Premier Professional Poker Tour event scheduled at Foxwoods Resorts Casino

[oldman]

The initial Professional Poker Tour (PPT) Final Table, that takes place on November 19 at Foxwoods Resort Casino, is one of the most anticipated poker events at the moment. The winner of this tournament will go home with $200,000 and will win a $25,000 seat at the World Poker Tour Championship. He/she is to become the first winner of this Tour and will get a name in poker circles due to victory in such a tough competition.

According to WPT Enterprises, creator of the World Poker Tour, the Professional Poker Tour reflects the evolution of poker as a sport. The tournament at Foxwoods is the first of five that will offer a total sponsorship prize pool of $2.5 million over the inaugural 2004-2005 season. The preliminary rounds will be played Nov. 9-10, with the Final Table filmed before a live audience on Friday, Nov. 19. The public is invited to watch the Final Table as part of the studio audience, and attend a PPT Viewing Party. After its debut at Foxwoods in November, the Professional Poker Tour will move on to Commerce Casino (Los Angeles), Bellagio (Las Vegas), and The Mirage (Las Vegas) in Season One of the Tour.

The PPT (unlike the WPT) is organized for professionals only and it admits only qualified players. According to the rules of the competition, players must have proven themselves in past poker competition: by winning or making a Final Table at a WPT event or a WPT Championship, by scoring as a top 10 point leader in WPT Player-of-the-Year rankings, by winning or finishing highly in the $10K buy-in event at the World Series of Poker, by securing a spot on either CardPlayer Magazine’s Card Player of the Year Top 10 list or Poker Europa’s Top 10, or by being a member of the Poker Hall of Fame.

“By launching the PPT, we are raising the bar on professional poker. We are assembling the masters of the game in one place to face only each other. Throughout the course of the season, five will prevail - and will stand atop their profession. We’re looking for poker’s first MVP.” said Steve Lipscomb, President of WPTE.

The range of participants in the competition includes such well-known names as Doyle Brunson, Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth, Gus Hansen, Phil Gordon, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Chris Moneymaker and many others.