WPT Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:WPTE) and Grup Peralada—most
prestigious operator of casinos in Spain—announced
today that Casino Barcelona will host its second World Poker Tour®
(WPT) event May 21 – 27, 2008. With the
success of this destination event on the WPT Season VI schedule last
year, the WPT and Grup Peralada are bringing the Spanish Championship
back to the Tour.
"The WPT Spanish Championship was a great
success last year,” said Steve Lipscomb, WPT
Founder, President and CEO. "We are honored to
extend our partnership with Grup Peralada and return to Spain with a
regional tour stop that Catalonians can call their own.”
Grup Peralada, with presence in various leisure time activities and also
industrial sectors such as gaming, winegrowing, culture (International
Music Festival of Peralada), hotels & wellness, golf, plastics or car
industry, has vast experience organizing poker tournaments. With over
120 events every year--including three international tournaments--Grup
Peralada, especially Casino Barcelona, is a recognized leader in high
level poker events and sets the bar in the Spanish gaming sector.
The May event is expected to draw a field of over 400 players, including
the new face of the WPT Poker Made Millionaire™,
Poker Pro Antonio "the Magician”
Esfandiari, as he represents www.worldpokertour.com
at the tables.
The World Poker Tour official site, www.worldpokertour.com,
is now running weekly online satellites to give players the chance to
earn their €5000
main event buy in and €300
entry fee events for as little as €6.
Casino Barcelona will also hold Super Satellite No Limit Hold’em
(buy-in 200€+20€),
with unlimited re-buys and add-on, starting from 3 p.m. on May 21 and
May 22. The main event begins at Casino Barcelona on May 24 concluding
with the non-televised final table on May 27.
The WPT Spanish Championship event in October, 2007, saw 226 players
from around the globe put up €7,500
to compete, including pros like Gus Hansen, Erik Seidel, Isabelle
Mercier, Juha Helppi, Christer Johansson, and many others. First place
went to Austrian Markus Lehmann, who won €537,000
and the WPT Spanish Championship title.
For more information on the WPT Spanish Championship, satellites and
other details, visit www.worldpokertour.com
or contact Sylvie Belanger at sylvie@grupperalada.com
or +34 93 511 9750.
About WPTE
WPT Enterprises, Inc. (Nasdaq:WPTE) is a company engaged in the creation
of internationally branded entertainment and consumer products driven by
the development, production, and marketing of televised programming
based on gaming themes. WPTE is the creator of the World Poker Tour®,
a television show based on a series of high-stakes poker tournaments
that will begin broadcasting in the United States on its new network
home, GSN, in March 2008. WPT is licensed for broadcast globally. WPTE
also offers a real-money online gaming website which prohibits wagers
from players in the U.S. and other restricted jurisdictions. WPTE
currently licenses its brand to companies in the business of poker
equipment and instruction, apparel, publishing, electronic and wireless
entertainment, DVD/home entertainment, casino games, and giftware. The
company is also engaged in the sale of corporate sponsorships. For show
information, tools for improving poker play, and other WPT news, fans
may log on to www.worldpokertour.com.
WPT Enterprises, Inc. is a majority owned subsidiary of Lakes
Entertainment, Inc. (Nasdaq:LACO).
WPTEG
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 WPT Enterprises, Inc.)
contains statements that are forward-looking, such as statements
relating to the expansion of WPTE's brand licensing, the development of
new television and film projects, the development of WPTE corporate
sponsors and other business development activities, as well as
statements regarding other capital spending, financing sources and the
effects of competition. 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 WPTE. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not
limited to, WPTE's significant dependence on the Travel Channel as a
source of revenue; difficulty of predicting the growth of our online
casino business, which is a relatively new industry with an increasing
number of market entrants; the increased time, cost and expense of
developing and maintaining WPTE's own online gaming software; the
potential that our television programming will fail to maintain a
sufficient audience; the risk that competitors with greater financial
resources or marketplace presence might develop television programming
that would directly compete with WPTE's television programming; the risk
that WPT may not be able to protect its entertainment concepts, current
and future brands and other intellectual property rights; risks
associated with future expansion into new or complementary businesses;
the termination or impairment of WPTE's relationships with key licensing
and strategic partners; and WPTE's dependence on its senior management
team. For more information, review WPTE's filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission.
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