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The World Poker Tour, in which high stakes poker tournaments are played, started an uprising in the way the game is viewed, enjoyed, followed and played. Although the World Series of Poker had been broadcasted for years prior to the World Poker Tour (WPT), the professional poker tournaments became more popular when "WPT cams" were placed around the table so that poker enthusiasts could see the hands played by the WPT players. This way, viewers became emotionally caught up in the decisions that were being made.

Now, we must take into account also the hundreds of thousands of dollars that are played at the table giving viewers the opportunity to watch a few WPT players made "instant millionaires" at these poker tournament events. This is how the world got hooked by these live poker tournaments.

But when rumors got out that anyone could confront planet's pro poker player for six to seven-figure piles of money, folks from all over wanted to engage in the WPT player challenge. The WPT has several high stakes poker tournaments held in different places all over the world. Anyone willing to pay the entry fee (sometimes as high as $25,000 per seat) can become a WPT player by simply contacting the casino hosting the casino poker tournaments.

The idea of live poker tournaments with cams placed around the table was started by WPT CEO Steven Lipscomb in February 2002. The success of this idea produced many parallel ideas and has encouraged many land based casinos that had closed their poker rooms after rejecting poker as economically not worth the endeavor, to reopen them. But nowadays you can see competing millionaires, CEO's, rocket scientists, software kings, mathematicians, women and actors and occasionally you will even see an amateur defeating a pro poker player giving people the message that anyone can win if they play poker tournaments.

In 2004, after being rewarded for accomplishing new levels in the poker industry, WPT made known the casino poker tournament timetables for seasons 4, 5 and 6 that covers up until 2008 to a waiting public. However, those timetables may be modified as more and more casinos and online poker rooms struggle to host WPT events.

During the 4th season WPT organizers created a special poker tournament for seasoned professionals called the Professional Poker Tour. The criteria based on which players participated in this poker tournament event were based on successes in previous casino poker tournaments.

An additional improvement in the poker arena is that WPT has joined with land based and online poker rooms to set up satellite casino poker tournaments that can allow a player to win a seat to a WPT event without having to pay the high-priced seat fees. These satellite casino poker tournaments regularly have entry costs of under $200.00, which makes it more accessible for those seeking to become a WPT player.

The WPT has grown to where it has made an offering of common stock under the NASDAQ symbol WPTE (World Poker Tour Enterprises). And agreements have been completed to have the show presented in Australia, Sweden, South Korea and the Philippines.

WPT is an important factor in poker's progress and WPT takes it's efforts seriously, looking for new ways to expand and remain at the top of the game of poker. Lately WPT signed an agreement with WagerWorks to put up an online site that will allow real money wagering for poker players, so look out for it in the future.