BEIJING: Tournament poker is coming to China — a country that still strictly outlaws all forms of gambling.
World Poker Tour Enterprises Inc. said it would sign an agreement on today with the China Leisure Sports Administrative Center. The partnership will "promote the sport of poker, by helping to create, expand and commercialize China's first ever national poker competition," World Poker Tour Enterprises said in a statement.
It said the partnership agreement would run for five years, with an option to extend. Additional details weren't given and it wasn't clear what stakes participants would play for. This deal will not be focused on the island gambling mecca of Macau but rather on mainland China, which represents a different challenge because the Communist government forbids gambling, categorizing it as a form of criminal, anti-social behavior along the lines of prostitution and drug use.
Steve Lipscomb, WPT's founder, president and CEO, was due to attend the signing ceremony at a Beijing hotel on today. More details as they become available.
UPDATE: World Poker Tour Enterprises has entered into a five-year agreement with the government-sanctioned China Leisure Sports Administrative Center (CLSAC) that will allow WPTE to “brand and exploit” a new poker tour called the Traktor Poker Tour.
Traktor poker, or Tuo La Ji, is a popular Chinese card game. The first tour date will take place in September 2007 and the national championship will take place in Beijing.
WPTE purchased the rights to sanction and market the Traktor Poker Tour for profit. WPTE secured all broadcasting rights to the Traktor Poker Tour, as well as online and mobile content. WPTE agreed to pay $505,000 the first year, and that increases 10 percent each year of the contract.
In exchange, the CLSAC agrees to hold at least 15 Traktor Poker Tour events and will place the championship finals on a major Chinese television station.
The traditional version of Traktor is a trick-based partner card game that’s played with a double deck of 52 cards (jokers included). The object of the game is to win tricks containing kings, tens and fives.
Whether WPTE intends to leverage this relationship into a Texas Hold'em poker tour in China remains the subject of much speculation and conjecture.
