Hellmuth, Steve Lipscomb (CEO of WPT), Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, amateur poker players, tournament directors, and poker room mangers from casinos across the US.

So there you have it … I wonder if the poker-room people they end up talking to will be “good” or “bad” gamerunners representing the Dallas scene.

What a great idea! To memorialize a poker tournament victory with an expensive piece of jewelry that symbolizes the grandeur of what those players accomplished… Wait, haven’t I heard this idea somewhere before? It’s just not coming to me at this moment…

Anyway, the private Ceremony of Champions will take place at the “O” Theater at the Bellagio, where the players’ victories and accomplishments will be celebrated, and each will be awarded a Tiffany & Co. personalized titanium and diamond bracelet. Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten will be the Masters of Ceremony.

From the press release:

“There are so many incredible stories to celebrate from the six World Poker Tour seasons and we are thrilled to pay tribute to each of our WPT Champions,” said WPT Founder, President and CEO, Steve Lipscomb. “The championship bracelet has become synonymous with poker as a symbol of achievement and respect, and we are honored to continue the tradition that Benny Binion began over 30 years ago.”

When Benny Binion began the tradition… DOH!

The World Series of Poker has bracelet events, and now each WPT event will be a bracelet event. Really? I don’t want to say that one company is trying to be like another, but… Is there no other way to congratulate poker players than with a bracelet? What about a gigantic 25-pound bejeweled poker chip? Or a diamond-encrusted wallet to hold all of their dough?

Originality is dead.

It seems that the World Poker Tour is in the process of creating some type of WPT Europe, in addition to the WPT schedule that pretty much stays within the U.S. border with the one exception of Canada. The WPT signed an agreement, the details of which are yet to be released, with Group Perelada in Spain.

In today’s press conference, Steve Lipscomb only touched on the subject but said the following:

“We are expanding our presence in Europe and other international markets as we go into the online gaming space, and as we do that, we’re taking those markets piece by piece… This year, we’re going to do a WPT Europe event. We’re going to be doing regional tours similar to what we’re doing in China… Those audiences, as we understand, are very hungry for programming as they grow their own poker world, and we’re going to help them and grow it together.”